I've spent more than 20 years mostly trail running in Salomon XA Pro 3D trail running shoes. I am now thinking about getting a real hiking boot/shoe for use on the AT for a section hike. The feature I'm most interested in is under foot protection. Next I'm looking for non-goretex so they "dry" quick.

I don't really care if the thing is low-cut or a mid. It seems everyone and their mother doing AT thru hikes are using trail running shoes and not "real" hiking shoes. Maybe I'm delusional, but I got to think your feet will feel relatively better after a 16-mile day (planned average on my hike) wearing a hiking shoe versus a trail runner.