I would go with the Montrail Hurricane Ridge. They are GTX but are just great. I never have a problem with them. Some say they are minimally heavy...but they are the best.
Thanks for the tip. From looking at your training volume, I'm guessing you should know. I tried on most of the Motrail's that I could find in stores. I don't think I was able to locate that model. Most either didn't fit, have my size, weighed a bit too much or had a center of balance too high for me. My size U.S. 12.5 foot is a bit narrower than most. I've noticed from hiking and long days course setting that weight is a factor that doesn't "weigh" well with me. One Montrail pair I liked but it put too much stress right on the center of the ball of my foot. I didn't want to go on-line for a kind of shoe that I haven't gotten before. I also wanted to get some with enough time to try them out before the SVO Rogaine.
Over this weekend in Connecticutt, I bought a pair of Merril Overdrive's that fit well, were somewhat sturdy compared to my street running shoes, and still light. I found them to perform about as good as I'd hoped when off-trail. They weren't as good as O-shoes for off-trail use but I was able to do a score-O in them on some steep and diverse terrain and O-shoes wouldn't work well over 24 hours. The Merrils were pretty nice on the trail too. I guess time will tell.
Interesting. I find Merrill's to be quite heavy usually. And they don't stand the test of time! I find Salomon;s to be way to stiff. Well, you can order the Montrail's I am talking about off of the Moosejaw.com website. Jmm also uses these shoes and loves them. They will stand up to anything! With moosejaw you can always send them back. My suggestion would, at some point, order them, test them out at home, and then give em a go. From what i can glean of the rock creek trails, when it rains, they are totally great on the single track.