Hoka One One Challenger 6 GTX

With winter approaching - and threatening to be worse than usual this year - I knew I needed some heavy-duty shoes if I wanted to stay outside as much as possible through the cold, gray Ohio winter. Since my feet always seem cold anyway - and soggy socks are just not okay - I went with the Challenger 6 with the full Gore-Tex treatment. 

Admittedly, we haven't had a whole lot of wintery conditions here yet (sorry about those 6 feet of snow, Buffalo!), but we have had plenty of cold, damp days, and these shoes have kept my feet warm and dry and cozy - which has made my friends incredibly jealous. 

So far, my Challengers have mostly tackled paved trails, but they handle the trails well, and they still feel stable when I venture into more rugged paths. 

Of course, the warm-toastiness does mean that the uppers are thicker and stiffer than your favorite summer shoes. They feel a little bulky, and it seemed to take a little extra time to break them in. But now that I've put some miles in, they feel comfortable and well-cushioned. And, really, a little extra bulkiness is a perfectly acceptable trade-off for warm, dry feet - and for shoes that seem way more eager to tackle the winter weather conditions than I am.