Merrell Women's Bravada Waterproof Hiking Shoes - Lightweight Trail Running Shoes for Women with Grip & Support - Perfect for Outdoor Adventures, Hiking & Backpacking

I really wanted to love these shoes. I like the color I chose and the "sniker" styling. They were lightweight and looked perfect for the trail walking we like to do in the summer. I knew there was a problem when I first tried to slip into them. At first I thought I needed to loosen the laces more further down the line to get my foot in. But even with the laces loosened all the way down, my foot was still having trouble getting in comfortably. Upon closer inspection (see the yellow lines highlighting it in my photos), the shoe comes up pretty high before the tongue starts. That part of the shoe can't stretch up higher to accommodate a high, and in my case, bony instep. That rubber capped arc over the tongue landed smack on top of my bony instep and I know that if we were hiking in hot weather, by swelling feet would be miserable. That would not be a good place for a blister.I also found that the back of the shoe was extraordinarily high and so stiff that I hurt my heel even trying to put it on. Having used hiking boots for decades, I know that going downhill can cause problems if your shoes have high backs on the heel where the down-pointing attitude of the foot can make the back of the shoe scrape your heel/ankle and cause blisters and pain.If the opening above the tongue was down further about 1-1.5 inches so that the tongue could flex to accommodate the higher instep and if the heel was notched or lower and slightly less stiff, this would be a great shoe. Sadly, they're going back and the search continues.