He can also tell if the track was left by someone who was walking or running. I can tell if the person is limping or is disoriented and just kind of floundering around. In Stride Stride plays a role, too. People don't walk by placing one foot directly in front of another. That's a movie star walk.
Most people generally walk with their feet spread apart at shoulder width.
His stick is a specially designed model that unscrews into three sections for storage in a backpack. The bottom section is marked in 1 4-inch increments for the first 2 inches. After that the marks occur in 1-inch increments. Steffens lays the stick beside a track, determines the length, and marks the length on the stick with O-rings. Then he swings the stick in an arc out from an established track until he locates another track-or part of a track.