I'm looking for womens winter hiking shoes

I have an older pair of http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/21681W/0/Womens/Chameleon-Arc-2-Waterproof?dimensions=0 that I bought at DSW a couple winters ago, and they are holding up great. I wear them whenever the weather is sloppy, which is most of the winter in Minnesota :-). They have Gore-Tex, so they're waterproof, which was my top priority when I bought the shoes. They're very warm, too. My husband has the men's version of http://s3.backcountry.com/900/TNF/TNF4668/TNF4668-COFBROOR.jpg, and he loves them. They are super grippy on ice and snow, so he likes to jump on and over snowbanks with them just because he can. I've never seen him so happy to walk through snow before! He claims they're warm as well (plus waterproof).

I continually recommend my beloved Salomons. Unfortunately, it might be a bit confusing to navigate all of their options, because so many of them look very similar and have similar names. I actually took my shoe off just now (sorry, officemates!) and Googled the serial number; looks like I have the http://www.altrec.com/salomon/womens-xa-pro-3d-xcr-running-shoe. A comparably waterproof and non-mesh one that they offer right now is http://www.zappos.com/salomon-xa-comp-4-gtx-grass-x-autobahn-aluminum. (I feel your pain on the mesh. Oops.) I live in hilly Wisconsin and do a lot of walking around on snowy, icy pavement and getting on and off buses into three-foot snowbanks. In the three years I've had mine, they've never let ANY snow or wind in. They have a Gore-Tex outside and the toes are nice and sturdy, too -- almost like a Keen, but way more flexible. I especially like them because I really want to avoid wearing "outdoor shoes" and "indoor shoes" -- these are pretty light and look like normal shoes, and I don't have to wait for them to dry off.

I have some super fugly Merrells similar to http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/17938W/0/Womens/Thermo-Arc-Crystal-Waterproof?dimensions=0 Merrells, and they are $110. I love being able to slip them on and trudge around in the Minnesotan winters - I broke them out for the first time this season today - and are pretty warm. That's saying a lot since my feet also get cold easily. They also have some height to them, which I suspect helps keep my feet warmer as they are further away from the ground. The ones I linked have a comfort range to -10F/-23C

If you want to wear trail shoes I highly recommend looking into a vapor barrier liner + a gaiter. The vapor barrier keeps your foot dry, your boot dry, your outersock dry and can add +15 degrees of warmth. The gaiter will prevent a lot of snow melt into your shoes. If you wore a thin liner, wore something like http://www.rbhdesigns.com/product/34/vaprthrm-insulated-sock.htm, and then a hiking sock over that you could probably put 20 degrees on your current shoe. I just bought these http://www.backcountry.com/the-north-face-chilkats-boot-womens for my girlfriend. I like the styles, they are really cheap, they are rated to -25F and they are waterproof.

I haven't worn them for an extended period in extreme cold (below -10 or so), but I've been very pleased so far with http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61982?from=SR&feat=sr (they also make a non-high top version). I've tramped around several times measuring snow, and the only hint of a chill was when the wet hem of my jeans rode up on my leg. My feet were still dry and toasty.