When planning for a hike I pay close attention to my footwear. My hiking shoes need to be up to the demands of the trail without slowing me down with excess weight. I've found that, in most cases, less is more. That is, I've stopped wearing over-the-ankle Gore-Tex hiking boots and have transitioned to trail runners for nearly all of my 3-season hiking. La Sportiva Bushido have been my go-to shoes for the past few seasons.

 

This past month I headed out to Scotland with numerous short hikes on the west coast of the Highlands. I knew this would mean time spent on wet, slick Lewisian gneiss and other ancient rock of the Hebridean terrane. I decided to bring along a pair of La Sportiva TX 3 outfitted with Vibram Megagrip soles. A friend, an authority on mountaineering boots, confirmed that these soles would provide extra grip on slick surfaces.

 

I wore them on trails on the Isle of Iona, Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Isle of Raasay (near Skye), and Plockton. I was pleased with the results and will attest that the soles provided more grip than other trail runners I had worn.