Scott,

No I caught the mention of the Keene eVent boots... but my experience W/ Keene eVent boots 3 years ago during a weekend in Utah's slot canyons was a disaster. I took the boots back to REI after both boots had exterior stitching abrade ENTIRELY through (in one weekend!) and the right boot's top lining became detatched and continually crept toward my toes. My Danner 452 GTX boots were MUCH more durable over 3 years of hiking and backpacking. Love my Keene sandals, but not their boots.

Back to the drawing board for Keene on their maiden effort at hiking boots. Maybe their newer eVent boots are better but Merrill has a proven track record.

For a few ounces more per foot I'll take the debris and abrasion/bruise protection of the extra height of my Merrill Moab GTX boots. I don't expect, or even want, any more ankle stability from the height. My muscles need to provide that.

Those new Moabs are quite light for what they are. And they have a real Vibram brand sole that I trust for durability and grip. Plus, Merrill makes them in a wide size that I need because with a 25 - 30 lb. pack my feet tend to spread after the 2nd day of a 7 day trip.

I did wear my Rocky's hiking on Saturday and was pleased with their performance.

Footwear was Smartwool Merino liner socks, Rocky Socks, Innov-8 Terroc 330s, REI Low Trail Gaiters.

Conditions were 40-45 degrees with intermittent snow and fairly strong wind along the ridgetops.

Trails had a lot of standing water and squishy mud with snow in spots. Several stream crossing toward the finale..

Stepping in water while wearing the Rocky Socks was kind of an odd feeling. My feet got briefly cold, and I felt the squishiness, giving me the feeling that the socks had failed and water leaked through. My feet would quickly warm up again, and the squishiness quickly drain away. My feet never felt uncomfortable as far as fit went. I wore a size 13 sock and I wear size 12.5 shoes. I probably could've worn a size 12 sock, but I sized up one so I could fit a heavier sock in there for winter hiking, and had no issues with bunching at the toe or heel.

Right at the end of my hike, I slipped crossing a stream a bit too deep to just wade across and briefly dunked both my feet well above the tops of the socks. I was sure I'd end up with flooded socks, but the combination of the socks, with the gaiters over the top of them, plus my Marmot precipt pants over the tops of the gaiters prevented any leakage in the moment my feet were underwater.

When I finished my hike and removed my socks, I was impressed with how little dampness there was in my merino liners. I was expecting swampy feet but that wasn't the case.

I like this system for the two times I've used it, and I guess it will be a matter of how many miles the socks hold up for(18 miles so far).

If I'd spent the night, my plan was to change into dry socks at camp, put my feet in plastic bags to protect the dry socks from the moisture inside the Rocky socks, put the Rocky socks back on, and then my wet shoes.

“Any thoughts or recommendations on any of the above?”
Sorry, can’t recommend any of them.

I use my teva terra fi2 in all terrain and temperatures 20F-120F. It makes for such a flexible setup that it can be burning hot in the afternoon or cold, slushy muck in the morning.

In your cold, wet, muck scenario (30-40F), I wear 2 thick layers of wool socks and let them get wet. Sometimes I wear a coolmax and a wool layer depending on the environment.
When I slip in mud so my socks and sandals are covered in deep doo doo, I rinse them off at the next stream (shaking my foot in the water)--- and they rinse easy; and then keep walking. I want to get them rinsed asap because mud becomes HEAVY.

Sometimes, at large cold streams, I will totally remove my socks and wade through in my sandals. That is cold! At the other side, I dry off my feet with a towel, and put my wool socks back on and then it’s like someone turned on the electric blanket. Instantly. Ooohhhh.

At night in camp, I put on dry socks and down booties. My sandal straps are loosened way up for that because I don’t want squished insulation. To me the whole key to keeping feet warm is having very loose footwear. However, I have to tighten down my straps when walking to protect my ankles, and then loosen them way up when stopping to promote blood flow. This is hard to do with shoes. I can also accommodate an extreme range of sock thicknesses from nylon only to my thick down booties.

I’ve tried sealskinz. I don’t use them much because they squish my toes a little. I’m used to NO toe squeeze.

And at night, I never worry about a frozen sandal. So what? I just keep my next day socks in my sleeping bag with me.

I’ve tried putting bags over my socks while walking but my feet get more wet, so I bagged that idea.

-Barry