Scarpa  Mescalito Approach Shoes - Women's

So, my original text for this review was a complaint about the lousy delivery service, but when I called REI, because the delivery service cannot be contacted directly, the customer service was great, and they shipped another pair via UPS, which, despite being shipped via the economy ground service, arrived overnight. Compare that to OnTrac, which had the shoes for a week, and still couldn't complete the delivery. But, I think that this shoe is great. It reminds me of the La Sportiva TX Guide Leather in terms of the fit and feel on the foot, as well as performance on the trail, but it improves upon that shoe in two areas. First, the Mescalito has better toe room, with minimal impact on performance, and second, it has a leather tongue, instead of the open mesh on the TX Guide Leather. That open mesh lets a bunch of trail dirt and sand into the shoe, and is a major design flaw. By contrast, the Mescalito has leather in the exposed area of the tongue, with a tough stretch material in the folds at each side, sealing out the trail dirt. But, like the TX Guide Leather, the Mescalito has a close, secure fit on the foot, a bit firmer midsole consistent with contemporary approach shoes, and a powerful edging platform for scrambling or even modest fifth-class climbing. In summary, great approach shoe - the best I've worn recently.