Trail shoe for hiking

I just recently did a backpacking trip using only waterproof trail runners/adventure shoes(Salomon PRO 3D XCR) and had great success with them and they supported me well enough. My question is about my joints. Am I hurting my ankles/knees by using these type of shoes for a backpacking trip of a couple days? I usually have about a 35lbs load. Thanks guys!

Probably not hurting your joints - we kinda evolved barefoot and traveled carrying our stuff. If you're fit and not seriously overloading your body (like if you were lugging 50%+ of your body weight for long periods of time) I'd suspect you'll be just dandy.

I'm somewhat jealous - I've got a bad left knee and a blown out right ankle so I'm forced to accept a more supportive platform ...

Unless you are bushwacking, hiking long distance or have a health problem that requires extra support and stability, you can wear just about anything. I always carry at least 30# and often 50# (or more) up and down rocky, mountain trails with 2k'-4k' elevation gain. I usually wear sandals and carry the boots for a little extra challenge. If I am on a smooth trail in an area with no poisonous critters, I'll even go barefoot for up to a mile or so at a time. But I AM CAREFUL and I recommend same to others. Getting back to a trailhead with a sprained or broken ankle would not be fun.

Barefoot? That is pretty interesting. Although understandable I guess, especially if your feet are sweaty. But like you said, you would have to be very careful. As for sandles, I took a friend of mine who is from California out to the Superior Hiking Trail, and he wore sandles the entire time. I recommended to him to put shoes on, as we did some long days, but he said he always walks around in sandles. His feet lasted a lot longer than mine would have in sandles, but by the end of the week he had some pretty nasty blisters.

Yet I would agree a simple tennis shoe that fits well can be more comfortable than a bulky hiking boot that doesn't fit well. But I guess there is a pretty big argument about high-ankle support or light weight shoes. Some claim the high-ankle have more support, others claim the light weight ones are more agile. Either way I suppose you can twist your ankle on about anything if you aren't careful.

The only significant problem you might run into is lacing them up too tight. Result could be Mortons Neuroma. Often cited by a foot doctor, hiking friend who likes to go as close to barefoot as he can get - and still keep his toe nails.

I used to backpack a lot using Keds, and then graduating to running shoes. But the older I became, the more I'd get swelling of feet and ankles after a lot of miles.

I suspect this did minor damage to various small joints.

I now use a much heavier, low-cut shoe, a "trail shoe," for most back-packing, saving the mountain boots, and sometimes carrying them, for mountaineering. Still, on a smooth approach trail, I've use sandals in recent years. But never in snow.

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