I now have about 40 trail miles on these shoes, all on the AT in Georgia.  The comfort & breathability is excellent.  They seem stable & supportive in their lightweight backpacking role.  However, I'm not happy with their durability.  Several of the outsole "trail claws" are de-laminating & losing their rubber outer layer. The majority of this damage occurred on a recent 22 mile hike between Neels Gap & Unicoi Gap over very rocky trail.  The uppers seem to be wearing well & the grip on angled rock is excellent.  Just be aware of this outsole wear issue.  For rocky trail I would strongly recommend a shoe with a Vibram outsole.

I hope New England Footware figures out a way to make the trail claws last on the Sun Dragons. My 13 year old wore completly thru both layers of the claw on his first day hike, up Guadelupe Peak in Texas. Not exactly what I was hoping for.

Any of these come in wide sizes?

I'm still experimenting on switching from Goretex lined leather hiking boots to trail runners. Right now I'm using women's Montrail Hardrocks and they seem to work. I need to experiment more in wet conditions (relatively dry fall so far in Oregon this year) and get out on steep and rugged Columbia Gorge trails with a 25-lb. pack before I feel totally comfortable with the switch. Last summer I found that getting Goretex-lined boots wet (in that case, slipping and falling in a creek while fording in my Crocs) insured that they'd be soggy inside for at least 48 hours (it took that long for them to dry set out in the sun). I know that just plain trail runners dry lots faster than that. I have so far found that the trail runners are supportive enough that it's almost impossible to turn an ankle, which has been one reason I stuck with boots so long. It appears to be the shoe structure, not the height of the boots, that seems to do the job.

Any other suggestions for women's trail runners designed for over-pronaters, with narrow heel, wide forefoot and high toe box (I have bunions and hammertoes) would be most welcome! It would be nice to have shoes that are a little lighter and dry faster than the Hardrocks. Thank you!

Elizabeth, I ran into the same problem of censorship when describing the scooping or burying of dog p**p. As Snoopy would say, good grief!

Edited by hikinggranny on 12/11/2008 01:46:00 MST.