The Camino Provided Me With A Stick

Most trekkers seem to use collapsible titanium/graphite trekking poles, but aside from a stovepipe hat with a buckle in front nothing says "pilgrim" like an old fashioned wooden walking stick like Martin Sheen and Uncle Bob used on the Camino. 

I wasted a half day looking for one of those, first in Orleans and then in Tours. Eventually I set out without one but the fact is that to farm dogs a walker without a stick looks like a big two-legged Beggin Strip. 

When I remembered seeing stickless Isabel get bit by a dog last spring I immediately started looking around on the ground for something to carry. Within 30 seconds I found this gem. Can you believe it?

It's the perfect length, and dry and light without being brittle. The only problem with it is that it has a crack down the middle; nothing that a little duct tape couldn't fix - and imagine how badass it would look with a little duct tape.