Parks of LA and OC, part 3

This is the third installment of my report on park explorations in LA and Orange Counties during and after(?) the Covid pandemic. 

I’ve found that I rather like finding parks, nature centers, wilderness areas that are new to me so I plan on keeping it up. 

There may be some repeats from the past reports which means that I revisited them or just plain forgot. My main resources for discovering venues have been Google Maps and more recently Alltrails. To get decent use out of Alltrails, you have to pay money, but it has helped me find some trails that I never would have imagined were there.

Some of my discoveries are simple walks around city parks, but others are in wilderness areas that require decent shoes/boots, water, sun protection, etc. Do your homework before you go. If it’s a place you can find on Google, I don’t include directions since you should be able to Google it yourself. Be careful where you park. I typically only do hikes of 4 miles or less due to some medical issues. If you are interested in serious hikes look elsewhere. 

Working backwards in order of discovery, I just went up a trail to Santa Susanna Pass from the east side. You can also drive up from the west side. This is better as an Alltrails hike, but you can probably figure out something from Google. Parts of the trail, the Devil’s Slide, require good boots and if you do this in the summer you’ll need water and good sun protection. Parts of the trail are pretty rough. I did it in the winter so heat wasn’t a problem. Over 700’ of altitude gain, but you can get some good views. 

Santa Susana Pass State Historical Park, Stagecoach Trail (ikemi.info)

I returned to upper Newport Bay and the Nature Center is now open. It’s a big one and I found it interesting. Photos at

Upper Newport Bay and Big Canyon (ikemi.info)

Using Google I did find a short little hike. Took me a while to find the trail head.

I discovered the San Dimas Nature Center which was kind of hidden in a park. There was no one around when I visited it but I thought it was interesting, then again I think all nature centers are interesting since they say something about the community. From there you can walk to the trail head of the Sycamore Canyon Trail (how many Sycamore Canyon Trails are there in the area-I’ve encountered three so far). Don’t try going through the equestrian center. It is possible to go around it. The trail is a straight up slog to the top, but the trail is good. There are apparently alternate trails, but I don’t know where they go.

San Dimas Nature Center and hike (ikemi.info)

I didn’t know there was a waterfall in Pasadena, but you can hike to one from the Eaton Canyon Nature Center. It’s about a 4 mile round trip (in spite of what is posted) and the trail gets rough near the end. 

Eaton Canyon (ikemi.info)

Out in Claremont you can  pay for admission to the California Botanical Gardens. 

California Botanical Garden (ikemi.info)

No problem walking around here on good walkways and trails. 

I was surprised that the City of Fullerton is full of trails. These are easy walking and there are more than I explored. You can Google them.

Part of the Fullerton Loop Trails (ikemi.info)

This is a little farther afield, but Placerita Canyon in Santa Clarita has a very nice nature center and numerous trails. Should be prepared for real hikes.

Placerita Canyon (ikemi.info)

In Monterey Park (the city) is Edison Trails Park

Edison Trails Park (ikemi.info)

This is a powerline trail but it has some altitude variations and is kind of interesting. 

More straightforward and flat is the powerline park in El Segundo

El Segundo Powerline Parks (ikemi.info)

Rio de Los Angeles Park in LA has a flat walking path with some interesting features

Rio de Los Angeles State Park (ikemi.info)

Lincoln Park in LA has an interesting walking path with a number of artistic installations.

Lincoln Park (ikemi.info)

I revisited Ascot Park in LA and finally decided to go north to the other entrance which takes you to a hillside neighborhood. You can walk on surface streets back to the parking lot to make a full loop.

Ascot Hills Park (ikemi.info)

Rose Hills Park (not the cemetery) has its own trails that connect with Debs Park near the Pasadena Freeway. Google should show you the connection. The western trail has some elevation gain.

Rose Hill Park and vicinity (ikemi.info)

In Rowland Heights you can do the Powder Canyon Trail which has some good climbs

Powder Canyon Trail (ikemi.info)

This is a flat linear walk, but from one side of the storm channel you can see the Great Wall of LA in Tujunga mural.

Great Wall of LA in Tujunga Wash (ikemi.info)

A nice island of green in LA is Augustus Hawkins Nature Park

Augustus Hawkins and other parks (ikemi.info)

Nearby, especially if you have a bicycle, are South Los Angeles Wetlands Park and  South Park to the north.

Bixby Marsh is a small preserve run by the LA Sanitation Dept. It only opens once a month:

https://www.lacsd.org/community-outreach/tours-speaker-s-bureau/bixby-marshland

Popular with birders from what I understand.

Gardena Willows Wetlands Preserve is open to the public again. Only open a few times a month and may require online reservations. Check at

https://gardenawillows.org/

A loop trail goes mostly around the  perimeter. Unfortunately, last time I went, there are no longer guided tours. 

Echo Park in LA has a paved walkway around the large pond. Try to catch the Lotus Festival

Lotus Festival (ikemi.info)

You can walk through Alondra Park

Alondra Park (ikemi.info)

Darby Park in Inglewood has a short paved walking trail. You can get a good view of Sofi Stadium from there. 

Thomas S. Burton Park in Hacienda Heights has a short walking loop around the park. I went there when I discovered that my desired trailhead was inaccessible. 

Columbia Park in Torrance has a walking path of about a mile. Also the venue for the local Cherry Blossom festival. 

Cherry Blossom Festival (ikemi.info)

In Brand Park in Glendale there are trails behind Brand Library. You can make a loop or go up all the way to the top. Although not long, one of the trails can be a gutbuster and becomes a scramble in some places. The one to the west? You could also just walk around Brand Park.

To the NW is Stough Nature Center, which is quite modern and has nice displays. There are trails that set off from it. I only ventured a short way up one of them since I had already explored Wildwood Canyon Park on the other side of the golf course. There is a trail that climbs up from there and connects to a paved road so you can make a loop of it. 

Wildwood Canyon Park and Stough Nature Center (ikemi.info)

Back down south again in Brea is Carbon Canyon Regional Park. You can hike to the southern side of the park where you can see a genuine redwood grove, planted from seedlings leftover from a bank promotion. They might not be too happy but they are surviving. 

Carbon Canyon Regional Park Redwoods (ikemi.info)

In the Whittier Hills a complement to the Arroyo Pescadero loop is the in and out Arroyo San Miguel Trail. At Arroyo Pescadero when you go up the entry trail, skip the turn off to the loop and keep going on the broken pavement. This should take you to a tunnel that goes safely under the street. 

Arroyo San Miguel Trail (ikemi.info)

Peck Road Water Conservation Park has some nice views and plenty of birds There is a colony of homeless people living there.

Peck Road Water Conservation Park (ikemi.info)

LA and Orange County parks where you can distance

Part 2

It’s been a year, so I should finally write this update, especially since near the end of 2021 with the Omicron variant becoming dominant here in LA, isolated (or at least social bubble isolated) outdoors recreation is important again.

One big change is that with the resurgence of traffic, it is no longer easy to get to Orange County, so not as many excursions down there. Also, from an LA Times article I learned that Bolsa Chica became too popular, with too many people and especially dogs disturbing the birds. 

I found that Google Maps wasn’t adequate for my explorations, so I invested in a subscription to the Alltrails app. I had been using it on an unpaid basis, but the subscription gives access to more trails, some I never dreamed existed. 

Trails may be urban walks or strenuous on rough trails with sun exposure. Study maps beforehand and look up trail descriptions if you can find them.  If it’s not a city park, or even if it is one, make sure you take at least water, snacks, and a hat. For hikes in the whittier Hills, take lots of water.

First off is an easy one, the Sepulveda basin and Lake Balboa in Anthony Beilenson Park in Van Nuys. Fires left a lot of the area barren and blackened but there are still some interesting things. Unfortunately the extensive Japanese Gardens are still closed. Mostly flat and easy to navigate with a smartphone. You can walk around Balboa Park:

Lake Balboa area (ikemi.info)

Nearby is the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve and Woodley Park with trails along the large ponds that attract plenty of birds.

It is possible to walk all the way around the Woodley Lakes Golf Course if you are gunning for your 10,000 steps. On one leg you can parallel the LA River which might be scenic if it were ever cleaned up. 

South of Burbank Blvd. are trails near the Sepulveda Dam with a good photo op. Some of the trails here are kind of rough and could be cleaned up. You might want to keep your eyes open, and stay away if it is raining.

Nearby is Los Encinos State Historic Park which is free and open for short walks with a few historic buildings.

Los Encinos State Historical Park (ikemi.info)

For a little climb there is the short trail in Deervale-Stone Canyon Park, Sherman Oaks. Its Crisp Canyon Road trail head is unmarked and almost invisible. 

Near Marina del Rey are the Ballona Wetlands. Short but interesting trail. You cannot park nearby since all available parking is occupied by an encampment. You can park on the other side of Lincoln Bld on Bluff Creek Dr., where you can also access the educational Ballona Discovery Park.

Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (ikemi.info)

In the same area is the Bluff Creek Trail which parallels Bluff Creek Dr. The map shows two parallel trails, but the lower one is closed. At street level there are short unconnected accessible trails. The main trail gives you a view of what were the old Hughes Aircraft facilities which are now occupied by Google and Youtube. The hangar in which the Spruce Goose was assembled is easy to see. If you return by the street, you may get hassled by guards if you have a camera.

Bluff Creek Trail (ikemi.info)

If you want to see all the backed up container ships, you can get a great view from Deane Dana Friendship Park. Plenty of parking but when I was there the large visitor center was closed. Nice elevation gain if you want a workout. 

Deane Dana Friendship park (ikemi.info)

If you want another view of container ships, there is a short trail around the top of Signal Hill. Park at or across the street from Hilltop park. The trail starts at the park, but over half of the walk will be on streets. Some parts of the trail may be hard to find.

Signal Hill Walk (ikemi.info)

Back on the flatlands is Alondra Park to the west of El Camino College. The pond is kind of scenic. 

Alondra Park (ikemi.info)

If you want some elevation gain and some great views, you can now walk from the Hahn Rec. Center overlook to the Culver City Overlook. You can park in Hahn (free on weekdays) near the Japanese Garden. Pick one of the legal, civilized trails to one of the overlooks. You should be able to see the Culver City overlook as well as a lot of other sights. You should also be able to view the new pedestrian bridge that crosses La Cineaga Blvd. Hike down and cross it. This takes you to the lovely Stoneview Nature Center, which has one of the few open visitor centers in the area. You can continue on to the top and the Culver Center Overlook, where the visitor center is still closed. 

Hahn Viewpoint to Baldwin Overlook (ikemi.info)

If you want even more of a workout, you can get to the Overlook via the Culver City Stairs. These are popular and you may have to park blocks away, but you wanted a workout anyway. Very crowded.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook via Culver City Stairs (ikemi.info)

Moving closer to Downtown, you can get some good walking climbs at Ascot Hills Park which is on LADWP land. A little run down, but there are some good views from the top. 

Ascot Hills Park (ikemi.info)

Near Dodger Stadium is Elysian Park, which has plenty of hills. There are picnic areas where people tend to clump but there are also plenty of trails and roads with adequate room. This was where the Firecracker 5/10K was run.

Elysian Park (ikemi.info)

If you keep going to Griffith Park you can park on the N side and start hiking from various trail heads. You can visit the Travel Town Museum for starters for free and have a walk around it, or even take a ride on the miniature train for a small fee. There is also a trail that starts right by it, wraps around and comes out at the Live Steamers Museum which is closed for the pandemic.  

Rattlesnake Trail (ikemi.info)

If you go up to the Caousel area (closed of course) you can take numerous combinations of trails, such as loops to the Old LA Zoo and the FernCanyon trail. The Zoo area has lots of picnic areas

Fern Canyon Trail (ikemi.info)

Hike to Old LA Zoo, Griffiths Park (ikemi.info)

An area which I would never have visited before but has been wonderfully rehabilitated is Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. The only shortcoming is that you cannot circumnavigate the lake since the NE side is blocked by a golf course.

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park (ikemi.info)

In a similar vein is the creatively named Recreation Park at E. 7th St. and Park Ave. You may be better off searching for the Yokkaichi Japanese friendship park.  There is also a bandshell and a pond for practicing fly fishing casting. There is a clubhouse for a fly fishing association, but I don’t know if it is functioning during the pandemic. There is a short flat trail.

Moving far to the north for something completely different is the Hacienda Hills Trailhead for the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Authority. I hiked around there decades ago and a lot of work has been put into developing these trails. Warning: the very ornate gate does get locked on time (check the posted hours) and there is not another legal access point nearby. These trails can be very steep so be prepared for some serious hiking, although the trail surfaces are in good shape. You may be hiking under power lines, but one canyon I entered (steep to get into and steep to get out of) allows you to believe that you are far away from any civilization.

Hacienda Hills State Park (ikemi.info)

In roughly the same area and not too far from Arroyo Pescadero is the Worsham Canyon Trail. This is another challenging loop but the biggest challenge is figuring out where to enter it. I entered near Whittier College, parking at Penn Park. Other hikers told me that it was fine to enter from that direction in spite of some signs. The other entry point is from Turnbull Canyon Road, where there is very little parking. Kind of barren till you get to the S side.

Worsham Loop (ikemi.info)

Schabarum Regional Park has numerous trails. I parked near the equestrian center and entered the trail system there. There are apparently other trail heads. These hikes are in the hills so they do have elevation gain. 

Schabarum Park trails (ikemi.info)

Another good no nonsense walk up is Nike Hill near Rio Hondo College. Look for signs on Workman Mill Road and there is a small dirt parking lot. The trail head is marked and there are a lot of warnings to stay on the trail. There is shade and picnic benches at the top, along with the guard shack that once protected the base. This was a command and control site with no missile launchers. The launchers were located in the maintenance yard of a park in the NE quadrant of where Rosemead intersects the 60 Freeway at the end of Chico Ave., not too far from Progress Brewing. There is parking if you want to go for a walk on flat terrain for a change. Last 2 photos in this gallery are of the maintenance yard. Due to the elevation, the launcher doors are not visible.

Nike Hill Hike (ikemi.info)

Another flat walk is the Whittier Greenway. This follows the railroad bed with parks and educational/historical signage along the way, plus some art on the W side. I did it in two trips since it is 4 miles one way, which is the limit of my range due to arthritis. 

Whittier Greenway (ikemi.info)

Whittier Greenway, eastern half (ikemi.info)

Another concentration of Nike missile bases is in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In fact, the Rolling Hills City Hall was a missile base building and the launchers are in the maintenance yard (again). There are trails that start from the park near the city hall. Not too steep to hike around there. When the city hall was open, they were nice enough to print out trail maps for you.

If you want more of a challenge, there are many trails, usually steep, in the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve and the Portuguese Bend Preserve. https://www.rpvca.gov/1155/Portuguese-Bend-Reserve

Main entrance is at the end of Crenshaw Blvd. Past a certain point, you have to pay for parking via an app. If you are cheap like me, you can park a ½ mile or so back from the trailhead for free. 

Palos Verdes Nature Preserve (ikemi.info)

If you want something flat in the area, you can try the Boundary Trail which takes you past backyards. You can find the trail on Google, but the entrance is not marked, and it can be challenging to follow in places. You are in town, so you really can’t get lost. 

Boundary Trail (ikemi.info)

I did challenge the  traffic and made a few forays into Orange County. I decided to actually spend some money for an overnight campsite in Chino HIlls and do some more hiking there. 

Camping fee includes real showers. When I was there the camp ground was not crowded. Hard to believe there are shopping centers a few miles away.

Chino Hills State Park (ikemi.info)

A less ambitious trip was to Irvine Park to ride the train and visit the zoo. You can walk around the park without crowding. 

Irvine Park (ikemi.info)

The Fullerton Arboretum was finally reopened. Flat walks in a very pleasant and interesting environment. Parking lot may get crowded and you may have to park on surface streets in the frat area. 

Fullerton Arboretum (ikemi.info)

Finally, I made a trip to Franklin Canyon in Beverly Hills, very late in the day. A winding road gets you there, but I have to admit it was scenic with low stress trails. 

Franklin Canyon (ikemi.info)

Switzerland

My plane landed in Zurich around 7:30AM after a very pleasant flight. It was on a 767, which are pretty smooth, and I’d managed to get an aisle seat for once. Zurich airport has a train station on site, so it was easy to activate my Eurail card and make arrangements to go to Wengen. While I was at it I also made reservations to go to Trier the next Saturday. The Swiss have some faith in their trains since the itinerary I received for the trip to Wengen only allowed 6 minutes for each train transfer.

When I got to Wengen I found the chalet my friends had rented, but found that they were all in Interlaken, which I had just left. I decided to take a nap on the sun deck which had a great view into the valley after stealing a beer from their fridge. The next day it was an easy hike. We took the cog train down into Lauterbrunnen and then the bus to Isenfluh. From there it was a cable car up to Sulwald where we had an early lunch befoe starting our hike to Gruetschalp. From Gruetschalp it was down by cable car back to Lauterbrunnen.
Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/Gruetschalp2011/index.html

The next day around 2:30 I started on my hike up Maenlichen. This is listed as a 3 hour hike, but about on third of the way up I missed a sign post and went on an hour long detour on a trail that was in bad shape. Back on the trail, I found that there was a detour to the Maenlichen Gipfel due to avalanches on the original trail that goes directly to the lodge at the top. The day had started off clear, but around 5PM I was hit by a downpour. Fortunately, I was already putting on my Arcteryx parka and Marmot pants when the rain and wind really hit-I had been able to see the front coming at me. The downpour was intense and I could feel the temperature drop, but fortunately it didn’t last. If it had, I would have been in bad shape since the exposed train got worse up ahead. Of course, I was passed by an old Asian guy (older probably than me) just wearing running shorts and a singlet who had gone up to the top and was on his way back down.

The trail meandered through the prominent snow avalanche guards. Up close they look much more imposing than they look from the ground. I was glad the storm was gone since I didn’t want to around these steel structures if there was any lightning. The trail up to that point had gone through some ver lovely scenery and there were some very good views. Back near the beginning there had also been a Mendelssohn memorial. Near the Gipfel, though, you were just among the steel maze which sometimes you actually had to go through. Reaching the Gipfel was a relief, but I skipped going to the actual top since it was getting late and I was beat. Fortunately, I had reservations at the Tuesday night barbecue at the lodge which included a ride down the gondola. I was disappointed that the dinner was in a glass and steel structure. I had remembered a very nice wooden dining room from the last time I had been there.
Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/Maennlichen2011/index.html

The next day was a down day due to weather, but the following day was my trip to Geneva to see CERN. I hadn’t made reservations for the full tour, but that probably didn’t matter since it took about 4 hours to get there. After asking at the tourist information trailer I found out which tram to take to reach CERN, which took another half hour. The CERN visitor center and exhibits were pretty good, physically located in two places on either side of the street. The first one you notice is a large brown wooden sphere which houses displays which include English and are sometimes interactive. Without warning periodically there is a light show that takes over the whole display area in alternating languages. On the other side of the street is the actual reception area which includes a gift shop and another set of displays which have more detailed information. There is a four minute film and a display which gives you an idea of what the tunnel is like. These displays also emphasize the invention of the world wide web as well as particle physics.

The return trip by train was only three and a half hours for some reason, but it was long enough for me. If I had had more time I would have liked to have gone to Chambesy where there is an exhibit of Greek art works, but I accept limits. Geneva would have been a interesting place to visit for a couple of days, but it is very expensive to stay there.

Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/Geneva2011/index.html

On my final day I took a hike by myself to Kleinie Scheidegg, which doesn’t require any train rides, but can include them. The day started kind of dubious as far as weather goes, but improved at the elevations I was at. I stopped on way up at Wengeralp for lunch and roesti, the national dish. The location was very lovely, but this version of roesti was pretty much hash browns with lots of extra oil. This upset my stomach a little, but kept me fueled through all of the afternoon’s hiking. Switzerland doesn’t seem to be a place to visit for the native cuisine. Kleine Scheidegg was pretty crowded and for some reason they had a couple of large teepees set up. I took off by trails that were much narrower than the ones on which I had arrived. I didn’t go out on the outermost trail, which we had take long ago on another trip, but chose a sort of middle one. This one curved gently around on both fire roads and trails, going slowly back to Wengen. Along the way I saw a lot of backpackers. Finally I got be to Wengen via Mary’s Ski Restaurant.

Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/KleineScheidegg2011/index.html

July 4th weekend

Although just one week before my trip to Europe, I decided to make my annual pilgrimage to Kings Canyon and Sequoia. This time however, I decided to take my Subaru instead of a motorcycle, since I had ripped one or more muscle in my right arm, according to my doctor. I think I did this when I dropped my GSXF in a Santa Monica parking structure. I was able to lift up the bike by myself, but apparently damaged myself in the process. At least the parking attendants felt sorry for me and waived the $5 parking fee.

My departure was delayed by a funeral, so I skipped the Japanese art museum in Hanford that I normally visit at this time, plus their current exhibit wasn’t of particular interest to me. On the way I realized I’d forgotten my cell phone, and I knew that I would need one, so I stopped in at the Bakersfield Costco. The touch screen one I picked up in Missouri last year I’d really come to hate, so I figured this wasn’t such a bad thing, especially since I use prepaid cell phones. The new Samsung has a full keyboard, which also made it worthwhile.

After an overnight stay at a Motel 6 and a Del Taco dinner, I proceeded the next day to the Three Rivers entry point to Sequoia. There I found that they were doing road work on the road up into the park, so I stopped at the visitor center to see how I could kill time until the next time traffic would be allowed to pass. The suggestion by the rangers was to visit Hospital Rock and check out the petroglyphs, sometime I had never bothered to do before. They’re actually quite vivid and easier to make out than other petroglyphs I’ve seen.

At the Lodgepole visitor center they confirmed my assumption that the High Sierra Trail would probably be the best match for my bad knees. After taking lunch there, I backtracked to Crescent Meadow to the trail head. I had plenty of time since I was only packing in 6 mile to Mehrten Creek where the trail became difficult to the large amount of water from all the run off. My new Osprey pack turned out to be pretty good, with no imbalances or stress points. I was also carrying a lot less weight than I had in the past. The trail of course is very civilized, but I got to see how the pack performed over rougher terrain for a very short distance when I entered the Mehrten Creek camp site. I was amazed by how much water there was and it was a relatively tight squeeze between the rocks and the water to start the climb into the camp sites. This is a case where the minimum 100’ distance to the water is maintained by going up. The first site was occupied, so I climbed up to the second. I was lucky that I got there when I did since people continue to come in after me and had to climb even higher. In the morning I found someone very near my site.

The Big Agnes UL tent I got to use for the first time, as well as the Big Agnes insulated inflatable sleeping pad. There was no wind or rain so I didn’t get a chance to really test the tent, but I was glad that I got the 2 person version since it was just the right size for one person. In the store I had compared it to the solo version and decided that the difference in weight was small enough to justify more room. The pad has to be manually inflated, but is easier to deflate than a self-inflating pad and is much more compact. I used it with my NF UL sleeping bag and decided that the insulation is about the same as that of the Thermarests I’ve used. I slept in my Patagonia down sweater since the NF sleeping bag is pretty minimal. Might look for a light down sleeping bag after this.

I used an MSR remote tank stove and found that it takes much longer to boil water than one with a heat exchanger. I think I’ll eBay this one. Dinner was freeze dried since I was lazy, but it was a lot better than the stuff I had used long ago. For breakfast I had just Cliff bars and some hot chocolate. I was ticked at myself that I had forgotten my Via instant coffee. I got out in time to have lunch at Lodgepole again but before that I stopped at Moro Rock. I had always bypassed it in the past, but I decided that I would check it out this time. It was worth the detour and the steep climb up the stairs.

Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/Sequoia2011/index.html

After lunch I drove over to Kings Canyon and the Grant Grove visitor center , and then down to Cedar Grove to link up with my friends. Didn’t have time to do much more than attend the ranger campfire before it was time to head home. That night I used the synthetic Big Agnes sleeping pad that is meant to go with the sleeping pad. It was considerably warmer that way, but that bag is too heavy and bulky for me to pack in these days.

Sunday I went home to meet my cousins at the San Fernando Obon.

Photos at: http://ikemi.info/graphics3/SanFernandoValleyObon2011/index.html

Walking Sticks

Hiking poles changed my hiking life. I first saw modern ones in the Alps where I noticed that everyone was using them. Some people were even using two, sort of like ski poles. We asked some of the locals how they worked and they said that they were great.

Since my knees were going, I decided that the poles might be a good idea. I’d used wooden walking sticks in the past, but not these adjustable aluminum poles. Some came with shock absorbers, that didn’t seem to do too much. Experience with cross country skiing carried over to the hiking experience. You don’t grab the grips of the poles. The straps are the most important interface with the pole. You only grab the grips when you need to steady yourself or apply thrust. I’ve tried explaining this technique to others with little success.

Carbon fibers poles having the highest performance since they are light and have inherent damping, delivering the effect that the mechanical shock absorbers were supposed to deliver. The only problem is that the adjustable joints never held. They had a tendency to collapse at the worst possible times. After going through two sets of poles, I gave up on carbon fiber. Titanium poles are a good compromise, being fairly light, but noticeably heavier than carbon fiber. For most people, basic aluminum poles can do the job at a fraction of the price of the more exotic poles. My favorites are Black Diamonds with lever action length adjusters instead of all twist adjusters. For overseas use I have a pair of really short poles that can fit into my bag when collapsed.

When I first started using hiking poles I wondered why they came with rubber cups, like the ones on ski poles. On hard ground they are pretty useless. Hiking in the Swiss Alps I learned why you need those cups on the end of your hiking poles. Those Alps would probably be like our Sierras if the Swiss hadn’t been herding cattle there since the Roman era or before. The soil in places is cow pies and squishy. Your poles sink in without the cups. Also, you don’t want to wear loose cuffs on long pants. That’s why you see the Swiss wearing those short pants and the long stockings.