It’s Springtime in Cali. Is everybody getting ready for hiking season? Grab your hiking stick and hit the trails! We took a hike the other day through Tilden Park and it was beautiful weather. It started out uphill and ended downhill, so like most hikes, you need a walking staff sized for all inclines. When you’re going uphill, you want to choke up on the staff and when you’re going downhill, you want to choke down on the staff to make it longer and let it take some stess off your knees.

Blooming Daffodil

We ran into a perfect situation when a hiking stick can save your butt. We were going down a rocky cliff right by a stream, so the rocks were very slippery. In these kind of situations, you don’t want to have all your weight and balance on one foot. What you want to do is utilize your staff as a pvot point. Plant the bottom of your staff into a groove in the rocks so that it won’t be able to slip when weight is put on when you’re balancing yourself. Now that you have a balance point, you can continue to go forward without the scare of having all your weight on one foot and slipping. Give it a try and let me know how much more safe you felt. Happy Hiking!