Walking Sticks

~by Mark Blackwell

"Without my walking stick, I'd go insane."—Irving Berlin

One of my all-time favorite stories is about Robin Hood, the medieval outlaw of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, Merry Old England. A thousand years ago that forest was a little bigger than Brown County State Park but big enough for a band of merry men to hide in.

What I like best about the story is the way it was portrayed by Errol Flynn in the 1938 movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood. When I first saw it as a young man, I was convinced that camping out in the woods with a bunch of your buddies and relieving rich folks of their surplus wealth could be a valid lifestyle. One of my favorite scenes is the one where Robin Hood meets John Little.

Robin is hiking down a trail in Sherwood Forest when he comes to a stream. Across the stream is a log that is used as a footbridge. As Robin sets foot on the log a very large fellow on the opposite side of the stream steps up on his side. As they approach the middle of the bridge neither man gives way.

So, here are two guys walking in the woods with their trusty walking sticks and they wind up nose-to-nose on a fallen tree trunk. On one side we have John Little, upwards of seven feet tall and probably weighing around twenty-one and a half stone (that’s about 300 pounds American weight) telling Robin to yield.

On the other side is Robin Hood, who is average height and weight but sporting an outsized ego. Robin refuses to yield and challenges John Little to a fight with quarterstaffs (old English for hiking stick). The fight doesn’t last very long. John Little gives Robin a fair drubbing and knocks him into the stream.

Robin, his ego now dampened but in better control, laughs at his predicament, reverses his foe’s name and dubs him Little John. Little John helps Robin out of the creek and a beautiful friendship is born.

The moral of the story is: a hiking stick confrontation may not be the best way to make a friend, but it is one way.

With this story in mind, I have compiled a short list of the ways that walking sticks may be employed for the benefit of the owner.

First, they are great for general hiking. They help maintain your balance on uneven ground and help getting up and down hills.

Also, no matter if you can’t afford trendy hiking togs, a walking stick signifies that you are a serious participant in outdoor activities. And if some passers-by happen to comment unfavorably about your unfashionable attire you can resort to number two.

Number two: As mentioned before, it can be very handy in self-defense, close quarter combat situations, giving the random lout a good thrashing. And in certain situations, making new friends. In the early nineteenth century, the French developed a fighting technique they called Canne de Combat, using the walking stick as a weapon.

Also, in the later nineteenth century, an Englishman named Edward William Barton Wright included elements of walking stick or staff fighting techniques in an eclectic martial art called Bartitsu. Sherlock Holmes is reputed to have been a practitioner.

Number three: Pole vaulting over rattlesnakes.

Number four: Mushroom hunting. The stick can be used to turn over leaves and other debris on the forest floor without resorting to bending over. This use alone can spare one a goodly amount of back pain and extend a hunt by30 percent or more.

Number five: Fending off wildlife. There are times when traversing the back country that one may inadvertently come between a mama black bear and her cubs. This might possibly provoke a protective instinct in the female and cause her to charge. If you find yourself in this situation, breathe regularly, slow your heart rate, and try not emit a stink of fear. Then take careful aim and bop the bear smartly on her snout. She may be deterred long enough for you to escape. This may also work for wolves, mountain lions, and rabid raccoons.

However, if you happen to come between a mama grizzly bear and her cubs, disregard the previous course of action, and consider your relationship to a higher power. Also, if you find yourself in any of these predicaments in Brown County, please report them to the proper authorities ASAP.

Number six: Quagmires and quicksand. If you are out hiking and happen to stray off the path and into a bog of quicksand, do not struggle! I do not claim to be an expert, though I have spent considerable time researching the subject as depicted in many Tarzan and various other adventure movies.

If you do happen to stumble into it and are inexorably sucked down in the thick sand soup, keep your wits about you, stay calm, and when/if another hiker happens to come along in time, you can extend your walking stick out for your rescuer to pull you from certain doom. However, if no other hikers come by, then see my advice about grizzly bears.

Brown County has some of the best hiking country. Whether you choose Brown County State Park, Yellowwood State Forest, or the Hoosier National Forest for your next adventure, don’t forget your walking stick.