Pole Clinic & Hike in Sanborn Park

Duane and I packed our gear last night, so we were ready for an early morning start. When the alarm went off at 6:00 am, we showered, dressed and ate breakfast. Duane's getting better about getting up so early on a Saturday morning. I'm somewhat more used to it as I drive our son to school every morning. But still, I dislike eating breakfast so early. I'm just not hungry this early in the morning.

We met at the parking log at El Paseo de Saratoga shopping mall, in front of Le Boulanger. This is one of our team's carpool meeting places. I'm awake enough for a cup of coffee now! After a short wait, we drove over to Sanborn Park. We arrived just as the gates opened, paid our parking fee, and parked our cars.

Sanborn Park is nestled in the hills of Santa Clara County, just above the City of Saratoga. The Youth Science Institute hosts children's summer camps in the thickly wooded park. Since Duane decided that he wanted to do the pole clinic, I decided to do it with him, even though I felt that I needed the hike more than the poles. I went into the pole clinic thinking that poles were optional and that I probably didn't need them.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Our presenter, Jayah, who hikes with the Sierra Club, was very knowledgable and enthusiastic about her subject. She showed us how to use poles and the proper way to adjust and size them for our bodies. Most of the newer poles even include shock absorbers! One of the benefits of the poles include transferring some of the energy and shock from your joints to the poles, thereby saving your knees from some of the stress. It's not a lot, but it might make a difference on a long, strenuous hike like Half Dome. Another benefit is that your fingers don't swell up as much when you have something to wrap them around. When hiking without poles, it is natural for the arms to swing in rhythym with the gait, which pushes blood out to the fingertips where it has to fight gravity back up the arm.

One of the things I have been looking forward to learning about was gloves. Today's pole clinic also featured both regular and fingerless gloves. The trick was to pick the right size of fingerless gloves, which ran very small, so that they would still be the right size when/if your fingers swell so as not to cut off the circulation. The gloves are a very lightweight nylon polyester with synthetic leather grips and padding. I bought both fingerless and regular gloves. It wouldn't be a bad thing to start these early morning hikes with a pair of regular gloves until my fingers warm up. I've also been wondering what kind of gloves we should use for the cable section of the hike. The answer is, it turns out, cheap gloves from the hardware store! What is needed is something with a really good grip that you don't care if it gets cut up or damaged.

After getting equipped with both gloves and poles, we walked off with Jayah in the lead, teaching us techniques for using poles. The poles are adjustable and are lengthened on the downhill in order to avoid bad posture and leaning over the poles. The poles are shortened on the uphill. Uphill is definitely easier than downhill, which appears to require somewhat more coordination, although I'm not sure why. When walking over cement or on a bridge, pick the poles up so you don't dull the tips or get them caught in a crack between planks! Who knew that poles have rules!?

I haven't done much hiking in Sanborn Park. Our son did a science camp there one year. So it was nice to get out and see some of the park's beautiful redwood forests and lush green ferns. Because of the pole clinic, our hike was shorter, but even so I'm glad I went to the pole clinic. I bought the poles that Jayah picked out for me and I learned something new and potentially useful for our Half Dome Challenge.