most popular shoes to wear on the AT ?

[Crazy_Al]

What are the most popular shoes to wear on the AT ????

[Llama Legs]

non-goretex trail runners. take your pick.

[scree]

In addition to my Fivefingers, I'm partial to Salomon XT Wings (either 1 or 2) and XA Pro 3D, non-goretex. I've seen a lot of people wearing Salomon's, quality-wise they're at least in the same league as the old late 90s Montrails.

[waasj]

New Balance 572's
do it for me. Non goretex and lightweight too.

[Shae]

Lots of Merrell Moab Ventilators on the Southbounders this year.

[Red Hat]

Like Llamalegs said, pretty much any non goretx trail runner. I am partial to the New Balance All Terrain 800 series. I bought a pair of Merrells in VT when I couldn't find a replacement for my NBs. The fast folks like Jennifer Pharr Davis and Natureboy seem to prefer Salomons.

[Miner]

Given that most people fail to finish an AT hike, are you sure you want to use the shoes they were using?

[rocketsocks]

Aasics GT-2160's seem to work just fine and dandy, light weight, breath well, cheap, sold everywhere sneakers are sold.

[kayak karl]

Given that most people fail to finish an AT hike, are you sure you want to use the shoes they were using?

as long as they didn't fail because of feet problems, sure

[Crazy_Al]

non-goretex trail runners. take your pick.

What is wrong Goretex ????

[kayak karl]

takes forever to dry

[10-K]

takes forever to dry

Hot too. Especially when they warm up. Once in VA I took off a pair of damp goretex boots that had been wet from the day before and steam came out - no lie.

[Wise Old Owl]

1+ Gortex is not recommended - your tootsies need to breath FREEDOM....

[rocketsocks]

Hot too. Especially when they warm up. Once in VA I took off a pair of damp goretex boots that had been wet from the day before and steam came out - no lie.

Not steam, it was a rain cloud in your boot, no lie.

[Crazy_Al]

Lots of Merrell Moab Ventilators on the Southbounders this year.

Mid-height or shoe (short) ????

[Pumba]

So it seems that trail runners are more popular than boots these days?

[Rasty]

Spring to fall Moab ventilators for me (non gore-tex). Winter time use Vasque sundowners with gore-tex for light snow.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I switched over to trail runners last year and love them for three season hiking. Like folks have said, they are lighter, cooler and dry much faster than goretex boots. I added superfeet insoles to mine which add some extra rigidity to the soles and makes for a much more comfortable time when scrambling over rocks. I personally use Vasque Velocity trail runners, which I like a lot, but I should mention that other people's reviews on the model have been mixed.

Before that I used Vasque Breeze GTX, one of the most comfortable lightweight boots I've found.

In the winter, I use a pair of Scarpa boots, I think the model is called Kailash, but I'm not sure. They're waterproof and a bit heavier so I usually only use them when it's below freezing.

[moocow]

Saw a BUNCH of different kinds of boots out there this year. It really surprised me considering the praises of trail runners nowadays. In trail runners there were plenty of people wearing the Solomon XA Pro 3D.
The most popular shoes overall were probably the mid Merrell Moab Ventilators.

Keep in mind that there are always a lot of boot/shoe changes as thru-hikers go along. It's a popularity contest early on, and it takes a while for people to figure out it's about finding the shoe that works for their them.

I will give a shout out to the shoes that worked for me: Montrail Mountain Masochist. 950 trail miles on one pair and still going. Confession, I had to do a little superglue job on the sole in Pearisburg.

[SunnyWalker]

Good shoes.