Getting in gear: Cascade's staff gives hikers a leg up

Cascade Designs' Sherlock Travel Staff, $50.

Trekking poles are all the rage these days — hikers around the world are finally discovering the advantages of having a third (and even fourth) leg when they are trudging up steep slopes, descending rough terrain or crossing rushing rivers.

Most trekking poles are simply glorified ski poles — simple, adjustable aluminum shafts. Cascade Designs offers those, too, but the company's real contribution to the walking world is their Tracks line of staffs — modern forms of the classic stout hiking staff. The best of the lineup is the Sherlock Travel Staff.

This compact wonder stands apart as a multifunctional staff loaded with convenient features. Foremost, it provides the support and stability you expect in a hiking staff. The rigid aluminum shaft of the Sherlock is sheathed in tough foam, creating a soft, warm handgrip on the top two-thirds of the pole. That means you can grip in midshaft when scrambling up a rocky slope without worrying about your grip slipping, or about grabbing icy metal.

The staff is topped with a walnut knob which, when unscrewed, reveals a camera mount underneath, letting you use the pole as a monopod. At the other end, a tough rubber foot grips rocks and roots when you're trekking over rough trail. Showing that the designers at Cascade Designs truly enjoy their work, these rubber feet are blessed with raised "pads" shaped like a dog's paw to leave tell-tale "Tracks" on each planting of the pole.

When conditions are icy or the ground too slick for the broad rubber foot, it can be removed to reveal a three-inch steel spike that bites into ice and slippery mud with an unyielding grip.

The staff disassembles into three pieces, which slip into a small nylon bag for easy transport wherever you might be going. The staff adjusts from a minimum usable length of 44 inches to a maximum of 57.5 inches.

For more information, call 800-531-9531 or see the Web site, www.cascadedesigns.com

Dan A. Nelson is publications editor and gear specialist for Washington Trails Association.