Hiking poles are rarely needed- but a nice stick or staff is another matter entirely. Esp as you can get a very nice blackthorn walking stick in the UK, a nice something to use and bring back as a keepsake.
Regarding poles:
I have pretty terrible knees. Any sort of uneven terrain where I’m going to be going up and (especially) down, I’m going to be in pain. It’s not injury pain - just regular old pain that you gotta just suck up and endure. On my last Teton trip, that pain began on Day 1. We ran into a lone hiker who had a couple poles with him, and he lent them to me for a few hours before he had to move on. They made such a difference, I can’t begin to tell you what a godsend they were.
Granted, my trailmates had insisted on overpacking (“of course we’ll eat all this food!”), so my knees were taking on quite a bit more weight than they were accustomed, but I’ll be taking poles on my next big hike.
Well, as a matter of aesthetic preference you may choose a blackthorn stick. But an aluminium hiking pole has many advantages. It’s lighter, it telescopes into a convenient length for carrying it when not in use (attach it to your back-pack) and it’s internally sprung.
[Edited to add:] and it’s height-adjustable, which is important to compensate for the difference between going up- and down-hill.
Try to whack something nasty with a aluminium staff, then try again with a nice blackthorn. Advantage- blackthorn. 
That’s what I came in to say.
I’ve never once had a blister from boots at REI.
I usually get the Goretex-lined Vasque boots. VERY water proof.
Really, where you buy a shoe doesn’t matter, just what the shoe is. Timberland or ECCO should be fine. Personally, I would recommend ECCO as their shoes look nice. You can wear them to go hiking or wear them to a meeting with million dollar executives. They look a bit “hiking” around the ankle, but if you’re wearing slacks that part is covered, leaving what appears to be a dress shoe toe showing.
With Timberland, you would probably want one of these:
http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2343396&cp=1779791.1761081.1761136&int_prevBucket=-1&showSizeSearch=true&pageBucket=0&hasPagination=false&int_nextBucket=0&pageType=family&page_bucket=0&pageNum=1&pageCount=3&view=all&pageDisplay=superfamily,filter&page=2&totalProductsCount=45&parentPage=family
http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2343399&cp=1779791.1761081.1761136&int_prevBucket=-1&showSizeSearch=true&pageBucket=0&hasPagination=false&int_nextBucket=0&pageType=family&page_bucket=0&pageNum=1&pageCount=3&view=all&pageDisplay=superfamily,filter&page=2&totalProductsCount=45&parentPage=family
http://www.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3704360&cp=1779791.1761081.1761136&int_prevBucket=-1&showSizeSearch=true&pageBucket=0&hasPagination=false&int_nextBucket=0&pageType=family&page_bucket=0&pageNum=1&pageCount=3&view=all&pageDisplay=superfamily,filter&page=2&totalProductsCount=45&parentPage=family
Technically, that’s a high-top. A boot continues up past the ankles. Though I’ll admit that people seem to have started calling non-kiddy high-tops “boots” in the last decade.
But they’re wrong. This is an actual boot:
The difference between a boot and a high-top in terms of hiking is that a boot has to be worn in. A high-top that is well made and meant for hiking, if you have to wear it in, it’s not a very good one. It should just work like a shoe where you slip it on and its part of your foot from day 1.
REI is good, they offer good quality gear at reasonable prices. But as said, that doesn’t guarantee you will get the right boots for you. Making sure you get a knowledgeable salesperson and spend at least 1 hour trying on boots and walking around the store is key. You can do that at any good gear store, your odds might be better at REI (although not at some of their stores, where they seem to employ only idiots).
The distinction between boots and hightops is not really worth making, IMO. Anything that isn’t shoe-like is a boot, I usually make the distinction between “soft” and “full leather” boots, or boots with a full shank. But there are boots that straddle those definitions so what matters is really how they feel on your feet.
My main concern is finding someone knowledgable to help me. I am a nob at something like this.
I’ve been to REI stores in the Greater L.A./Orange County area, Bellingham, WA, and their flagship store in Seattle. The staff have always known their stuff. If the particular staff didn’t know the answer to a question s/he’d get the store’s ‘expert’ on that bit of gear. At the stores I’ve been to whoever was helping me nearly always knew his or her stuff. If not, they had no problem finding ‘the’ person – and they usually stuck around to gain knowledge for themselves.
One thing I like about REI is that they hire people who actually engage in the sports and activities, as opposed to just warm bodies. And they treat their employees well.
Not in all stores. Trust me, I’ve met some real idiots working at REI. True, they have a higher percentage of knowledgeable people than other stores, but you do need to make sure you’ve got one of them.
In places like Seattle it isn’t a problem. In some smaller markets it might not be as easy to find good staff.
I can tell you that Boy Scout troops now actively advise against cotton socks or clothing for hiking or camping. The boys learn the catch phrase, “Cotton kills.” Cotton sweatshirts and blue jeans are particularly discouraged–they’re heavy and deadly in the winter if they get wet.
When my son was a new Scout (not even a Tenderfoot yet), we did a hiking trip in late June up the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We didn’t have cotton socks, but we did have cotton T-shirts. Big mistake. The cotton got wet from sweat, then hung on us like wet rags. We ended up buying the polyester shirts at one of the AMC hut stores, even though they were $20 each.
Now we don’t bring anything with us made of cotton except underwear, and I’m thinking of replacing that with a synthetic as well.
Do so. Smartwool is great and Terramar makes a great synthetic silk-feel boxer.
Note that a cotton overshirt is great on a hot day. Cotton has it’s uses.