I'm a big fan of good hiking poles. Some notes:

1) they take an enormous load off of your knees & legs
2) the steeper the terrain (up or down), the more valuable the poles are
3) foam grips fall apart and get funky. Leki's cork grips are excellent
4) Black Diamond's flik-locks are a nice design
5) when you use the poles for other things (shelter support, etc) their weight is more than justified
6) today's modern designs using carbon fiber & titanium are even lighter than the Lekis I've been using for years
7) the spring-loaded feature is really valuable when walking on rocky terrain
8) add a pair of rubber tips & the poles become very useful when training on steep roads