Re - Oldbaldguy

If the temperature rarely falls below 40 degrees in the summer whilst hiking I think good quality Trekking sandals are quite appropriate. I think the pluses outweigh the minuses compared to the excellent range of boots suggested by others. This of course has to be qualified by the type and difficulty of the terrain found in Texas. I suppose this would be mostly dry grassy savanna not subarctic mountain plateaus. Indeed if the temperatures rarely fall below 40 degrees, to keep comfortable I would probably even for go conventional dress and dress in a cotton trekking Kilt , ventile shirt with an Arabic shemagh headdress. As for the unfortunate incident of dropping an empty magazine on her toes the modern trekking sandal does have some limited toe protection. Also wearing heavy sweaty boots in 40 degree heat is not conducive to proper foot care. Most would be crippled by the blistering and foot swelling. The main downside I guess is that a sandal wearing, skirt wearing, looks like an Arabic terrorist would not go down to well in Texas.