[at-l] Hiking sticks/staffs/poles, etc. Are they worth it?

[AThiker@smithville.net (Felix)]

Steve Landis wrote:

> In 1970 a good friend who is an artist gave me a beautifully carved, crooked walking
> stick that I used hiking, hitch hiking, flying cross country several times.  I took
> it - it took me - to many great places,  not the least of which was the bottom of
> the Grand Canyon.

You left out the part about that 'stick' being the bat Robert Redford used in "The
Natural". Your modesty amazes me, Steve.


> On April 5,1998 I handed it to my daughter as she started a
> thruhike at Springer and told her that it was "hers now".  Today I carry one very
> special picture in my wallet - Mitch AT '98 waving that stick on top of Mt.
> Katahdin.

...and, now....we...know...the...rest...of...the...story. Except:

You also left out the part about Mitch loaning that stick to some hobo (homebounder?)
she met at the first shelter. How she didn't see that hobo or stick again. How she had
her sister swipe a picture of you, robert redford and the stick so she could have a
masterwoodcarvin' guy make a stick that looks just like it. Then, when she got to the
Kennebec and was riding in the canoe, a stick floating down the river hit the side of
the canoe and she immediately recognized it as your stick. Steve (the ferryman) said
"Hands in the canoe!!! as she reached out for it. He wouldn't let her pick it up, so she
had to hitchhike to Bingham and wait for the stick to show up. (Hitchin' was easy for
Mitch, if memory serves.) When she caught it, she let the new stick go in its place. You
left that part out. And, she still owes me for that replacement stick I carved for
her....


--
Felix Navidad
ME-->GA '98
"Your Move"
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/