Trail Shoes or Boots?

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a pair of Merrell trail shoes. I've always been a "traditionalist" when it came to my feet and figured what better protection is there against the elements that a hard core pair of full leather boots. This question came to mind as Team Smoke was decending Mt. Elbert last year. My toes were jamming into the toes of my boots making it extreamly difficult to walk. With the grind of a decent this added pain wasn't welcomed and often complained about. Even with my trekking poles this issue had gone on long enough. What also sold me on trail shoes versus the traditional leather boot was the fact that T from BIG D always, and that is the last 6 14'ers (including the dreaded Longs Peak), always trekked in tennis shoes. This never made sense to me but after all his 14'ers in them it really didn't matter. If T could climb in tennis shoes (shoes he's had for over a decade) I certainly could climb in trail shoes.