Little feet, deep snow dilemma

Just the other day I received an email from "Ben" asking me what kind of boots my kids wore to keep their feet warm and dry because, "They always look so warm and happy."

Ben's daughter had gone out hiking this winter and had a bad experience with her boots. Here's an excerpt from his email:

This past Winter, I took her hiking with me in the woods. It was a disaster. We were in extremely deep snow and, unfortunately, the boots I bought for her turned out to be completely useless. They leaked very badly. By the time we got home, her feet were completely drenched and frozen.

I emailed Ben back explaining that my kids have second-hand boots and one pair  doesn't even have a brand name on it. I think for us the key has been that the boots the kids wear are tall (almost to their knees) and that they wear elastic bottom snow pants over their boots to prevent snow from getting inside the top of them. I also shared that we are often on cross country skis on the trail most of the time so they don't sink in the snow as much as they would in regular boots.

But then this morning L., who was helping to load up the car for our vacation, came up with this plan to keep the deep snow from getting in her boots (apparently she didn't "feel like putting on snowpants").

Those would be a couple of fleece scarves ties around her legs.

Do you have a suggestion for Ben about good winter boots and/or ways to keep your kid's feet warm and dry in the snow?

[Of course, this will be advice to follow for next winter as this will hopefully be the last of the white stuff this year.]