text: If you consider yourself a serious hiker, do NOT buy these boots.  After reading so many wonderful reviews, I decided to buy these boots for a summer of hiking through different national parks.  I broke them in by hiking 3-5 miles every other day through my neighborhood park for about 2 months.  They felt fine and I was excited to wear them over the summer.  As we hiked our first park, I wore them for 10+ miles on the first day and 10+ miles on the second day.  On the third day, I started to feel intense soreness through my achilles tendons.  My husband thought they just weren't broken in enough so I continued to wear them for a few more days.  The pain just kept getting worse and worse, to the point where it was unbearable to hike in them.  I switched to my Chacos and was able to hike many miles in them without any pain.  I took a two week break from the Danner boots during the trip, thinking that my tendons just needed some time to heel and strengthen.  The second I started walking in the boots again the pain flared up.  I went to a nearby REI to get other boots to finish my trip in.  I spoke with two different employees about the Danner boots and both said how horrible they were.  People were constantly returning the shoes because they made the same mistake I did.  While these boots look adorable, the technology is archaic, the soles are flat, and they are super heavy.  They are NOT good boots if you plan to do any actual hiking!