Today we spent two hours climbing every hill in sight at Helen Putnam Park on the west side of our hometown of Petaluma, CA.  The weather continues to be gray, windy and cold, with the added fun of occasional splatters of rain.  Glad we are not trying to figure out how to train for the PCT  in the blizzards and snow of  the Midwest or Back East!

I would like to comment on TREK POLES.  Yup, you bet we use them!   There are lots of different kinds out there, so here’s how we decided which ones to go with (and it was a correct decision, too–those trek poles saw us through most of the PCT in 2005!)

First question:  HOW MANY trek poles should you use?  One, or two?   Well, we innocently started the PCT with one pole each, sort of like a hiking staff,  but by the time we reached the San Jacinto’s, we realized we needed TWO.   We remedied that problem when we reached Hiker Heaven at Agua Dulce, and joined a bunch of other thruhikers to ride “Big Red” into Los Angeles to REI where we got fixed up “right ‘n proper”.

Next question:  WHAT MATERIAL should your poles be made of?    There are three basic options:  

        1) Carbon fiber.   This was what Bill started with.  It’s very light and easy to carry, and does the job it needs to do.   Downside:  it’s very fragile, and breaks easily, as Bill discovered when we were collecting water from a creek on the north side of Fuller Ridge, and he accidentally stepped on his trek pole.  Snap!  And that was the end of it.   Not good.

      2) Titanium.   This is also lighter in weight.  We do own a couple of titanium trek poles.   They do a good job and don’t break easily–but they do BEND if you step on them.    Not good.   Not tough enough for the PCT.

     3) Aluminum.   Not the world’s lightest trek poles,  but tough, tough, tough.   They can take ANYTHING the trail dishes out.   And for roaring river crossings, when the current is busy trying to knock you down, these trek poles can handle it.  I’ve crossed rivers where the current made the poles vibrate, but they stayed solidly planted and were wonderful.   Now I have to admit, that by the end of our first day out of Agua Dulce, when I was using TWO trek poles for the first time, my arms about felt like they were going to fall off by the end of the day.   Ow-woo!   No problema–my arms toughened up, and ladies, one BIG bonus of aluminum trek poles is  they have enough weight  that you end up with lovely arms–no saggybaggy underneath!

As to TECHNIQUE for using the poles, well, there are two schools of thought on that one.  I have watched lots of people on the trail and come to the conclusion that there are two kinds of folks in the world–those who move their poles simultaneously with every step,  using a very short “swing” of the pole that goes from right next to their foot to slightly behind them, so that the pole is mostly PUSHING them along.  That’s how Bill uses his poles.  Then there are the other folks–the people who give their poles a big swing, all the way out in front of them, and take several steps with their feet with each swing of the poles.  In this case, the poles are both supporting AND pushing them.  That’s the technique I use.   I am simply not strong enough to do it the way Bill does, AND because I wear bifocals, my poles also serve as sort of “feelers” for me, which is important, because when I look down, the ground is all blurry and it looks like it’s up by my knees.   The trek poles let me know where the ground REALLY is, especially going downhill!

Actually, on downhills, I LOVE the trek poles, because they take a huge amount of weight off my knees and make me feel much safer.  When I’m going down a hill, I have the trek poles out in front of me all the time.   For uphills,  they help push me up the hill.  

We love our trek poles!   (Even if we do have to field the “So, where’s the snow?” jokers we meet on the trail)