Shoes with low heel/toe factor

… "caused my metatarsals to get chronically bruised"…

Ummm…maybe…

My wife and I pounded out 15 miles downhill to beat the weather in the Winds a month ago. She ended up with tender metatarsals and some numbness.

Her issue was a low-arched (soft) footbed that did not support her foot or hold it back in the shoe (a trailrunner). She had plenty of length but kept sliding forward. Tighten laces only constricted her foot, compressing her mets. "Gripping" with her toes to control her sliding forward contributed to the problem.

Sooo…. a wide shoe to give the mets plenty of room to spread and not compress Morton's nerve, and a footbed that will hold you foot in place.

Trails go "downhill" far more than shoes.

Just one more perspective. YMMV.

Back in the late 60's I used to wear shoes with a thicker forefoot than heel called "Earth Shoes." Just recently I've seen these advertised again. They were very comfortable. They don't make a "hiking" shoe per se, but they do have what they call "active" shoes. Here is a link:

http://www.earth.us/catalog.asp?Gender=men&cat=8