Hiking shoes

The first thought I have is, Why waterproofing?  Your feet sweat.  You walk through wet grass in the morning and streams all day long.

If I walk the dog for an hour, on a 18F day, on the snowy, wet beach in front of my house – yeah, waterproofed low-cut shoes may be the thing to wear.

But when it’s above freezing?  When I’ll be hiking all day long?  I go with the best ventilated shoes and the most quick-drying socks.

I do agree with low-cut shoes whenever I can use them, which, even here in Alaska, is most of the time.

I also agree with the right amount of the stiffness.  For me, anything works for 10 miles in a day.  Form 10-20 miles, it needs to have some stiffness of a lot of cushioning.  Over 20 miles in a day, it needs to have a reasonably stiff sole or my foot feels beaten-up at the end of the day.  The Salomons and a pair of Merrill’s (not sure of the model) have been working well for me.

I am also wondering why you would want waterproof shoes, here are some articles by Andrew Skurka

Minimizing the effects and aftermath of wet feet .

. Why “waterproof” shoes will not keep your feet dry .

. Complete failure: I gave “waterproof” Gore-Tex hiking shoes a second chance .

Do you have some sort of foot issue that requires you to wear stiff shoe? What do you wear on a normal day?

Thanks for the insights. I’ve never had an issue with my foot getting too hot or sweaty before. I mostly have GTX to keep out little puddles and such. It also seems to help keep dust and sand out of the shoes but I could be wrong.