I just finished a five day trip in the Grand Canyon. I started out by going down the Bright Angel Trail from Grand Canyon Village to the Tonto Trail; this is a heavily used trail and so I had an opportunity to observe a lot of backpackers going both up and down and along some of the trails I traversed in the Canyon.

One thing in particular that I noticed was the manner of use of treking poles by most of the hikers. If I had to guess, I would estimate that fewer than one of ten actually were using their poles. Most of the hikers I watched sort of walked along with a slightly choppy stride, arms held out in front and kind of tapping the ground in front of them with the pole tips as if using them to feel their way along the way the unsighted use their canes. It seemed to me that, used this way, the poles actually interfered with their natural stride ... there was no real arm swing or definite stride with a lot of these people and certainly no use of the pole to propel. In fact, I saw one young woman trip over one of her planted poles and darn near went on her face. It actually seemed that most would have been better served by leaving one or both of their poles at home.

From the look of the packs these folks were generally carrying (huge) and the looks on a lot of faces (pained) they were not real experienced hikers. I wonder how many of them went to a gear store and just said "give me what I need to do the Canyon". I suspect a lot of them did and as part of the package were sold a set of high-profit poles that they did not know how to use. Are members of the backpacking community really being well served by salespeople in outdoor stores selling stuff this way? Have any others noticed this or is it just me day-dreaming?

I don't use poles myself; I do use a staff but only use it on up- and down-grades and when crossing streams; the rest of the time I just carry it as though it was a cased fishing pole. So, not being a pole user myself, I may not be well qualified to judge the skill with which they are being used. This is just an observation; I know that a lot of experienced treking pole users swear by them. Should shops that sell them give lessons in their use? What's your take on this?