I'm going to put my 2 cents in FOR Goretex liners in boots. I switched over to Goretex a number of years ago and haven't looked back. I have the opposite experience GrantC has. Feet are not clammy (at least no more than any other shoe/boot). I clean and coat the boots with a spray Nikwax formula 2-3x a year and even when trekking through streams my feet have stayed dry. Being several years old, they are starting to wear a bit at the sole seams so I will have goop them up to maintain the seal.

I normally have hot feet so I was initially concerned about getting too hot. I have found that it just wasn't true with these boots -Garmont Synchro ($225 CDN). I have low volume, long narrow feet and these fit perfectly. I've taken to wearing them in winter as well as during the summer because of their waterproof nature. They flex at exactly the right point for my longish toes. I consider this pair as close to the ideal boot as I have ever had. I prefer to have a shallow sole to keep the damage to the trail to a minimum.

I wear medium or thick smart-wool blended socks. I tried out poly liner socks inside of ordinary wool but the slipperiness of the foot inside the other sock felt too strange and actually created blisters instead of preventing them!