Salomon XA Comp 2
This is perhaps my biggest reason of switching to Ultralight: I get to wear camp-shoes all day long
Once your pack weight is low, you no longer need big sturdy traditional boots. Trail runners are an excellent choice. Think of how much energy you expend over a 40 mile hike lifting a clunky 5lb pair of leather boots. With these 1.5 lbs shoes on, I feel like I just float over the trail, getting plenty of grip and stability on rocks
When it pours down, with my old nikwaxed leather boots, I found that after 3-4 hrs of rain, (no matter how great the “goretex lining”) the things get miserably wet - either from water coming in the top or sweat build-up inside. With my trail shoes, my feet also get wet, but I’m quite happy trotting along with soggy feet - the mesh is super breathable so I don’t experience much discomfort and after several hours of the rain stopping my shoes have dried out already. No building a big camp-fire to try and dry out my boots at the end of the day.
The stock insole that comes with these is pretty lame. I tried to put a super-feet in there, but it rode to high for me. I ended up using some insoles from an old pair of snowboarding boots with good arch support - they work great.
Oh - one more thing - I’m sure there are isolated cases, but in general, I beleive “ankle-support” to be a myth. Sure if you’re carrying a 60lb pack, you might need it, but with small loads and trekking poles at hand to catch the odd slip, I have never been in need of anything more substantial.
Salomon Shoes from Amazon for $80.
