Hiking boots don’t prioritize beauty. Actual rugged, beefy hiking boots are built to endure rocks and streams and snow. There are summits to climb, craggy rocks to navigate.

But it’s a bit ironic that the great outdoors, the place we literally go for unencumbered beauty, is marred by the ugly old boots we’re usually laced into. Friends, there’s hope on the horizon, thanks to Arc’teryx.

The Canadian outdoor brand that’s become associated with streetwear-cool (largely due to its fossilized-bird-logo beanie colonizing your local coffee shop) has created a big new hiking shoe that's actually kind of sexy. 

The Arc’teryx Konseal Trek Boot is technically designed for climbers, slotting into the brand’s broader range of Konseal climbing gear, which includes pants, backpacks, and pullover hoodies. Building on the DNA of its popular low-cut Konseal shoe, Arc'teryx elevated the silhouette to mid-height, extending the waterproofing and weather-protective elements for extra protection.

What’s really striking here is that for all the materials that make this an absolute tank, from the GORE-TEX membrane to the Vibram MegaGrip outsole, it looks shockingly understated. Simple, even. The mix of materials looks especially sleek in the tan-and-black version, but both colorways wouldn’t look out of place at a listening bar. That's the beauty of Arc’teryx: it fits into any scenario.

I know the point of the Konseal Trek Book is for real adventurers to have a shoe that’ll brave all the elements and I get why that power translates into it being Arc’teryx’s most expensive shoe at $280, but hear me out: I recently watched Charlize Theron scale cliffs and spend an inordinate amount of the movie falling into water in Apex, and can confidently say that lifestyle isn’t for me, yet I’m still into this shoe. 

If that doesn’t speak to the power of a glow-up for outdoor footwear’s ugly duckling, I just don’t know what does.

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