Cascadia 13

Fellow Pennsylvanian here... and this struggle is real! I'm somewhat in the same boat as you as I've been trying to find shoes that are protective against the rocks and roots of our region while also being durable enough to get your money's worth out of the shoes. Here's my progression of footwear over the past 5-7 years or so along with some insights you can take as suggestions. None of these options are zero drop though except the Merrell trail gloves. Adidas Terrex - Pros: good coushion, plenty of padding and protection against rocks. Cons: not wide enough for my feet and they changed the cut of the heel stabilizer to be too high. Merrell Trail Glove - Pros: out of box comfort and very light. Cons: not at all good on rocks. Asics Gel Venture - Pros: out of box comfort and good tread. Cons: not durable, not wide enought, bad quality control. Merrell Moab Speed 1 - Pros: great durability of shoe body, available in wide sizes, and sufficient protection against rocks. Cons: tread is not durable. However, this is probably my favorite trail runner and I wish it was still in production. Its a 500 mile shoe with 300 mile tread. Brooks Cascadia 13 and 15 - Pros: quality tread and good rock protection. Cons - not as wide as I'd like in their 2E size and the heel lock fabric deteriorated quickly causing blisters on my heel. New Balance Hierro V7 - Pros: good coushion and heel support. Cons - that damn flappy thing on the heel, lack of padding in the tongue, durability. Brooks Cascadia 16 - Pros: great rock plate, awesome tread, and wider toebox in 2E size. Cons - shit quality. Regardless, I went through 3 pairs and just dropped the 3rd in the trash after hiking up Old Rag in Shennandoah a week ago. 500 mile tread on a 250 mile shoe body that is not worth the cost. Merrell Moab Speed 2 - Pros - lightweight and PA approved rock plate. Cons - durability and the redesign in general. Wore these on a 260 mile section hike and they messed up my feet and gave me blisters on top of my toes. Was fully refunded though. Merrell Nova 4 - arrives in the mail today in advance of a 120 mile AT section in central Va in a couple of weeks. Might move onto Topo Terraventures or Ultraventures next.

I wear my Brooks trail running shoes when the course is wet. They are Gore-Tex, so great for wet turf, but still let my feet breathe, unlike some waterproof golf shoes.

Thanks! Yeah Windham would definitely be a good run for sure. Not too technical. I hadn’t done Balsam Lake in forever and that’s a pretty easy trail and Slide is about as straightforward as it gets in the Catskills. I figured both would be well traveled with a good snowshoe trench already formed. Balsam was a little soft to be honest…wasn’t easy but super fun going back down. I just wear my Cascadias non gortex w/spikes. It’s was pretty dry powdery snow on Balsam and Slide had a pretty solid trench all the way up so my feet never got buried. I can deal with cold feet if I’m not going to be out there too long and always bring an extra pair with me.

Cascadia. Happy medium between ultra cushioned vs stability. Great all around shoe. Rock plate is a plus especially for me here in the northeastern US.

I just bought a pair of these - waiting for delivery. I'm also around 225lbs and have trouble between highly cushioned shoes and them being soft/unstable. Have you ran in other "high end" shoes like prodigio pro or prodigio max? Tecton 3? Or Ultrafly Trail? Any other comparisons here - as I've tried a few of those to only modest success... What other past Brooks have you run in - what did you like about those vs. the new cascadio elite? I started upping my distances years ago, but didn't really get into trail shoes until I got a pair of Brooks Catamount 1's... I really liked the combination of fit, stability, speed, and ground feel. They changed the fit in the Catamount 2 and 3 and I never got along with them. I stocked up and bough 3 additional pairs of the 1st version and am wearing my last pair out now. I've tried Norda 001/002 to no success. I have a pair of Nnormal Tomir02, and they are too narrow in the toebox, but I like the midsole. I have a Nike Ultrafly Trail, but use those for road to light trail only - not stable enough. Hoka Speedgoats are the most unstable shoe I've ever worn. Regular cascadias are fine, but clunkier than my preference. I'm really hoping these bridge the highly cushioned, stable, with good fit gap that I'm looking for as a Catamount 1 replacement. Doing the TMB in Aug - 5 days on trail, hoping these will work for that.

Right! For a lower stack shoe, I never had sore feet after long efforts - just the right amount of foam and the "plate" offered great protection, while still being lively, stable, comfortable, and fast. It was a great shoe. I could do everything from road, to flowy trails, to super rocky technical traverses, never a problem. I have a feeling the current Catamounts would still check the boxes if Brooks hadn't messed up the fit by making it way narrower. I never understand that - if you take a product and make it narrower, then also offer it as a "wide" using the same last as the previous iteration - you've already got the tooling... Brooks - if you're listening, offer the Catamount in a Wide, please!

Here is my impression of the Cascadia Elite after a couple of short runs to break them in (total of about 15 miles) - if anyone was looking for more information. Fit - my foot is wider and I have a high arch and instep, especially on my right foot. I normally wear an 11.5 in most brands. I ordered both 11.5 and 12, and chose to keep the 12. It was the right decision for sure. The sockliner offers a very comfortable/snug feel - that I appreciate very much. I feel that the shoe offers a wide enough fit in the toebox, but narrow enough in the heel to get good hold while not feeling constricting. The extra length of a half size up is great without being too big. I did add a Superfeet insole (which I do with all my shoes). The only pain point I had was with the lace retention strap over the instep, it felt too tight and was causing some pain over my bone/veins in that area. I cut that elastic piece out as I don't typically need/use the lace hold-down. Haven't had a fit problem since. I'm liking the comfort of the upper very much. The Upper does seem to breath very well. I run hot, but normally do not overheat in hot conditions, or get cold feet running even in wet/snowy conditions. In this shoe, I did feel water/cold easily get in and out when running through a few puddles/snowfields. I think I am going to give them an A from the standpoint that I could feel the coolness, and with most running being done in dry/arid environments, am happy that these seem to dry/vent well. Midsole running impressions - It is fairly bouncy/squishy under my weight (225ish), more so in the heel. AND it feels like the drop is more than the advertised 6mm (IMO). This combo feels more squirrelly than expected and very different from what I am used to, which is again, admittedly, something I'm not super familiar with - going to a high stack shoe (my preference to date has been the lower stack Catamount 1). That said, it is more stable than any of the other high stack shoes I have tried on, or purchased in the past. I think I will get used to it the more I run in it, and my hope is that the footbed beds down and the foam packs down in the heel. With stability being very important to me, I'm hoping this area improves, but isn't a deal breaker as I'll really be using this shoe for more long non-technical on-trail efforts (TMB) vs. other off-trail, technical efforts. The wide sole and base I think contributes to stability nicely and if you weigh less (say, sub 200), I don't think you will feel the foam instability at all. The underfoot feel is very soft/comfortable, yet neutral. I didn't notice individual rocks/roots poking through uncomfortably, nor did I feel they were particularly vague. I think they will do great on most trails. I have enjoyed shoes in the past with a full "rock plate" or "propulsion plate" to protect from rocks, but those were always with lower stack/less foam, so that combo worked. With more foam underfoot on the CE's, I don't think a full plate is really needed, but the U-shaped plate definitely adds some stiffness. That stiffness I think helps with forward propulsion and some stability. Without it, it would probably be even more squirrelly from side to side. I'm glad it has that plate and also feel like it does offer some forward push. I was running through mixed conditions which should have made my pace a bit slower than expected, but was keeping in the pace range that I normally would have on dry trail conditions. Cannot say for sure if the shoe played into that, or fitness, or just the day... but worth noting as I was running in my normal zones and would have expected slower times through snow/mud. The last thing about feel is that they don't feel particular quick/agile - again I think this has to do with my weight, as each step I take compresses the foam quite a bit and then has to rebound before lifting off - this extra movement just makes them feel a little less nimble than something with a lower stack. Grip - I ran through grass, slick mud, hardpack gravel, and even snow. The take away is that the lug pattern and rubber held up well and I didn't feel like the grip was lacking except when side-hilling a snowfield, but that would have been the case with any shoe... perhaps less stack would have made that easier, or harder foam, but the grip is good - I am confident they will work in most all conditions. 3.5mm lugs could be 4mm-4.5mm and I don't think anyone would have batted an eye at increased weight... with the tradeoff being more grip and longevity... but that's nitpicking. Overall, I'm really happy with them as a shoe to add to the quiver. The fit and comfort alone are awesome and I can see myself using these for long runs, an upcoming TMB trip, and once they are "worn out" just as a walking shoe as they are that comfortable. I will use these sparingly though, only for those long, sustained on-trail pushes, really anything 30k+ of flowy single/double-track. Anything backcountry, traversing, bushwacking, scrambling, I'll still opt for something more stable. So, not a quiver-killer, but definitely a long race-day shoe, or long effort shoe where you want to maintain comfort and safe the legs. The foam feels very comfortable and ultimately, that's what these high stack shoes are all about - this is the best combination of comfort and stability I have found for my use case. Hope this helps - cheers!

This is my thought exactly. Everyone’s feet react differently to shoes and everyone I know have to try several types before they find the right match. For me, Brooks Cascadia (non-gtx) has been my go to for several years now. They have worked in all conditions, wet, dry, muddy, rocky, etc. one thing I will say is I have to switch them out pretty regularly because I do a lot of hiking during the year and notice when my legs start to hurt after a 15 mile hike, I need new shoes (at least one or two new pairs a year). I am not sure how some people wear the same pair for years?

I use Brooks Cascadias for hiking and love them!

I like the mud as well but the high alpine is closed until June! Love the NNormal, these are the Tomir 2, didn't really like the first model which had a weird-ish fit but these are my favorite trail shoes ever. Super comfortable with great durability. I have 800+km on them now and feel like they can keep going for at least 1/3 more. Only shoe as durable I've owned were an older model of Brooks Cascadia that are now long gone.

I had a few pairs of Hokas and enjoyed them but durability is a major issue. Same thing with Salomon really. My only durable shoe in the pas has been a pair of Brooks Cascadia. Today I've moved on to NNormal Tomir 02 and I find much more comfort, grip and durability than Hokas - just a thought! On to my third pair!

Most people are fine starting with any trail running shoes. See what’s on sale and fits and start there. Brooks Cascadia are a nice place to start, but it depends on what’s comfortable for your foot shape. I only wear boots for snow now and average probably 500 miles a year.