Ok great, good review (just fyi, they do make a wide version)

But that's encouraging. I plan on taking them out on a 4 mile trail with a weighted backpack today or tomorrow. I think that will give me a good idea of how they will perform.

The thing about new footwear for backpacking is that it's very difficult to predict how they will perform until you actually go on your full trip (or so it seems to me).

I probably wouldn't have even posted on this forum, but a few years ago I had a really nasty experience on a week long backpacking trip in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. A pair of Vasque boots that I'd worn for 2 years but never backpacked in. I naturally assumed they'd be ok, but after hoofing for the first hour with 55lbs I could already feel blisters starting to form, and big ones on my heel. Not exactly a good sign. Basically they were a size or half a size too small once my foot swelled up and there was nothing to do about it. And we were averaging about 8-9 miles a day. Needless to say, huge blisters on heels, toenails turned black and fell off later. One guy on the trail suggested cutting the leather heel section out, but I opted to take the pain instead, using sticks for makeshift trekking poles, doing anything I could to take the weight off. Ahhhh memories. At least the scenery was epic and part of that 55 lbs was a nice SLR camera and 2 lenses that grabbed some amazing shots (was totally worth the weight). But anyway, I'm pretty cautious (could probably say paranoid) about new footwear now. Plus all my gear is lighter, and I've learned to pack lighter.

This trip will only be 3 days and I made sure that these shoes were 1/2 size bigger, maybe pushing 1, but the heel wasn't slipping and the elasticity of the shoe and lacing system seems like it will cinch up as tight as I need.

But ya, in short, think they will be fine.