I’m not normally a trekking pole user. I have used a stout oaken staff for most of my backpacking career, and with my switch to something approaching UL baseloads in recent years I have tended to leave the staff at home and pick up a temporary stick if I felt the need.
Besides, I’m trying to adopt an umbrella, and I need a hand or two free for that.
But we were planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, and looking at photos of the trail made even me think that maybe a trekking pole or two might be a good idea!
We were figuring on descending the South Kaibab trail to the river, and that is a heck of a drop in elevation for one day.
My wife uses a pair of REI Traverse trekking poles and quite likes ‘em, but there was no way I was gonna drop 80 bucks on a set for me, especially since I don’t usually use ‘em.
I found poles at Walmart for under twenty bucks, but hefting them in the store they seemed to weigh a ton! No way I was gonna lug those things down and up that canyon. So in my typical fashion I did nothing about the pole issue and simply put it off for the time being.
Sometime later I swung by a second hand type store on the way home from work looking for a light colored synthetic dress shirt to use for hiking when lo and behold, I spied two barrels full of old golf clubs!
I remembered that back in the 1980, well before any of us had ever heard of “trekking poles”, that a friend of mine had used a golf club shaft as a walking stick on a week long hike in New Hampshire’s White mountains. I had used my trusty oaken staff on that trip of course, and had made fun of my friend at the time for using such a tiny “dart” for a staff. But maybe he was on to something…
So I pawed through those barrels and bought two of the longest clubs. I believe they are of the type called a Wood, although they were all metal.
Two of them cost me $2.15. At home I sawed the heads off with a hacksaw and stuck a self tapping screw in the end.
Tada! I now has two poles, one weighed 6.7 ounces, the other 6.6
They seemed strong enough on training hikes around home –
But I still wasn’t used to tapping down the trail like a four legged spider so when it came time for the trip I left one home.
The South Kaibab trail stated off somewhat icy ( but less icy than the trail to my outhouse!) and the pole very much came in handy on the initial steep decent –
Further down towards the very bottom later that day my right knee started acting up, and the stick helped take a bit of strain off. Might two poles have prevented the sore knee? I dunno, but my wife did not develop sore or swollen knees, and she stared using trekking poles because of swollen knees on lesser trails than this. Her poles and lightweight pack have enabled her to take this killer trail in stride!
The single light pole was no burden the rest of the trip and was a handy walking stick, whacker of brush, lawn dart, fencing foil, and so forth.
The long handle is ideal, allowing the user to hold the pole further down the shaft when needed, or palming the top of the pole for the longest reach.
I mistrust adjustable poles for fear they may telescope down when you need them the most, as happened once to my wife on a very nasty river ford. Fortunately I was right next to her in that ford and equipped with my ancient trusty oaken staff, which got us through.
Not that I’d trust my life to this thin shaft in a raging river ford, or recommend it for pole vaulting. But for ordinary trekking pole duty ( is there such thing? ) it works fine, and it certainly is cheap enough!
This is what the screw on the bottom looks like after the trip. These ain’t no 1,000 mile carbide tips, but they are easily replaceable.
And yes, I did get laughed at by several other hikers! Serves me right for making fun of my friend all those years ago…
