Why do spotters always pick the worst time to zone out? Mine was watching some guy on a jet ski doing donuts while I had a load swinging right over the water, and he flagged me way too late. I had to stop mid swing and wait for it to settle while he stood there like a statue. Water picks are already sketchy enough without a spotter daydreaming on you.

Man, I read on a forum that twisting the pair helps cancel that induced noise right out.

Aw man, that sucks about the boots. But I gotta say, checking boot glue before a trip is not really the fix here. The sole peeling off like that is usually a sign the boots are just old or the midsole foam has broken down, and no amount of pre-trip glue inspection will catch that. What you want to do is look at the midsole for cracks or crumbling, and also check the tread wear. If a boot is more than a few years old and has a lot of miles on it, the glue bond is not the main thing to worry about. I have had a sole start to separate on a long trip and what saved me was a small tube of shoe goo plus a few zip ties. Wrap the whole boot with the ties to hold the sole down and it works way better than cord or pack straps. Sorry the trip got cut short, that hike into Grand Marais must have been rough.