Hi John,

how do you find the Salomons?

these are the ones I'm going to buy and use for the walk.

how did they stand up to the walk?

Gavin.

I use X Ultras and love them but I have Salomon shaped feet. The soles are pretty hard wearing and the uppers are reasonable too. My last pair lasted nearly three years before the EVA got too soft. If they fit you, they'll be fine.

Flip flops.

Nothing beats bog-trotting in bare feet.

They were great Gavin. I have really fussy feet, when I used these for the TGOC 2015 it was only the second time I'd used them and not a sore spot in sight over what was a pretty demanding TGO route (>17,000m of ascent). They kept my feet pretty dry overall too, but let's face it any fabric boot will have it's limits and my feet got damp a couple of times, nothing serious.

I'm squarely in the dry foot camp, and just don't get along with the idea of getting feet sopping wet, and having fast drying open mesh footwear. That's great during the odd summer shower, but for prolonged wet periods it simply wrecks my feet. So the Ultra GTX were a good compromise. Last year I backpacked the Cambrian Way and wore unlined trail shoes in horrendous wet weather, Never again, I lost 6 toe nails of which only two have so far grown back.

Only downside of the Ultra GTX Mids is longevity. They only lasted about 12 months, and probably about 800-900 miles in total. They eventually developed a small split in the fabric in the natural crease across the front.

Also, when I replaced them with the new model I had a very slight issue the first time I wore the new ones. The fabric which lines the inside of the ankle cuff is coarser than in the previous version, so has a slight tendency to pull against my sock and caused a hot spot. Once the material had softened a bit they were fine. Took a couple of normal long weekends walks to get that sorted.

Easy Peessyyyyy

Trail Shoes all the way in May (might have to take spikes on my intended route)

Inov8 Roclite 282 GTX + x-socks Trekking light socks & OR mini Gaiters.

Used on last 3 Challenges & no blisters.

Before that I used Terroc 345 GTX with the same sock version for 2 Challenges

OK in Snow, OK in Wet

Had no problems .....

JOB DONE!

Salomon Quest 4D GTX have done me very well on the last 6 Challenges and on numerous other non-winter long walks. No reason to change, I like ankle support but accept that my boots will get soaked sooner or later. I've used Merrel pacers (330g) as spare shoes for a few years, but think I'll take Inov 295s this time.

There is another thread on here about trail shoes, iv never tried them and i dont think i ever will, i like the ankle to give me complete support not to mention hard underfoot. some people swear by them but i know my feet will be aching after a short day especially over rugged terain. The best boots iv ever had are the Meindl Bhutan MFS pure comfort straight out of the box and everytimr you put them on. I guess if i was going to be persuaded i would give something like the salomon range or similar. Everybodys feet are different mine are delicate and the last thing i want is constantly thinking about them.

Salomon X Ultra Mid GTX. Used them on my last TGO and they were great. In fact I've done almost all my backpacking in a pair for a couple of years now apart from a disastrous try with trail shoes which left me minus 6 toe nails.

Only weak point I found with the Salomon is their grip in mud isn't very inspiring....but on all other surfaces they're great.

Heck, I'm loosing my mind.....can't even remember which threads I've responded to already !!