Since ceasing to be a semi-broke student a decade ago, I've learned that for the mountains in winter one should just wear (and invest in) goretex as one's main trousers/salopettes, rather than bothering with waterproof over-trousers on top of ski type trousers when required. Expensive but worth it.
However, for some reason I never experimented with the same for hiking in the past couple of decades. I've always hiked in shorts or quick drying trousers and then just had to hope they dried in the tent overnight. While I don't mind wet legs one bit, wet boots from water running down is rather more tiresome.
Presumably fabrics have moved on a bit and there are now goretex type hiking trousers that can fully replace normal trousers for autumn to spring use? Obviously breathability is rather important, while proper pockets and a less plasticy inside (for not wearing long johns underneath) would be rather essential.
Can anyone recommend some models to investigate?