Approximately one mile of road walking is required this time of year to access the Cross Creek Trailhead from the closure gate. The Forest Service usually opens Tigiwon road as the snow melts out and the road becomes dry. This overnight trip began the 1st of June.
Nearly three years ago I adopted (at the time) a six-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier. Some know them as pit bull, but only a small percentage of people know how misunderstood this breed can be.
The fine folks at the shelter described his unfortunate neglectful past and their desire for him to live out the rest of his life in a good situation. He deserved it.
As a stay at home dog, Moose has very little to zero faults. He is the friendliest and funniest dog that one can hope to have. Take him outside and the biggest issue of all is that he is very dog, and small animal aggressive. In the fields and ditches next to where I live he is always on the hunt for snakes and mice. His cropped ears stand at full attention while he waits for sounds of moving creatures throughout the brush.
With some careful planning and a little anxiety on my part, he handles day hiking and car camping fairly well. Up until this point I had never taken him backpacking with me. Thinking of that prospect makes me feel selfish. I have to be very diligent to pick the trail wisely so as to avoid other dogs. He overheats easy because of his dark coat and gets cold because of his thin short hair. Despite being good on a leash, all bets are off when tiny sounds can be heard in the forest and his discipline declines. This list could potentially go on and on.
People who backpack with their dogs are dedicated to backpacking with their dogs. I am not one of those people. I did however decide to give it a try on an overnight trip that I planned with the goal in mind to observe how much snow had left to be melted in the creek valley and to try and fool fish on my new Tenkara fly fishing rod. I packed a heavy setup to accomplish a comfortable night sleep for us both. My go-to dog sitters get a day off.
