Am trying to remember why I chose the Targhee II over the III...seems like reviews indicated the III's were on a narrower last. Toe rubber on the III is slightly different.
Wore them on pavement, sand, trail, fallen timber, talus, rock, boulders and scree as well as snow. Feet stayed dry from the inside although am in the habit of changing socks midway on any appreciable hike distance. In the North Cascades wore them in around 2" of water and feet stayed dry. Worked well with hinged crampons for LIGHT duty on firm snow. Would recommend a much stiffer boot for step kicking earlier in the season and ANY front pointing application. Unless you are very experienced as a climber, I wouldn't recommend these as mountaineering boots.
Found that replacing the laces with extra long small diameter perlon (orange with reflective stripes/REI) was able to thread the lace through the nylon webbing on the back of the boot (not the pull loop), tie an overhand and come back to the front and tie a regular knot which gave even more rigidity and heel support.
The insoles are removable which allows you to swap insoles from other boots if desired and assists in daily interior drying.
Main benefit is that they are VERY light on the feet and VERY comfortable and durable as an *approach* or "trekking" boot.
**KEEN** recommends that you select a half or full size LARGER than your regular size as these run a bit small. Good advice.
