Back
in the distant past when I was young, I hung around with two old “founding
fathers” of the local hiking club. “Old” says I, but they were younger then
than I am now.
Both
of these fellows were real devotees of using an alpenstock when walking on
rough terrain. The dictionary description of an alpenstock is “A strong staff with
an iron point, used
by mountain climbers”, and the alpenstocks these men carried fit the description pretty well; they had turned white ash staffs with a steel pin inserted in the
tip.
After
watching them use their alpenstocks as “third legs” to help with balance on
steep or slippery terrain and while crossing streams, and occasionally use them to vault
across narrow streams or muddy spots, I figured they had a good
idea.
So
I began using an alpenstock too. Turned staffs have an inherent weakness, if
the wood’s grain runs out partway along the length they can split, break, and send the
user sprawling. I decided to make mine from a sapling of suitable diameter so
the grain would run the full length of the staff. None of those flimsy, expensive "trekking poles" for me. It also quickly became apparent
that the steel pin in the tip tended to slip off smooth hard rock – so
mine has sported a rubber tip of the type made for chair legs. The rubber tips give good
adhesion on rock and they come in various diameters so it’s easy to get one to fit
the diameter of the alpenstock and, when they wear through, replacements are readily available.
Now I have two alpenstocks. One is old (35 years+) and weathered, a veteran of many miles traversing rough country in at least six states, and is semi-retired. The newer one (at about ten years a mere youngster) is also accumulating the miles.
Now I have two alpenstocks. One is old (35 years+) and weathered, a veteran of many miles traversing rough country in at least six states, and is semi-retired. The newer one (at about ten years a mere youngster) is also accumulating the miles.
As
did my friends’, my alpenstocks both have a wrist strap; they also have a short ¼” x 20
bolt inserted at the upper end. That bolt permits using the alpenstock as a
monopod for low-light photography. Except when a camera is attached, the bolt
sports an appropriate nut to protect the threads (and my hand).
A short part of
the newer one's shaft is wrapped with parachute cord – you can never tell when it may come
in handy.
Surprised you didn't cover this topic earlier! I need to find time to put more miles on mine now, too.
ReplyDeleteGood looking Alpenstocken, Woody. I've abused mine regularly by breaking dead wood with them, especially dead manzanita which can put an eye out. Last week I broke my larch stick hitting a dead manzanita. It snapped in half because I had wood-burned measuring rings into it at 1 foot intervals (good for measuring camera distance and depth of hollow logs). Larch is slow growing and dense, as conifers go, but that shallow groove was a major weak point.
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