North Face Hedgehog

I’ll link to my treatise on what I look for in a hiking boot here, although as what I’d call “consumable”, non-investment hikers I’m willing to flex on many of those requirements if apropos to my needs.

These are my current light hiking boots.  They are Vibram and Gore-Tex, which is nice but they’re a little to soft and squishy in the heel, have a narrow toe-box, only a slight heel brake and minimal padding under the balls of my feet.  For a quick or straightforward 4-5 mile hike they’re fine.  The Gore-Tex comes in handy for the small creek crossings in the area and the soles have enough traction to get by given the relatively flat outsole.  I don’t like the narrow toe box after several miles of steep descents and the lack of padding or otherwise stiff midsole (or half shank) means some of the rockier terrain can become tiresome and even painful over a long hike. The arch area is fine but the front half of the shoe allows pressure from smaller rocks. 

I took these on partial test-hike of Strawberry Peak and my feet hurt on the way down, especially my toes where the top of the shoe was creating pressure points. I went the next weekend in the Zamberlands and my feet felt fine and I summited (to the extent that it can be called a “summit”).  In reality I’d rather have the North Face Ultra 111’s or whatnot which I owned previously and took to the top of Half-Dome just fine.  They weren’t Vibram nor Gore-Tex but again, for the price and usage that’s reasonably okay. Looks like they don’t make them anymore and their current shoe selection has a weird curved and bulbous shape so nothing I’d try or recommend…  bummer.