Backpacking

We did it!

Uncle Andrew and Belle came up late on Friday night, and on Saturday we finally went backpacking.  Backpacking is way better than hiking.  Hiking just means you have to ride in the car for a long time to go for a walk, but backpacking means you get to sleep in the woods!

It took us a while to get ready because Marty and Lyle hadn't done anything at all to prepare, but EVENTUALLY we drove in Uncle Andrew's car to the Shenandoahs.  Marty says the Shenandoahs are special because that's where she learned to love backpacking as a little puppy.  We had to get a permit and Belle and I were "pack stock"!  (But neither of us wore a pack.)  Marty says I will get a pack when I am a big dog, but this weekend she carried all my gear for me.  I don't have a lot of gear:  two bags of kibble (I only ate one), one wolverine chew (that what they call them at wild dog school, where I got mine), one squeaky ball, and my travel water bowl.

Another good thing about backpacking is that Marty relaxes the ridiculous "tight leashes don't go anywhere" rule.  It's a good thing she did too, because I'm not sure she would have been able to finish if I hadn't been helping.  Belle and Uncle Andrew walked in front and I followed them.  Mostly I walked with Marty (she clips me into her pack belt), but sometimes I walked with Lyle.

Every time we took a break, Marty was very good about putting my water down for me and asking me if I wanted a snack.  She packed human snacks but no dog snacks, only kibble.  I have a lot of training to do.  I have to keep reminding myself that I've only had these humans for a month.



During one of our first breaks, we saw THREE BEARS!  (Marty said they should hurry home before Goldilocks ate all their porridge, but I don't understand what that means.)  Marty was too busy getting ready to keep me from being eaten and so she didn't get a picture.  She did take a picture of some bear poop though, as if that's the same thing.  Marty wouldn't let me eat OR roll in any of the bear poop we saw, and we saw a lot!  I was just trying to help, she said that she hoped we saw another bear so we could get a picture, and I was trying to camouflage their very obvious human smell, but as usual, she refused to be sensible.

Uncle Andrew kept having to stop and tie his shoes.  I told him that Lyle could teach him about better knots (he used to be a sailor before he got me), but I think Uncle Andrew likes it when his shoes come undone so he can stop and take a break.








Marty said since I'm still a puppy that she would carry me if I got tired, but that she would really appreciate it if I would not make her carry me before we got to the top of Knob Mountain.  I made it all the way up there!  We stopped at the summit and had lunch and I took a nap.  On the way down I did make Marty carry me a little way, just to make sure she kept up her end of the bargain, but I was actually having a lot of fun, so I got back down and walked again.










Marty was really worried that I would pick up bad habits from my cousin Belle, but since I am already a problem barker, I'm not sure what she was so worried about.  Actually, Belle and I both did really well and only barked a little and didn't fight with each other at all.








After we hiked down we had to find a campsite, but other humans already had most of them, so it took us a long time.  I was really ready to be done, and so was everyone else!  It was just about dark when Marty and Lyle and Uncle Andrew got the tent set up.  Everything about backpacking is so cool, but this might be the best part:  ZOMBIE DOG DIDN'T COME AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE BOX!  We all slept in the tent, and I snuggled right up between Marty and Lyle and slept all night.  They should let me sleep between them all the time.  Marty was worried I would pee in the tent (another cool thing about backpacking, you can pee wherever you want), but I am a civilized puppy, so  of course I didn't do that.

Belle got up first and she was squirmy, so pretty soon Marty made us all get up.  It was a good thing too, because by then I really did have to go.  Marty made breakfast for the humans while Uncle Andrew and Lyle got the tent packed up.  How unfair is this?  Belle got some oatmeal, but I didn't get any!  Next time I am going to take my turn first.  I went back to sleep in Lyle's lap until the slow humans were finally ready to get started again.




We hiked for a while and we crossed lots and lots of water.  (I'm really good at crossing, but I HATE having to wait for all the humans.)  After a while we got to a point where we were supposed to get on a different trail and Marty got all exited about some white paint on a tree and made Lyle take a picture.  She says I am going to be seeing a lot more marks (she calls them "blazes") like that.







Not too long after that we got back to the car.  The humans all took their boots off, so I crawled under Marty's legs and took a nap.  I had SO MUCH FUN.  I want to go backpacking every weekend, but Marty says she needs a month in between trips to recover.  I'm hoping that once I get her into shape we'll be able to go more often.
















Maybe I was a little more tired than I thought, because when we got home I fell asleep like this.  If you want to know more about where we hiked, here's a link to the trip (we combined days one and two).