Trail Glove 6

Im looking for an alternative to altra mt king 2, stack between 1-2 cm but not 5 cm stack? the merrell trail is to narrow for me but other than that pretty perfect with a firm and rather low stack.

Topo Pursuit has replaced Lone Peak for me. I felt Altra's quality has drastically declined and Topo is a good alternative. I am mostly a Merrell Trail Glove person these days, Pursuit is the one trail shoe I own that's not barefoot style.

I did "One Shoe(s)" for a while, but don't anymore. Merrell Trail Gloves in black are my primary travel shoes. If you're not a minimalist shoe fan (you should be, but that's a different cult and sub 😄), pick something from your list, I'd reco you aim at black for dressing up (a bit...they will never be super dressy). HOWEVER - after the one time my Merrells got wet, didn't dry, and went full funk, smell-able from the next country over, I was convinced to always travel with some ultralight and packable backups just in case. Cheap "sock shoes" from Amazon (go with black) are my current go-tos for that. They double as airplane slippers and pack super small and light. Something like the pic, or find some that work better for your feet. I've also carried ultra-light water socks at times as my backup pair. Being adapted to minimalist shoes means I can actually do a lot of walking around town in these types of things if the need arises, but even if that's not you, you can certainly get to/from the airport or store or whatever you need to do that day - without blowing out the entire planetary neighborhood with mutant shoe funk in your main pair (which are now wrapped in double plastic bags in your one bag until you can wash them in a "sanitize" cycle a few times). See the pic for an example, but search for "water shoe", "water sock", "sock shoes", etc. Buy 4-5 cheap pairs, see which ones work best for your feet, pack the best compromise of small+light+happy feet. https://preview.redd.it/qhcojee6fx5h1.png?width=466&format=png&auto=webp&s=7775fad8d14a67c377316104ba6e0bf0dea228cd

I’ve always been a fast hiker but I could never make the trail gloves work because of the impact. Well now I’m 57 and having heart issues so I need to learn to slow down. I found that my old trail gloves are now the perfect shoe. I focus on gliding at 80% and they feel like dance shoes.

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.