Never leave home with trekking poles -- keep a pair in the car all the time.

For easier hikes I carry just one. Two for steep, rocky terrain.

Priceless when you have a bum knee and ankle. Great for clearing spider webs.

For several years I've relied on these REI super lightweight poles for women. The pair weigh 14.7 ounces and telescope down very small so they be stored in my pack or strapped to the outside.

http://www.rei.com/product/784272

And my snowshoe poles with snow baskets more than paid for themselves during and after the three major snowstorms we experienced this winter. For two weeks I did not walk anywhere without one of the snowshoe poles to keep from slipping on snow mounds that blocked many street corners. I lent the other pole to a friend who is now shopping for her own.