A Pacific Crest Trail hiker claims to have found the boot Reese Witherspoon tossed off a cliff near Mount Hood during the filming of the Hollywood adaptation of the bestselling book Wild, .
Chris Kesting, an engineer and experienced hiker, was on the PCT in March when he recognized the peak from which Witherspoon tossed the boot in the film’s opening scene. He thought he’d go look for it. Kesting and a friend found the red-laced Danner boot within 15 minutes, he said.
“The thing that stood out was the red laces,” Kesting told the Oregonian. “The brown of the leather blended into the soil, and I didn’t see that at all. I saw the red laces and thought it was weird that there were flowers out already. That’s when it came into focus. It was kind of funny.”
The boot isn’t officially confirmed as Witherspoon’s. But it is a size 6 1/2 Danner boot—the Mountain Light Cascade—which is the same one used in the movie. Seven scenes were shot on Oregon trails, and the crew was applauded for its low-impact shooting style.
“They’re not supposed to leave stuff around when they film, and I thought they would send somebody down to pick it up,” Kesting said. “It was pretty hard to find, so maybe even if they did, they couldn’t find it.”
Kesting keeps the boot on his bookshelf at home.