Loadingā¦
13
Question about trekking poles after a guy in Escalante called mine 'training wheels'
I always figured poles were for people with bad knees, so I hiked the Boulder Mail Trail in April carrying mine strapped to my pack for the first 6 miles. Around mile 8, after a nasty slickrock descent, some older guy passing me asked why I was hauling dead weight instead of using them. He hiked the 3,000 ft climb out at a steady pace while I was stopping every 15 minutes to catch my breath. Next morning I actually used them and my legs felt way better on the second day. Anyone got a rule for when poles really pay off versus when they just get in the way?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
stone.margaret12d ago
Slickrock is actually where poles help the most, not the least. That rock grabs your soles but it also eats your quads on the down steps, and poles take a chunk of that load. Your mile 8 descent is the perfect example, and so is the climb out of the Escalante. I use mine on anything steeper than about 15 percent grade, going up or down. On flat dirt or easy trail they just swing there, so I strap them on. The guy was right about the dead weight thing, but only because you weren't on the right kind of ground yet.
1