Eyeglasses and Trekking Poles

A NOTE ABOUT EYEGLASSES: It has been my personal experience (and confirmed by the experiences of some other people) -- that things like bifocals, trifocals, progressive lenses ("multi-focal lenses"), and/or prisms in your eyeglass lenses can POTENTIALLY slow down your hiking pace in a place like Isle Royale. So, it might be helpful to be prepared for this possibility when planning how long it will take to to travel from Point A to Point B on the Island.

Hiking (or portaging) the trails at Isle Royale is different than walking across a smooth and level room or parking lot. Many people (especially those with bifocals, trifocals, etc) discover that they find themselves looking down fairly frequently at the trail and somewhat carefully selecting their next step on the uneven terrain and trails of the Island. This type of careful walking tends to slow you down. You might not even notice this slower pace over the short term--but over the course of an entire day it definitely adds up and can be rather significant when planning travel times.

I recommend trekking poles for all Isle Royale hikers--but I especially recommend them for persons with bifocals, trifocals, progressive lenses ("multi-focal lenses"), and/or prisms in their eyeglass lenses. Trekking poles definitely help you keep your balance on the uneven trails --and on things like narrow boardwalks.