My New Hiking Stick!

This little Alpine fellow has such
a great look!!!

I have been looking for a new hiking stick almost as soon as I got back from Camino. I had a friend who often said things come to you when you are ready to receive. I guess until now, I just wasn’t ready to receive!

Every time I walked or hiked I was on a constant lookout for a new stick. Now and again, I would see something that looked like it had potential but on closer examination, it was too short, too heavy, too curved or otherwise just not right.

After nearly six months of searching, I found my stick last Wednesday, during my lunchtime walk at the Barclay Farmstead.

I opted to do the walk backward that day, just for a slight change of scenery. Funny how things look so different when you see them from the opposite direction. Anyway, as I was strolling along, very much enjoying the beautiful fall weather and a view of the river from a new angle, there it was! A new fallen branch, it wasn’t there the day before, lie right off the path. Just like my Camino stick, there it was saying "check me out!" Maybe the Barclay Farmstead really is some kind of enchanted forest, talking trees and all that!!!

Despite the length and the fact that there were all kinds of side branches, I thought, this definitely has potential. I broke off as many branches as I could and was able to snap off some of the length. Decided to test it out though it was still about seven feet high. I felt like I was carrying some kind of massive witch’s staff and did feel a bit weird when three teenagers walked by. I wonder what they were thinking!

The stick felt way too thick and too heavy but I decided to take it home and see how it was after I got it cut down to size. Like my old Camino stick, I decided to leave it at the Farmstead entrance and fetch it after work. It was so long I could barely fit it in the car! When my son came home and saw it propped up against the living room wall, he asked, "why do we have a large branch in the living room?" I told him it might be my new hiking stick. He said, "ah."

I started working on the stick that same night. Sawed it down to size, sawed off the branch nubs.. I did give the top the same kind of angle that came natural on my original Camino stick as I just really liked the look. I’ve learned a few things about stick making though. It’s a lot easier to peel off bark with one of those razor knives rather than plucking it off with my fingernails. Because this stick needed a lot of serious sanding to remove the saw gouges I made when sawing off some of the bigger side branches, I bought a small cheap electric sander. Wow! How did I ever get this far in life without one of those!

At this point, my stick is finally stripped bare! The wood is nice and light but warm and has a few interesting markings. I’m not quite sure what kind of wood it is but it’s really very beautiful. This stick feels good in every way. It even has, just like my old Camino stick, a nice built in area that makes a perfect handhold.

I did the final sanding last night. I’m contemplating drilling a hole for a wrist strap but I’m still not sure on that. Will post more when my stick is completed!