By Andrew Clarke
Summer/Winter Sports Sales Manager
We here at the Joe’s
love stories relating to our outdoor pursuits. No matter what you do or
where you go, the best stories you have are the memories you take away when
only footprints remain. A buddy of mine and I have been backpacking since
we were Boy Scouts and every year we have made it a point
to get to the Superior Hiking Trail. Last year I thought I’d try
something different and take my dog with on what would have otherwise been
a standard North Shore backpacking trip. Joe’s had just taken in a shipment
from Granite Gear and Mountainsmith with new products and in the pile I saw
something new even for us, dog
backpacks. I have a Yellow Lab (Molly) that has been my faithful
pheasant hunting companion for years and never considered taking her on the
trails with me so I figured “why not, how hard could it be.” My buddy and
I made plans for a weekend trip in June to George
Crosby State Park, an out of the way trail managed by Tettegouche
State Park, which are full or rugged somewhat maintained trails with my
friend, our collective gear and Molly with her new rig.
I was shocked at how well she did on the trails with
her food, treats, bowls and other necessities a lab has to have strapped to her
back. Last year was a rough one in terms of downed trees and other
blockages on the trail. Even so, Molly jumped over some downed logs,
ducked under others and managed to breakthrough the brush without too much
trouble. It didn't take her long to start smelling out the trail and
leading the pack. We would break as we hiked to take advantage of the
scenery and Molly, being a retriever, would always find something to have me
throw. The weekend excursion took us from one end of the park to the
other with clear skies, rugged terrain, a few goodly hikers on their most
recent leg of the Superior Hiking Trail and one happy, eventually worn out
Yellow Lab. The best part was after eight miles of trails and who knows how many times Molly found
something for me to throw, including our frisbee cutting board, by the time the
stars were out and my friend and I were taking night time photos, she was
staring at the tent flap whining to go inside and to bed.
The next day we saw clouds start to move in and broke
camp early to make the return hike to the car. The hike was made easier by
moving uphill right away when we were fresh and took the longer smooth route
the rest of the way. I could not believe that even after the night before
when Molly was so tired, she was back at the front sniffing out the trail, only
getting side tracked when a grouse was clucking and thumping on a log. By
the time we got back to the parking area, it was still morning and we saw a few people milling around their camp sites near the parking lot. We found an empty table by
the small lake, broke out our stove to have a hardy breakfast of Mountain House
Eggs and Honey Stinger waffles. Once we got the car packed up and started
making our way back south, the skies opened up with heavy rain. Before we
even made it to Silver Bay, my pup was sawing logs. Molly slept all the
way home and well into the afternoon as I was unpacking and airing out my (and
her) gear. If you ever backpack and have a dog that listens to your
commands, consider taking them with. I have been backpacking for over 10
years now and can say without a doubt that the first weekend I took my dog on
the trail with me was one of the top 5 backpacking experiences of my life so
far.
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