There comes a time in a walker’s life when her mind turns to poles or sticks. She has walked her youth without the need for such items, even mocking them in certain circles. A superfluous piece of kit that older people use. She has been nimble coming down spurs, self sufficient fording creeks and unstoppable across the flatlands. Her peers had also snubbed the walking pole phenomenon, and so, there was a security of sameness when her group walked. They were victorious before they even set off because they had no poles!
And then in the early to mid forties she became pole curious. The bravado of youth was fading with the intermittent niggles in her left knee. She started posing questions and watching the mantis-like formation of walkers, passing her out on the track. She was becoming more immersed in her walking practice, as family life extracted more out of her. Her time on the track, solo and with her group, was precious. She began upgrading some overnight kit and looked at the walking pole section in the shop. One evening she read an article on the benefits of walking poles. The opposition was waning. The purchase was made. A ten day walk in Tasmania’s South West and the group was converted.
This is one record of how people come to poles in their walking practice. As we get older, the urge to move does not diminish, poles allow us to keep pushing over new country. When there is a pinch in the contours, your poles or stick will be lauded for the sacred objects they are.
Lightweight, collapsable walking poles are a requisite item for walking with weight. That is, a rucksack above 12 kgs. When you are on an expedition in tricky terrain at any age I recommend two poles. Poles take the weight off our knees coming down hills and give us good purchase on loose ground. They greatly assist our creek crossings and sustain a natural rhythm across flat ground.
Your walking pole will be fitted with a small tungsten tip. At first glance your trust in this tip will be skeptical and its placement on the track, unnerving. In a walking life before poles, all faith in getting up or down a hill had been in your muscles but now you have to accept that this little bit of tungsten pushed down on a surface is going to remain steadfast as you pull yourself up with arm and leg muscles. Will it slip on a rocky surface? Not normally, but trust can only be built over time and terrain. Do the work.
One or Two poles ? Two. Don’t waste your time noodling around with one pole when walking with weight. The human body is symmetrical. Work with it.
And now we come to the stick. The old fashioned wooden stick we see in the movies, coastal holiday shacks and old books. If walking poles are a tonic for the biomechanical, the single hiking stick is a balm for the soul. Some walks only require the single stick. It could be a morning constitutional before breakfast or a day walk to a waterfall or peak. If you are carrying a day rucksack with the essentials, your single crafted walking stick will make for an affable companion. On flat agreeable terrain your single stick will suffice. For example walking a rail trail from town to town and your mission is more about journey than that of destination.
A single timber walking stick can invite conversation on the track. Without a word spoken, it tells those you come across that you are a fellow traveller. It is a symbol that you have logged out of the matrix and reclaimed your position in time. It can be the source of a slow calm, upon which great ideas bubble to the surface. The collapsable walking pole has no provenance or charm and can offer no philosophical welfare to the solivigant.
The Order’s position should now be clear when this debate comes up for discussion. Use Lightweight hiking poles when on expedition with weight and the single timber hiking stick for all other scenarios. Use the right tool for the task at hand.
I refer you to Walking Poles 101: Part One | Friends of the Heysen Trail. Simon Cameron examines pole walking at some depth and humour.
