[pct-l] Thru hiking with dog

[Fred Walters]

I've not done the PCT, but, as a dog owner myself, another aspect that
would worry me would be river crossings.  From reading journals and
write-ups it sounds like some are not easy for a human with both arms free
and with hiking poles.  So how a dog would manage ...

On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 6:32 PM, Michael S <michaels at skepticalraptor.com>wrote:

> So, how are you going to get into the National Parks and the California
> State Parks?  Break laws and risk fines along with a quick deportation from
> the park?  And if you think that there are no rangers along the PCT, then
> you must not be familiar with this list.
>
>
>
>
> Michael
> michaels at skepticalraptor.com
> http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php
>
>
>
> On Feb 23, 2012, at 07:49 :45PST, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:14:16 -0700
> From: Dana Fuhrmann <dana.fuhrmann at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hiking with dog
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
>        <CAMj5uMAd3uH94jVfVKHv2PjXTcaybeeQU6ZRq4uyHhnZ=61-OQ at mail.gmail.com
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I understand that the topic of whether or not to bring a dog on the trail
> tends to piss off veteran PCT forum readers...however that is NOT my
> question.  My dog Lucy and I ARE going to attempt a thru-hike this year, I
> could never leave her behind.  I've spent a fair amount of time searching
> the archives, and the internet in general, and that is the only dog-related
> topic I can find.  So please don't get mad at me for posting this!  But I
> have some questions for anyone who has thru-hiked with a dog...
>
>
>
> Does anyone have a favorite high-calorie dog food that is readily available
> in towns off the trail? Or did you mail dog food ahead of time?
>
>
>
> Any opinions on whether it is worth getting Lucy a rattlesnake vaccine from
> my vet (a series of 3 shots) for that first dessert section?  (If I wasn't
> a broke ski bum by winter, hiker by summer I would say why not...but it
> costs a couple hundred).  I did it last summer and of course we never even
> saw a rattlesnake but I don't know much about southern Cali hiking.  Any
> other medical stuff?  In Colorado we don't need heartworm meds and fleas
> and ticks aren't an issue...is it on the PCT? (I'll ask my vet about this
> too...but it would be nice to have a list of issues to raise with him
> before our next appointment).
>
>
>
> Lucy currently wears the Ruffwear Palisades pack.  On long trips the fur on
> her armpits gets rubbed off...she doesn't complain but it doesn't look
> comfortable.  Playing around with the straps doesn't seem to do much.  Any
> suggestions?  Or is there another dog pack out there that people like
> better than Ruffwear?
>
>
>
> I've carried around dog boots on so many trips as a pre-caution and she has
> never needed them (and is not psyched about wearing them around the house
> for practice!), including rocky trails and hot dessert/cactus sections.
> Should I bring them? Would using paw wax suffice?
>
>
>
> Any other general dog knowledge gained from experience on the PCT that you
> feel like sharing would be appreciated...
>
>
>
> (And for all you nay-sayers out there: I know the reasons not to bring a
> dog and I know that there are very few dogs who can handle a thru-hike.
> However my dog is a badass--she has done tons of hiking and backpacking in
> Colorado (where we live) carrying her own pack, she goes backcountry skiing
> in pow much deeper than she is tall, I've taken her whitewater rafting (she
> jumps in and out of the raft to swim in the rapids), and when she was only
> 7 months old she carried her own pack for 150 miles on the Hayduke trail in
> the Utah dessert (through the slot canyons section--it is awesome and
> unlike any other landscape I've seen if anyone hasn't done it and wants a
> springtime trip!) and she loved it.  A couple of weeks ago I even watched
> her climb a ladder! I still don't know how. And getting her back down was
> kind of interesting. That being said, Lucy's health and happiness is as
> important to me as my own and I am of course prepared to change plans
> should the trials of the trail prove too much for her--the longest trip she
> has done without a break is 2 weeks.)
>
>
>
> Thank you for reading!!
>
> Dana (and Lucy)
>
>
>
> P.S.  I've been reading the threads on blisters and wanted to pass on the
> prevention tactic that has worked best for me: lots of climbing tape! (the
> stuff that rock climbers use to wrap up their bloody fingers).  It's fairly
> cheap, available at any outdoors store, breathable, and stays put.
>
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