Quote Originally Posted by Big_Old_Dog View Post
Thanks Nsherry61. True, I don't find climbing the hills bad and in fact, enjoy them whereas the steeper descents over rocky terrain isn't my favorite. I'm reading up and practicing using the poles. The trails today were single track in lots of places with about 6 inches and then overgrown plants (just ferns and bushes), the poles sort of get caught up or in other cases there are so many dead trees and branches that my focus is just on my poles. I am going to look into those balancing exercises, no idea if my balance is good or bad but that is a very good idea. Thank you. Today, it was rainy and I had to cross 5 creeks and probably 5 dry ones and boy oh boy, the rocks were slick like ice. I slipped twice crossing one big stream and the poles saved my bacon. It is just all rocks everywhere on today's hike. So, I decided to spend time walking slowly up and down the dry creek bed practicing balance and foot placement, which might be too risky. Your drills might be smarter. Or it is possible that those slippery rocks would be a challenge even for a more experienced hiker. The two times it was a total shocker but I did not go down. I used to ski and I played ice hockey competitively for a long time and know a lot about falling. LOL. The feet and ankles definitely do not get the same stress on a bike (at least my setup) as hiking, night and day different for me.
This sounds like great training! It's good that you have an area nearby with some challenging terrain and elevation gain
After you've hiked more on wet rocks, you'll know exactly what you can get away with doing without getting off balance as often.