>>2023555This, I went on a hike last Nov. and didn't bother to bring any trekking poles and really regretted it when I had to traverse over snow covered boulder fields (pic related).
I wound up post holeing every other step since most of the gaps between the boulders were covered with snow, and since I didn't bring my trekking poles I had no easy way to test where I was going to step. So I'd at a bare minimum recommend bringing trekking poles if you're expecting snow.
