I just bought a pair of the LLBean Pathfinder Hiker Mid and thought I'd post a link here because I hadn't heard of them before. They are sturdier than a trail runner but pretty lightweight compared to a full boot. They seem to hit all the checkboxes for what I wanted so lets hope they hold up.
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/72762?cat4=506763&parentCategory=506768&feat=ty-crr
Matt
