I posted the following on my Trail Journals JMT page. I thought some of you might be interested in my "Road to Damascus" moment.

"I have never been a fan of trekking poles. I have used a single walking staff of some sort over the years but have not been particularly taken with using a pole in each hand -- until recently! Last Sunday, I was coming downhill from an ascent of Mt. Wrightson; the 9450' high point of the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. Mt. Wrightson is a 4000' climb over about 5 miles. I was not using poles or staff of any sort.

I was near the mid-point of the descent on a rocky stretch of trail when I took a forward tumble over an unseen rock. I went down spectacularly banging both elbows, my right shoulder, my right knee and the hinge of my jaw on a variety of available rocks. Sadly, I had an audience for this. I got up, bleeding in multiple places, sorted myself out mentally, bandaged the worst of the scrapes and gouges, assured my audience that I was OK(ish) and then finished the hike; much more carefully. My knee and shoulder hurt all the way down and it was three days before I was again functional. I still have a lot of scabbed over spots that are healing.

Because of this experience, I started seriously re-thinking my position on trekking poles. I have decided that, at my age, I don't recover as readily from stumbles as I once did and that some help with my balance and stability might prove useful.

I have a pair of Leki Shasta poles that I bought about a year ago. I used them on a few trips and decided I liked having one hand free so stopped using them. With last week's fall in mind, I dug them out and used them for a hike yesterday on an extremely steep trail in the Santa Rita's and found that: 1) they helped a lot on both up- and down-grades; and 2) they helped keep me upright after minor stumbles. I am now planning on using them on the JMT."

Like you I have always used one pole. I had tried two a couple of times but it just did not feel right. A couple of weeks ago I went out on a three day hike and decided to give it another try thinking that if it did not work I could strap the second pole to my pack or since it was an out and back I could hide one and pick it up on the way back. To my surprise I got the hang of it after about an hour and actually enjoyed them.

I do not have any joint problems but I have found that at 74 I am not as stable as I was at 34. I have concluded that the two poles are a good thing and will continue to use them. Face plants can be serious especially as we get older.

I never tended to use poles at all (save as a monopod camera mount on occasion) until this last (first) backpacking trek. It was a last moment laugh to toss a set of $20 collapsible trekking poles into the mix that I found at Walmart. I didn't have much in the way of expectations and figured if I didn't like them my friend could use them. Turns out, aside from the desire to get cork handles instead of the very sweaty plastic, that I liked using them a lot more than I expected.

They are not light but had a good balance when swinging back and forth in stride and did save me from the odd misjudged root. Better still, they are nice and long so it helped when doing those moderate current water crossings with a full pack over what I term 'polished snail snot' covered rocks.

The $20 set is adequate for playing around on an overnight or so but I'm certainly looking to find a good cork-handled set but I'm not worried as much about the weight on them.

Color me another pleasantly surprised pole user.

I'm a one-poler also. I like having one hand free, and being able to alternate. I don't see myself switching to a pair, but I would never hit the trail without at least one.

I agree, two trekking poles come in handy in so many ways:

• downhill is the best use, hands down, for saving your knees (young or old)
• river and creek crossings are made much easier with poles (but know how to use them)
• impromptu shelter rigging (for those times when you can't hang your hammock)
  

I've loved using trekking poles but have recently opted to only carry them on my pack and pull them out for the above-mentioned uses. I have had a lot of shoulder pain (most likely due to an old neck injury and too many daily hours in front of a computer) that flares up while backpacking. At first I thought it was due to the pack weight but I found it would happen on some of my day hikes with a light pack. So through a process of elimination I figured out it was due to the forward position the poles put on my arms which pushed my shoulder forward and created stress that resulted in the pain. I'm just mentioning this in case someone else may be trying to track down a similar problem.

Otherwise I can't recommend trekking poles enough.

Geezer!
Duane

I don't recover as readily from stumbles as I once did

I can sympathize. I have always had excellent balance and can recover from 99% of my stumbles, but this is something of a two-edged sword, in that over the decades I've come to RELY on that excellent balance to save my bacon every time. I dread the day I discover I am no longer the same nimble youth (I've a few months yet to go on the sunny side of 60), when I can't just skip lightly out of trouble. I am sure I will be forced to do a similar rethinking then, too.

you can find a $20 cork handled set here http://www.scoutstuff.org/nj13-trekking-poles.html or you might find them at your local scout store if you are lucky.

Occasionally skip the poles for day hikes, especially if I'm not going where it's rocky &/or steep, but for backpacking wtih real loads I take and use them, have for years. Sometimes my shelter incorporates them for dual-use nirvana, but not always.

I can't think of another piece of equipment where I notice the benefits of light weight more than poles, and heartily recommend CF. Have never had the pleasure of using one-piece poles, which are certainly the lightest/strongest, but even with three-section there's still a several-ounce/pole weight savings and over a long day, the difference is vast. CF also damps vibration better than aluminum.

Cheers,

Trekking poles are not only for "geezers". Reinholt Mesner, world class climber, used poles long before they were accepted. It was not for balance. If you learn to really use two poles, you become a 4-legged animal. They help you go faster up and down off-trail terrain. In order not to loose my ability to balance without poles, I purposely do a number of day-hikes without poles, jumping through boulders. It is really important to properly use the poles. REI has a class that would be very useful for anyone who is looking into starting to use poles.

I started using trekking poles this past season after using a hiking stick for decades. My reasons were two fold. I wanted to use them with my tent and because I was out of shape

I found my hiking stick actually aggravated some hip pain I was having. Switching it to the other hand helped a lot with my hip, but didn't help at all with setting up my tent.

I have to admit I haven't got used to them. I feel pretty klutzy and slow with them. I use them pretty much like you said, like I have four legs, and I did fine on some pretty tough bushwhacks, but using them is still far from natural for me. I could benefit from instructions. I'll have to see if REI has some videos online.

Thanks for the heads up W_D.

Costco has what you need: cork handles and very, very lightweight for about $30. If it's too late in the season at your store you can call and they'll check stock at others. They changed the design from twist-lock to flick-lock, some find them more reliable. I find mine outperform my friend's pair of Lekis.

Thanks Swammie. We ran across someone up at Shuckstack that got his from Costco and loved them. My hike-mate just checked a store a few days ago and couldn't find them nor could we find them online. One thing that bugs me on my Wally World specials is the twist-lock. Get it wet, say, water crossing and you either have it torqued to the point of breaking or they start to slip. Flip seems like the better option.

Similar experience. Using one Pole (in my left hand) I stumbled on a stick in the leaves. Pitched down hill on my right side, head 1st into a rock. So much blood from the scap wound I was blinded! Mopped up the blood, tied the bloody cloth arond mu head and was on my way. Met 4 teen agers coming toward me. Thet were really concered for me and offered help which I declined as I was nearly to my companions camp. Only regret is that I didn't think to say "Watch out for that &^%^%# bear, not sure if I killed him!".

After tha experience I always use to Poles. At 75 I refer to them as "My off Road Walker"!

I was late in my first thru hike. I had never used hiking poles, frankly thought they were an affectation. Young guy I happened to be hiking with at the time insisted I try one of his. We had about six or eight miles to go to a town stop.

When we got to town I returned his pole and went directly to the town's outfitting store and bought a pair of Lekis. That was almost twenty years ago (and another AT thru hike) and I'm still using the original pair, and frankly, I wouldn't carry my pack to the corner store without them. For all the reasons mentioned above. best, jcp

The funny thing is the latter is something I'm pretty sure I would have done!

As for this weekend I am glad I had my trekking poles (Cheap $20 set from Wally World but they worked). One serious mis-step off a loose rock and the pole saved me from a nice 300' drop. I'll stick with the poles.

Added bonus, they also make a great place to hang a Platypus Gravityworks during a break to refill the bladders.

I first thought of them as an affectation as well, but I started carrying a monopod for my camera and soon discovered how great it was at helping me balance. I have a cheap pair from Cabelas that I have been using. Handy to pitch my tarp over my hammock as well.

I use trekking poles even for exercise walking on tne sidewalks around home. They turn a lower-body exercise into a full-body exercise, working those essential core muscles as well as arms, legs, shoulders and hips. This exercise even has a name--Nordic walking. Of course I use rubber caps on the points when on sidewalks.

I bought a 10x monocular for bird watching and discovered that I can get rid of the "wobble" by resting it on top of one of my trekking poles. You could do the same with a camera--not as good as a tripod, but steadier than hand-held. There are ways to mount a camera to the top of the trekking pole, but I haven't tried those.

I have a cheapie pair of $20 walmart poles that I have used on my two backpacking trips while my friend has used my old single-pole staff design. The single has the walnut bobbin at the top that unscrews as a monopod for camera's. It works pretty darned well unless you have a big heavy camera.
I haven't seen a trekking pole that has that option yet but it would be interesting.

Kinda like those external frame packs, that one took me a while as well. I gave in about 6 years ago and took the $15 walmart challenge. Made my hike so much more enjoyable that I went ahead a bought a nice pair at REI for $100. I took a spill which could have been worse up in Yosemite and broke one of the poles in the process. Tried to get a replacement but they were discontinued, however, REI directed me to the manufacturer and I was able to get a decent upgrade to a lighter set. Maybe it's the oldschool habits we grow up with, but two poles are better then one. IMOP.
Good to hear your doing ok Pika, and wishing you an incredible journey on the JMT this summer...