I have spent the summer wearing a great pair of light weight well ventilated hiking shoes, and my feet are thanking me for it.  Normally,  when day hiking,  I have thrown on my backpacking boots, and headed off to the trail,  and happily hiked away.  Lately though I have begin to have some issues with blisters as the temperature rises, and my feet produce a lot of moisture.  A critical feature when I am in the backcountry for multiple days is to have a pair of boots that is supportive and will keep my feet dry.  Hence the need for a waterproof barrier such as Gor-Tex or eVent.  These work as well as they possibly can,  and I would not trade them for anything when in these situations.

On the other hand,  while dayhiking in the summer,  as well as an occasional light and fast overnights,  I have changed my approach.  A pair of low height, light weight, airy hiking shoes have become my footwear of choice.  These shoes come in the form of The Lowa Vento LO- Breathable Light Hikers which were sent to me a couple of months ago.

I have been logging a bunch of miles in these shoes and they have become the poster child of summer hiking shoes in San Diego.  They are well made,  put up with the abuse I have heaped upon them,  and still look good enough to wear out and about in town.  One of the things that I always appreciate about quality footwear is the use of intelligent well designed padding, rather than floating a foot in a heap of unsupported foam on the chance that they will be comfortable.  The Lowa Vento LO’s really illustrate this concept,  using just enough padding in the right places to hold the foot comfortably, while allowing the rest of the shoe to do it’s job of being supportive while walking comfortably.

The sole of the shoe is plenty beefy for the trail,  while not so aggressive that it makes street walking clunky.  The midsole is what I am most impressed with.  The Monowrapped construction wraps fairly stiff rubbery plastic ribs up the side of the shoe to protect and support your foot, while it has cutouts to reduce weight and allow for flexibility.  The sides of the shoes are leather to maintain durability, and the entire top is made of mesh to keep things cool.

While the primary purpose of these shoes are for light hiking with no or a little load,  I invariably would throw my youngest daughter on my shoulders while on the trail,  and did not notice any issues with 40 lbs of awkwardly poised wriggling weight on my shoulders on mild trails.  I have occasionally forgotten that these shoes are not waterproof, and have unintentionally dipped my toes in water, only to quickly be reminded that the tops are made of mesh.  The fortunate part is they then dry just as quickly.  If I had one criticism of these shoes is with the finish.  There were several places with dents from air bubbles in the molded pieces, and several threads that have straggly ends.  The good part is that none of these have affected the performance in any way.

San Diego has a plethora of warm dry weather.  A pair of light hikers fit the bill in so many situations, and the Lowa Vento LO are a great choice for those warm weather days on the dirt.