Sometimes, what one perceives as undesirable or troublesome becomes sought after by others. One man’s trash, they say, is another’s treasure. This summer, spongy moths (Lymantria dispar dispar), formerly known as “gypsy” moths, fully matured, taking flight and wreaking havoc on our local hardwood stands. Though they wrought destruction on our local forests, these fuzzy invaders became a favorite food source for smallmouth bass on local rivers.

For the last decade or so, Patagonia has been on an ongoing mission to build the perfect wading boot. Or, perhaps better put, the perfect wading boots. This calling has led to a number of Patagonia partnerships with venerated bootmakers with long running pedigrees, such as Wolverine and Danner. Those efforts have brought us notable innovations, such as use of now-ubiquitous aluminum bars for wading traction, which it’s fair to say Patagonia was the first to push in a serious way with its Foot Tractor line of boots.