Practising with trekking poles

corblimey

I'm taking a hiking trip out to the US in the next 18 months; last time I went there, the rough ground on most hikes caused me to roll my ankles several times, so I'm looking to get some trekking poles to help with the balance this time.

To that end, I'd like to get in some practise before I go, get used to the things, work out what works and what doesn't. I'm thinking my current regular hike along country roads won't really work for this, but I'm also wary of taking on the likes of Carrantuohill.

Ideally, there'd be some website (or even one of those ancient papery things our forefathers used to use, "books") where I could find some shortish (<3 hrs) trails where the surface is approximate to what I'm expecting in the US Southwest. DiscoverIreland.ie is not that website.

Misty Moon

I have a few books by Michael Fewer (Waymarked Trails of Ireland and Irish Waterside Walks), which aren't bad. I've had them for years though and even when I got them, they were slightly out of date so some of the landmarks given weren't to be found. Not sure if they've been updated but for a general starting point, they're fine. I just checked and he has other books, too - there's a list on his website.

Once I learned how to actually hold the things properly I found the poles great to use. I did one of those week-long charity walk things years ago and it was the guide in Slovenia (rock-climbing champion and general all-round outdoors expert) who pointed out I was doing it wrong. I'd been ambivalent about using them until then but needed them when I injured my foot. Amazing what a difference it made when I was holding them correctly. (Here's a youtube video just in case you're as clueless as I was or this video, at the 2 minute mark, you can see it a bit better ).

As for practicing - well, I don't find the poles great on tarmac or pavement but otherwise, no problem on any flat surface. Even just round and round the garden is fine to get a feel for them rhythm of walking with them.

BarryD

www.irishtrails.ie

Tigerandahalf

I downloaded the irishtrails.ie app yesterday. It is a big download, around 40mb. It could be a great app but it was crashing for me all the time. The Irish Sports Council were behind it. Don't understand why these apps are put out without ensuring that they are bug free.
The app gives you a county by county guide of trails around Ireland and you can get satellite, map and other info on each trail. It says it can also be used offline.

denismc

Lots of hikes and trails of varying difficulty on this site:
www.mountainviews.ie

sheesh

Individual days:

dingle way from tralee to camp is mostly on a rough track ther is a great walk around brandon head that is all rough ground too.

Mountain brandon walk is easy enough (navigationally) but rough.

Also the kerry way that goes from killarney to kenmare (goes past torc) is an old road that is also rough.

the walk up mangerton would be an easy navigation and rough.

corblimey

Tks all for the tips. Once I've got my poles, I'll be checking them out

Alun

BTW I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to get the pole movements exactly synchronised with every step if I were you. Maybe if you're into the whole Nordic walking thing, but I find it all a bit too frantic if I'm just out hiking with them. If I use them at all on the flat, I tend to plant them roughly every other step, and anywhere else I just use them as a tool, mainly to steady myself, or push myself up a steep bit, or a multitude of other uses, such as prodding boggy ground to see how squishy it is, pole vaulting over bogs or streams, that kind of thing.