Hi sherpa,
There are a bunch of pretty good boots out there that will meet your needs. Your specification of "waterproof" can be achieved in a number of ways. The current fancy is Goretex (GTX) which has its advocates as well as its critics. My personal experience with both trekking and mountaineering boots argues against GTX in footwear (though I think it's the bees knees for most, if not all other outerwear).
As you are probably aware, GTX is a thin, rubbery membrane with pores that allow water vapor to escape but not enter. Its Achilles heel (pun intended) is that it can be very easily damaged, thereby rendering it useless in a pair of boots. In outerwear, it is usually sandwiched and thus protected, and a small violation does not mean your entire body will get soaked. However, in the confined space of a boots,one small leak can make you miserable pretty quickly.
The most common ways of damaging GTX in boots are through bodily contaminates blocking the pores (sweat, salt, skin oils, foot bacteria, and sand/silt carried on your socks), and mechanical disruption via chafing/rubbing and flex/bending. These "problems" are realistically unavoidable in any footwear. The effectiveness of GTX will therefore progressively deteriorate with each wearing as the pores become filled with bodily contaminates and the membrane gets more worn from chafing or cracked from boot flex. An additional issue with GTX lined boots is that when they do get wet inside (like from wearing or from accidental water over the top), they take a lot longer to dry than either conventional treated leather boots or even rubber bottom boots.
With that said, one makes yer choice and pays yer money-- generally a lot more for the GTX, which for reasons above is not worth it, imho. To wit, a number of respected mountaineering boot mfrs have discontinued using GTX.
I prefer boots crafted here in the USA. Three good sources are LaCrosse out of WI
[HERE], Schnees out of Bozeman MT
[HERE], and of course L.L. Bean
[HERE]
Right now, Schnees has on sale the LaCrosse Backcountry PFT w/ 800 Gm Thinsulate for $90. They also have their own Schnee 10" Arctic w/ same Thinsulate for the same price. These boots are regularly around $180.
You can buy LaCrosse direct or from a number of vendors. I like ShoeBuy
[HERE] since they offer great prices and free shipping. BTW, they carry boots from lots of mfrs, so if you find another boot you like, check if they carry it and their price. Another good source is Macks Prairie Wings out of AR
[HERE]
Hope that helps.
