City trek proves treacherous

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After two weeks of wearing sturdy footwear to hike the lava fields and rural terrain of the Big Island, I merrily slipped into street shoes for a shopping foray in urban Honolulu. Foolish me.

The cracked asphalt surface of a parking lot in Manoa proved as treacherous as the 1974 flow from Kilauea volcano. Sharp-edged potholes and ragged fissures between freshly painted stalls made the short trip to my car as perilous as a trek across Halemaumau.

Crossing Kamakee Street in Kakaako shredded the toes of my leather moccasins. A smooth reflector embedded in the macadam at Market City turned my ankle as easily as a chunk of loose a'a.

Next time out, I'm wearing the hiking boots, if only to recall the soothing crunch of the Ka'u desert cinders under my feet instead of listening to the blare of a horn on a passing car.

--Cynthia Oi

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