During a trek down the Pariah Canyon a few years ago with my missus, we took some Leki poles and found them to be very useful for supporting the weight we were carrying. The flash flood that took everyone (including Rangers/some local hikers) by surprise brought the poles into their own, especially when navigating post flood and avoiding (mostly) the settling silt which acted like quicksand. The very deep hole that I wondered in to and spent some very long seconds finding my way back to the surface also wrecked the poles. The fine silt worked it's way into the spring mechanism and I was never able to get them to work again, although I never threw them out as they are a reminder of that eventful trip.