A trail shoe for mud and wet rock should bite, shed the mud, and keep your toes after you clip a stone.
We ran on slick rock and in mud, looking at the rubber, the space between the lugs, and the bumper that meets the rock before your nails do.
Lugs and rubber
Deep lugs with no gap between them carry mud and become slicks. A stickier rubber holds wet granite and wears faster on the road you use to reach the trail. The toe bumper is the unglamorous piece that saves a nail.
- Lugs spaced so mud can leave, not only enter.
- Rubber that feels tacky on a wet stone.
- A toe cap you can see and that is actually firm.
- A fit that is not sloppy once the foot swells.
A lug full of mud is a smooth sole with extra weight.
After the trail
Rinse the outsole before the mud turns to brick. Dry them out of the sun. The same shoe every wet weekend will wear at the heel and the toe first. That is where to look before you decide they are done.
Buy the shoe for the surface you slip on, not for the dry fire road in the product photo.
