[pct-l] Hiking poles?

[Hillary Schwirtlich]

As someone who's done a bit of trail work, I can say from experience that
almost anyone who has done more than a couple of days of trail work has
their own opinion on what human contraption destroys the trail the most.
Some people say its bikes, some horses, some dirtbikes... although I've
never heard someone talk about how you shouldn't use poles because they
destroy the trail.

In the end, the trail is there for everyone and if using poles makes your
hike much better then go for it, just like if bikes or horses make your time
in nature much better, as long as you're on a bike or horse trail, use them.
There are plenty of people who wouldn't be out there enjoying nature if it
weren't for poles to help their knees. I'd rather have them out there, and
have the world need more trail workers. I (and many others) love the work.

And anyway, the holes poles make are tiny, and they're usually in the duff
layer or the very top layer of a trail. It's not going to kill the trail.
Hell, sometimes the holes are in the berm, killing plants, and if that trail
worker knew much he'd be glad you're killing plants in the berm (because the
number one enemy of the trail is water, and having a berm keeps the water on
the trail, and plants help keep the berm there. Incidentally, the reason
trail workers sometimes don't like bikes, horses and dirt bikes is because
by walking on the trail, they help create a berm, and which causes water to
flow down the middle of the trail instead of off of it, which causes
erosion).

...Or maybe I'm just being biased because I like hiking with poles so much.
:)

On Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 2:06 PM, eckert <jape1 at cox.net> wrote:

> Think of it as aerating the soil. <g>
>
> I don't like the click of the hard points hit DG and rocks when I hike,
> so 90% of the time I put on rubber tips.  It makes for a quieter walk,
> and unless the tread is grit on granite, I seem to get as good a bite as
> I do with the tungsten tips.  The added plus is I can jab my hiking
> buddy to make a point, but won't necessarily draw blood.
>
> eckert
>
> On 3/26/2011 12:52 PM, Gerry Zamora wrote:
> > <snip>  I could see these little
> > holes everywhere took me a minute and I realized that they are hiking
> pole
> > tracks... I see plenty of people with um never gave it much thought.  So
> my
> > question is are we doing more harm than good?<snip>
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