Merrell Lithe Review – Perfect Shoes For Daily Use Living In The Rockies

What shoes do you wear to the office? Wait, what if your office was the YMCA camp in Estes Park, Colorado? That’s the dilemma my daughter faced this past summer. Check out this review of the Merrell Lithe and how she picked them over other options for daily use outdoor shoes.

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My search for new shoes began because I have been wearing pumas as my running, hiking and every day shoes for a little over a year now. Up until this summer they were the only tennis shoes that I could wear without getting blisters on my feet.

Puma chillin’ – they’re great for relaxing and chill-axin’ but they weren’t going to cut it for daily use.

Footwear for a YMCA Day Camp Counselor

The problem started in May when I began working at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park as a Day Camp Counselor. This job requires constant movement and is incredibly active; we are constantly walking around the grounds doing different activities whether that just be walking, running, hiking or jumping around. Considering the fact that I have to be wearing closed toed tennis shoes for about 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, I am sure you can imagine how much my feet hurt and how the Pumas did not satisfy my needs.

My job was to lead day camp for first graders all day, every day at the camp. We’d spend our days outside, hiking, playing games, jumping, and basically just one form of movement after another. I couldn’t afford to suffer with blisters, but I needed more traction than the Puma’s would provide.

As I started looking at shoes, my first thought was something light that wouldn’t weigh my feet down on long days and something with a decent amount of traction for hikes and also trail/road running.

The Brands

The brand that I kept hearing about from my dad is Merrell, so of course I trust his judgement and tried some on along with some other brands such as Keen and Soloman. I searched for trail shoes that were still light. That meant these were all bordering on minimalist shoes. Remember that transitioning to minimalist shoes takes time, don’t just jump into them and rock the trail. That’s a sure recipe for injury. Since I had been running, walking, hiking, and living in my Pumas my feet were already conditioned for minimal shoes.

Keens – Looks without Function

The Keens fit really comfortably but they had too much padding and I think they would be awesome for just treadmill or road running. The more I imagined living in the rocks, mud, and sand of the YMCA the more these just didn’t seem to fit. The Keens seemed like they would last if they were quarantined to the treadmill or clean pavement. That isn’t where my shoes are headed. The Keens were looks without function to live daily outside in the Rockies.

Solomon – More Clunk Than Funk

You can’t judge trail shoes without trying on some Soloman’s. They are obviously built for the trail. They fit comfortably and even had a lot of cushion.

But style matters. I need to look good. No I don’t need some Jimmy Chows, but style matters. The Solomans were a little too clunky for me. They had more chunk than funk.

Merrell Lithe – Just Right

The search continued until I saw them; the Merrel Lithe. I had to get the bright pink and green ones, because having a fun looking shoe was another requirement for me.

These rocked in looks, but they delivered on function as well.

The reason they stuck out to me was because they are incredibly light weight and flexible shoes with not a whole lot of padding. They also have awesome tread on the bottom and tight heel that does not slide up and down to cause blisters. Another thing that I liked about the Merrells is that they have incredible flex which from what the sales associate said would make it less likely to cause blisters along the heel.

Merrell Lithe – The Perfect Shoe

So armed with the Merrell Lithe I headed back to the YMCA camp and a summer of living as a day camp counselor. Each day we explored the Rockies challenging kids to do and see things they had not encountered before. And I did it all in my new Merrel Lithe shoes; living the dream.

Stay tuned to for the second article in this review where I’ll let you know how the summer went. All the details … well, all the details on how well the Merrell Lithe’s worked as my daily shoes for living outdoors in the Rockies.