[pct-l] thru dogs dates?

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening, all,



I’ve hiked many thousands of PCT miles and have only had a couple of
cautionary encounters with dogs, and those were not what you may
think.  Example:
once at low altitude near a trailhead I saw two medium-size dogs bounding up
the trail ahead of a young day-hiking couple.  I immediately got off the
trail and extended my poles to deflect the pooches.  The couple repeatedly
assured me that the dogs were friendly – which was readily apparent – but I
had a different motive:  Dogs are just the right height to collect poison
oak toxin on their fir as they zig-zag along the trail sticking their nose
into anything/everything, whether on or off a leash.



I had seen them running through the abundant trailside poison oak
infestations, and when I tried to explain my concern to the young couple I
got the, “What poison oak?” treatment.  They were totally clueless.



I hike with bare legs, and I don’t any urushiol-coated puppies rubbing
against me.  Similarly, I resist any inclination to pat a head, scratch an
ear, or stroke a back



Pack and saddle animals can be just as bad.  The worse case of poison oak
rash I ever had came from one of my horses who walked through poison oak
with impunity.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 3:03 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> If it makes you feel any better, I've had similar experiences with
> dogs. There are few people who thru-hike the trail with a dog so I
> don't think you have to worry about it much. I haven't heard of
> anyone planning to bring their dog yet on this list anyway. You may
> have to worry about dogs in the sections that are more popular with
> weekenders, in which case, this discussion list can't really help you
> with your scheduling.
>
> Get some trekking poles. They are very useful for keeping dogs away.
> I cross them in front of me when I see potentially threatening dogs
> and they don't seem go come any closer to me. If they do, (and they
> haven't yet) I have two sharp sticks to hit them with.
>
> Diane
> On Jan 7, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> >
> > heres my story. years back i was setting up camp in the
> > cascades,when out of
> > nowhere a german shepard attacked me from behind.anyone who has
> > seen videos
> > of "cops" knows what kind of damage these dogs can do.i had to wrap
> > myself
> > up the best i could, hike out 5 miles to the trailhead. then go to the
> > hospital for 18 stiches.i still carry the scars.
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