Hey Folks – my go to hiking shoe is the Brooks Cascadia. Planning a trip to do the Wind River High Route next month. I've been having some ankle issues due to an injury and will also be scrambling lots of scree. Thinking I might like to get a high top shoe for this trip to give me a little extra insurance. I don’t want a boot (have plenty for scrambling and climbing). Is there a high top equivalent to the Cascadia? I did a little looking at REI the other day and they didn’t have much that I liked, and what I like may not exist.
First, they were all goretex which I don't care for. They make the feet hot and for off trail routes you often have to cross a lot of water. I like to just blast through and then the water drains and my feet dry in half hour or so. With goretex you have to stop, drain your shoes, and then they take forever to dry.
Second, for some reason the high top shoes I saw (they only had two in mens) didn’t have a full plastic shank that protected the bottoms of the forefoot area, like the Cascadia does. For off trail or rock trails, the full plastic protection is really important to avoid bruising your feet. The Adidas Terex switf r mid gtx wasn’t bad for protection but was goretex. I guess I could have a cobbler put in a drain grommet or something but I don’t like having to do that to a $160 shoe.
Thoughts?
