Winter boots

[nsherry61]

Not meaning to be especially contrary, but I do most of my winter hiking/snowshoeing with my regular summer trail running shoes. The shoes are super comfortable, light, and have enough room in them for a thick pair of socks without cutting off circulation. I layer up with a liner sock, a plastic bag, then a heavy insulating sock and another plastic bag. Then I generally just use short gaiters, often my Dirty Girl gaiters, to seal off the top of my footwear. Frequently, the bottom of my pants get a bit damp with snow, but the thin nylon dries fast when I get back to the car or with a warm water bottle at my feet in my sleeping bag if camping. If I'm in lots of deep or crusty snow, I will occasionally use full height gators. When I'm skiing, I use my ski boots and some kind of gaitor. BUT, as long as I keep moving, my feet stay reliably warm down below 0*F. AND, I love the feeling of dancing in the snow with super light footwear instead of plodding along in boots (even relatively light boots).

I am amazed at how effectively my feet stay warm in really cold conditions, in light trail running shoes when using this vapor-barrier insulation technique.
Six layers of socks, bags, shoes and gaiters includes a bit of a fiddle factor, but, I think it's well worth it for light nimble feet.

Personally, I'm at a loss as to why plastic boots seem to be popular to wear for anyone unless they are climbing high angle ice or skiing with alpine touring gear. Heck, we used to hike in our approach shoes and carry our plastic boots so we didn't have to walk in them any more than necessary . . . okay, if I were traveling with a group of people in the back country where we were stopping all the time and standing around in below 0*F, I might want plastic boots too to keep my feet warm. And, maybe group hiking is where the popularity of plastic boots comes from. Personally, I'm still sticking with light footwear and will keep moving except for short rest and snack breaks.

If you haven't tried winter travel with this system, I'd encourage experimentation. Save your heavy expensive boots for the really extreme. YMMV

[poolskaterx]

If those don't work I will be the third to recommend the Asolo 520 boots. I snowshoe or snow hike with these in Northern Sierras and am on my second pair now. SUPER solid boot and nice and toasty. Not inexspesive but very nice boot. I DO NOT use them any more in the summer as they are pretty heavy but when I did they were always very comfortable.

[12trysomething]

I will offer my winter system for consideration.

https://youtu.be/vOSfwy0ZMAg

[Duramax22]