Shoe Help: Waterproof vs. Gore-Tex

[noselicious42]

Hey guys! I'm in the market for a new pair of boots. I've had a heavy, leather, steel-toed pair for the past ten years that my parents bought me when I was 11, and I think it's seriously time to upgrade. I do hope to hike the AT sometime in the near future, but I want to get many more shorter hikes under my belt first. So this pair will be used for nothing longer than probably 3-4 nights at the most, but overwhelmingly just day hikes or single overnights.

I've seen everyone in the forums warning against GTX shoes because they are hot and take forever to dry. Are shoes advertised as "waterproof" going to cause me the same problems? I am less worried about the drying-out problem because I only plan on shorter trips that could be easily cancelled if it looks like the weekend will be nasty.

Lastly, my kiddie leather boots have a really high ankle, but a lot of the boots I have been looking at are really low, like tennis shoes. But I'm instinctually drawn to the mid, believing that they have some mystical benefits for ankle support. Is this true? I do have a history of easily twisting my ankles, so if the mid could help me with that then I will get them. The problem is that almost all the mids I'm finding are ALSO waterproof/GTX... hence the queries in this post. Should I go for mid and waterproof, or get low and non-waterproof?

[kayak karl]

i don't believe there is a waterproof boot except for water boots for boating. goretex takes too long to dry. for boots i wear mid Keen boots.

[Malto]

I would never wear steel toed boots on trail, way too heavy. Many hikers wear low cut trail runners and are very happy with them. Others think they need the higher boot because of heavier load etc. Who's right? I would suggest trying a short overnighter using whatever pair of running or gym shoes you might have. You may quickly find that you're in the trail runner camp, or not!