Date: 2014-01-20
To: Gear Testing - Trekking Poles
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

¢All I want for Christmas is a set of trekking poles.¢ That was Christmas 2012. I had already agreed to do the AT with Michael, so I might as well start researching and selecting gear. I had used poles once before, many years ago, and I remembered how I¢d leaned on them going uphill. Michael had used my old ski poles on previous hikes and said they¢d been very helpful.So Christmas day, 2012, I opened my present of Black Diamond shock-absorbing, locking-telescoping, left/right trekking poles. I almost expected air bags and a GPS! (Air bags would be handy when I take that tumble or two!)¢Come on Mom. Let¢s take a walk around the neighborhood to try out your new poles!¢ I¢m lacking in the grace and coordination departments, so I felt like I was riding a bike for the first time. ¢No, Mom. Put your left pole out when you step with your right foot, then your right pole goes out when your left foot steps.¢ (You do the Hokey Pokey, and that¢s what it¢s all about!)I was getting it ¢ left pole with right foot, right pole with left foot. I can do this. If I could master ¢marching¢ in Army Basic Training, I can walk with trekking poles.We walked across the bridge to Steamboat Island. When leaving the bridge to go onto the island, there¢s a slight incline up the island. It¢s not a huge hill, maybe an elevation gain of 15 feet, but the angle of inclination is such that those of us who put-put around on a bike every third year or so, might have to get off and walk up the last 5-6 feet! It just hits you after the nice, long, level stretch of bridge. Well, me and my turbo trekking poles just powered right on up, not requiring Marty and Michael to stop and wait.We trekked around the island, and I powered up the longer hill on the north end of the island. ¢Wow, Mom! You don¢t even break stride with those trekking poles!¢ I felt like Wonder Woman! (Many years ago, a friend and co-worker commented that I looked like Wonder Woman! I asked her when the last time was that she had her eyes checked!)Feeling very confident that I was getting the Hokey Pokey and turbo-charging, we walked back across the bridge. I looked up momentarily to see Hope Island and if Mt. Rainier was showing, and I tripped over my Hokey AND Pokey! Fortunately, I didn¢t have to engage the airbags (or 911), but I realized that grace and coordination were still not part of the package.I have also found a secondary reason to use the poles. On walks much more than a couple miles, my hands tend to swell. They¢re just dangling at my side, so I understand the swelling. On a longer walk around the neighborhood, I got home and took my wedding band off to do something, and it came right off! That¢s unusual, I thought, because I generally cannot get it off after a walk. I thought about this dilemma, and thought about the poles. Next walk around the neighborhood, I tested the theory. The ring slid right off. I realized that the movement of my arms kept my hands from swelling. So, unlike many hikers who don¢t use the poles on easy, level trail or road walks, I will be using mine. I won¢t need to engage the turbo thrusters, but they get me to swing my arms more. (WARNING: If you¢re hiking with me, give me a 6-foot radius!) ~ Marilyn, Mother of: