How much wear does the Larapinta Trail really put into your shoes?

 I had heard that the Larapinta is hard on shoes and feet. I had a pair of red women's Oboz BDry boots that I have loved and they looked like they had plenty of tread on them.  They have however done many multiday walks and the Larapinta sounded like it had a bit of a reputation for being tough on shoes and feet. So I um -ed, and I ah-ed about whether I really needed to invest in a new pair of boots or whether my current pair would be fine. I had anticipated doing the Larapinta Trail end-to-end for nine years before I could turn this into an opportunity to actually do it. So, I decided to buy new boots. Unfortunately, the only colour I could get in my size was a pale grey - not exactly the ideal colour for Central Australia!

https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/larapinta-trail

https://obozfootwear.com/en-us/product/womens-bridger-mid-waterproof

The boots on the left are my new boots and the ones on the right are my faithful red boots. Once I bought the new boots, I realised I had worn through more of the tread on the red ones than I thought.

I wore my new boots around for a few days and did one overnight walk in them, before heading to Alice Springs.  I took a photo each day of the soles of my boots - as you will see by the light levels, some days were long, some were short. The colour of the dirt varied greatly along the trail and we even had mud in spots.  The photos below are in order, with a final shot once back home, again beside the red boots for reference.

So those new boots got plenty of wear and now have less tread than the red boots. I was also surprised at some of the wear the sides of the boots got, the rocks on the Larapinta have sharp edges that poke into the sides of your footwear, as well as the soles.  I have scrubbed my Larapinta boots, and while they are a lot cleaner, even back to grey in spots, they will always tell the story of my Larapinta adventure.

My conclusions, yes I needed new boots; yes I still love these boots! (No, I do not have any sponsorship or affiliation, I just really like them)

Would I still choose boots over trail shoes? For me, yes, the ankle support was worth it. The Larapinta presents plenty of opportunities to turn an ankle.  I had not fully understood just how hard the ground could be underfoot and I completely understand why some people prefer the cushioning of a trail shoe. The soles of my feet were very sore at the end of days 2 and 3, but were fine after that. If I was doing this again with the knowledge obtained from experience, I would consider trying a size larger in the shoe with a gel cushion insert.

Did I get blisters? Not on my feet, I did manage to get some on my shoulder but that is another story again. I did manage to achieve a spinifex splinter in one toe which caused some discomfort for a day, but thankfully a friendly and skilled fellow hiker removed this for me. (Thank you Toni)