After the initial 35 miles, once the boots were broken in, I really started to enjoy them. Any buyer’s remorse faded with every additional mile logged. Around this same time, I also noticed the relationship between lace tension and comfort. I experimented a bit with lacing the boots with different levels of lace tension, and found a good balance between support and comfort.
Prior to purchasing the Kenetreks, I had been wearing a pair of Danner Pronghorns. One of the things I noticed immediately on the rocky trails of the Beartooth Mountains was how much more support the stiff 7mm mid-sole provided when navigating rocky trails. The stiffer sole offers two major advantages. First, it alleviates pressure points on the bottom of the foot when traversing rocky terrain. Second, it greatly increases the stability and ankle support of the boot. While it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that a purpose-built sheep hunting boot excelled in rocky terrain, the difference, when compared to the pronghorns more pronounced than I anticipated. The one piece upper of the Kenetrek’s also excelled at keeping my feet dry, again, when compared to the Danner Pronghorns.
I hunted quite a few days during early elk season with temperatures north of 50 degrees. I found the 400-gram Thinsulate a bit too warm under these conditions, which resulted in sweaty feet. If I had the money, I’d buy a second pair of Uninsulated Mountain Extremes to wear in temperatures above 45 degrees. In temperatures below 45 degrees, the 400 Gram Thinsulate makes the boot incredibly comfortable on all day active hunts interspersed with glassing stops.