Trekking Poles: Wussy or Wonderful?
The ARS Sojourner
I had known about poles for a long time, but lacked the courage to try them. In my eyes, and in the eyes everyone I knew, they seemed precious. Yuppie playthings, we all thought to ourselves. Just another gimmick.
My first face to face encounter with poles reinforced my hostility. My esteemed spouse and I were in South America, hiking the backcountry of Chile and Argentina. There were seven people in our group, one of whom was a piece of work. In an earlier chapter of his life, he must have designed the course work for Macho 101. Interpersonal complexities began to arise between him and certain members of our group. By the end of the trip, he was in a rage, and the rest of us were yearning for a simpler life.
After our last hiking day, we gathered at the airport in Rio Gallegos, to begin the long trip home. Angry Man had a beautiful set of trekking poles, which the rest of us were ignoring. He jammed the poles sideways into the straps on his pack, and stalked across the waiting room. In his altered state of consciousness, he failed to notice that he was heading straight for a good looking, mini-skirted, female person. The tips of his poles rammed the innocent victim somewhere between knee and thigh level. There was a screech, and a serious conflict ensued. Our group stood watching, with our jaws dropped open.
That unfortunate encounter stayed in my mind, and came rushing back every time I saw poles. By then I was convinced that they were both wussy and, in the hands of a deranged person, dangerous.
Another experience was more subtle, but almost as damaging. I had actually bought a pair of trekking poles, but I thought I would use them to hold up a tarp (and certainly not to hike with). Meanwhile, Roy Lewallen (W7EL) and I had agreed to get together for the 2001 Flight of the Bumblebees. We loaded up our packs with water, radio stuff, and camping gear. In a careless moment, I decided to take along the poles, just for the heck of it.
Poor Roy. Although he made no comments, I could see him grinding his teeth. Fortunately, most of our hike was a bushwhack though a heavy duty forest, so no one else noticed that Roy was hiking with a yup. After our trip, which was otherwise a fine experience, I was stricken. How could I have stooped so low?
Then a little voice began to talk to me. I had clandestinely enjoyed those poles. They were a big help in steep terrain, especially with a heavy pack.
The long and short of it is that I began to use the poles regularly. This may sound far fetched, but they have actually put the spring back in my step, even with a stout load. My knees feel better, and I can wear low cut hiking shoes without worrying about my ankles. I fondly recall hauling a pack full of fishing and camping gear on a long solo bushwhack this summer, and feeling downright perky when I got to the Secret Fishing Spot.
The verdict? Wonderful.
For lots of information on trekking poles, go to http://www.backpacker.com/ and type "trekking poles" into the search engine.
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Russ Carpenter, AA7QU, is co-founder of The Adventure Radio Society. He lives in a log house next the to the McKenzie River, Oregon.