I hiked 12 miles through Patagonia. It was incredible, but packing this one tool would have made it so much better.

• This month, I went hiking in Patagonia, a sprawling region that straddles Argentina and Chile.
• I trekked about 12 miles through Argentina’s Nahuel Huapi National Park to a mountain-top lake.

Despite what I like to think about myself, I'm not an exceptional hiker. Having grown up in Montana, I hike regularly when I can, but it would be disingenuous to say I'm anything of an expert.

So when I found a hike in Patagonia — the geographical region that spans both Argentina and Chile — that AllTrails users said was relatively easy with an extraordinary summit, I was all in. I'd been traveling through Argentina with family and wanted to take a day hike near our Airbnb in Bariloche, a town considered the gateway to Patagonia.

The hike, a roughly 12-mile trek through Argentina's Nahuel Huapi National Park to a lakeside camp called Refugio Frey, was described as a pretty easy start and had just a few challenging stretches. Despite its length (12 miles is a lot, it turns out), I figured I could do it relatively easily.

The hike to Refugio Frey was — as AllTrails users said — fairly easy. But there were some challenging parts. All in all, the trek was one of the most extraordinary hikes I've ever done.

But one thing would have made it so much better: Hiking poles.

The hike started out okay. It began at the base of a ski hill, just about 20 minutes outside Bariloche. The trail — about six miles one way — started out mostly flat, meandering through an arid hillside before rising into a forest, then surpassing the tree line into an open expanse of rocks.

Toward the last mile before the summit, the trail became more rocky and steep, requiring more exertion. In the final push, the trail was covered with snow, and I shuffled slowly through it.

I began envying the people who trekked by with poles — their experience seemed so much smoother than mine, which was marked with tiny, calculated steps through the snow and rocks.

Because I'm just a hiking hobbyist, and most of my hikes are not Patagonia-level treks, I've never owned a pair of hiking poles and didn't think to bring some on this trail. Their utility became even more apparent as I descended after having lunch at the summit.

With my legs wobbly from hiking for four hours, the descent was one of the hardest parts of the hike and the time I wished for the poles the most. As I got more fatigued and the remaining six miles stretched out before me, it became harder to scramble over rocks and through snow.

I ended up picking up a large branch to help me balance, which actually made a huge difference in my experience. I decided that next time I endeavor on a big hike, poles are non-negotiable.