Hiking sticks

[AMFADVENTURES]

Don't know if these are available across the country or even if they're any good, but I just picked up a pair of shock absorbing, adjustable carbon fiber hiking sticks with 4 sets of interchangeable feet. Got them from Costco for $26. Light weight and reduce to a small enough foot print to Velcro to a bike.

[Sparky10]

I love using hiking sticks, or trekking poles - whatever you want to call them. Makes it so much easier to get through the thick brush and very uneven ground that I hike on. And I can walk on the road home without being wadded up in a right side-weakened ball.

$26 doesn't sound bad for good poles, thanks!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Believe it or not Sparky, you and your mushroom hunting had a lot to do with my even looking for trekking poles, that and having once been on the consumption end of a highly successful morel hunt.

[Sparky10]

Really? Cool! Here's something else I hunt for:

[ActiveMSers]

I was going to post a pic of a cold pint, but I suppose I don't need trekking poles to track one down. Afterward, maybe!

Good find, AMF, and crazy affordable.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Here's a question for the trekking pole literate. My local NMSS chapter offers a 4 week course, one day a week, in the use of 'Hiking Poles' (their term, although I like Sparky's best, 'Trekking Poles' is the sexiest). Anyway, do you think a guy really needs lessons to use trekking poles?

[ActiveMSers]

Absolutely. Almost everyone uses them wrong. It looks so simple, but you'd be surprised how much more effective they can be if used properly, from proper fitting to strap use to pole planting.

[Sparky10]

Believe it or not Sparky, you and your mushroom hunting had a lot to do with my even looking for trekking poles, that and having once been on the consumption end of a highly successful morel hunt.

Almost that time! Early May. After hunting antler sheds, it's Morels, then mulberries.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Thanks for the heads up on mushroom season Sparky, guess I'm off to the library for a field guide ASAP. BTW, I know what to do with the Morels and it probably wouldn't be difficult to figure out the mulberries, but, although I understand the hunt, I am a little stumped by the antler sheds?

Dave, thanks for the advice, I believe you. Looks like I missed BOTH trekking pole classes, although I don't know how they are holding them with the constant snow around here (like another 6 inches this morning!). Anyway, as I said, I'm off to the library. If worse comes to worse, I'll e-mail my PT.

Thanks guys,

[Sparky10]

Mulberries look and taste like blackberries, but with a milder flavor and no big seeds. Plus, they grow on thornless trees!

Deer naturally shed their antlers every Spring. Late winter, really. I look for them starting in late February through April. There are a lot of things that can be made from them, from knife handles to furniture to chandeliers. But that takes a LOT of sheds! I just collect them for display.

The pic I posted earlier in this thread is the only one I found this year, and it's a beauty! A 6-point side, meaning the buck was most likely a 12-point; that's big! The pics below are my living room. First pic is the sheds from Mississippi; 2nd is the bunch from here in Iowa.