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Brian Simon & "Heidi"
Brian "Kernel" Simon & "Heidi" thru-hiked the AT in
1999. Brian addresses some questions here for Traildog readers. As a matter of
fact, the subscriber who posed the questions, Jacob Morrill,
went on to thru-hike the AT as well.
| From:
Brian Simon
To: Traildog
Date: Tue Nov 2, 1999 4:09 pm
Subject: Re: AT hiking (was: hello & stuff)
|
First off, sorry about the delay in responding. I started a pretty good
response last week, but my email program crashed. So here we go again.
First off, I'll say that having Heidi along made my trip very special. It
was awesome to have a buddy with me. Arriving at Baxter State Park in
Maine (where dogs are NOT allowed) was disappointing, as she could not
hike the last 15 miles with me. In addition to keeping me company, she
kept me and other hikers entertained, and was often greeted with much
enthusiasm by other hikers.
As mentioned by others, there can be some anti-dog sentiments from other
hikers on the trail. I did not experience much of this, but I know some
others that did. If/when you do, don't argue, just walk away.
Since I expected some anti-traildog attitudes, I planned to avoid staying
in shelters. This worked fairly well, though the first time I tried to
stay in a shelter (it was raining) it was nearly full and we got the
welcome 'Is Heidi going to sleep in the shelter too?' That was enough for
me to shoulder my pack and walk a mile and a half to the next camp site.
My advice is to plan on carrying a tent that'll hold both you and Mable,
and plan to use it. When the weather warmed up, I began sleeping out
(without a tent) at scenic spots rather than hiking to shelters. These
were some of my best nights on the trail.
Since you're starting so early, plan on dealing with the cold. During the
day, its pretty easy to keep warm by moving. Your idea of the z-rest for
Mable is a good one; we started with 1/3 of a ridgerest for Heidi, which
worked fairly well, though I sent it home after two or three weeks (it was
warming up, and Heidi couldn't go through the Smokies anyway). She never
needed a blanket or vest, though a couple nights in late September/early
October she was definitely interested in snuggling up with me. A
short-haired breed will definitely need supplemental insulation; it was
cold for us into southern Virginia, in early June.
The heat can be tougher to deal with than the cold. Again, it seemed like
the short-haired breeds had more trouble than Heidi (she has a mid-length
coat). During the hottest weather, we'd take a long siesta; usually from 1
to 3, sometimes from noon to five. When the days are long its much easier
and more comfortable to hike in the mornings and evenings than during the
day. One friend (also with a dog) lived by the motto '9 miles between 6
and 9.' While I was not normally a 3 mph hiker, it illustrates the point
that hiking in the evenings can be a good time to cover the miles.
This year we didn't see very much rain. That worked out fairly well, as
Heidi does NOT like to walk in the rain. Of course the drought brought its
own problems, but we didn't get any rain from early June to mid July, and
that was just a downpour in July. We didn't get an all-day rain between
southern VA and mid MA (that's Massachusetts). OK, I just went to look it
up. I'm pretty sure it was between 6/16 and 8/21 (about 840 miles) we
encountered only two rains - a brief evening downpour in Shenandoah, and a
quick afternoon thunderstorm in PA. Hopefully, next year's weather will
have a little more rain. If its infrequent, you can probably get away with
sitting it out. If there's regular rain, you'll have to walk in it, like it
or not. I kind of like it, but Heidi definitely prefers to sit it out.
You and Mable may be different...
For preparation, the best thing to do is hike, gradually building up
mileage and load. Is Mable carrying a pack? If so, get her acclimated
prior to the trip. Even with preparation, plan on low miles when you
start. Being from the Midwest, I wasn't too sure about what to expect for
terrain in the south, and boy, was I shocked. Its not as tough as NH and
ME, but it sure ain't easy either. Anyway, we planned on 8 to 12 mile days
for the first two weeks. In reality we did between 4 and 14 mpd. Our
pre-hike preparation was mostly 4 to 6 mile runs, without packs. Not the
best training, but better than nothing. My best advice is to say that you
need to let Mable pick the mileage. Forget about schedules, mileage goals
or anything of the sort, particularly if you or Mable is showing signs of
being tired. Sometimes its tough to do that, but you'll be better off in
the long run. I don't know if it was luck or just the way we gradually
built up our mileage, but Heidi never had problems with her pads or
anything else. There were definitely days that she was not interested in
doing the last couple miles that I wanted to do; in retrospect, she's a
better judge of when to stop than I am.
Regarding hiking with Heidi, I was amazed by two things. One, she never
needed the booties. We carried them the whole way, but not even 20 mile
days in the rocks of Pennsylvania wore through her pads. I think it was
our gradual build up that enabled this. Two, her pack held up
tremendously. We never had a problem with it. It only came off twice, both
times on very steep downhills, when it slipped over her head. She also did
not have chafing problems with the pack. Her pack is a Wenaha, and its the
only dog-pack we've owned. Based on what I saw on other dogs, I'd say that
the fabric one-piece top is a superior design to the three-strap designs.
Also stay away from the 'vest with Velcro bags' design - it flops around
very easily, and could get lost in the woods. When I bought it, I thought
Heidi would outgrow her Wenaha, but she did
not. Its showing signs of wear, and I've always wanted to get her a
Wolfpacks Banzai, but so far she doesn't need one yet...
Lastly, for food, I switched to puppy chow. At first she ate regular dog
food, but lost weight. It was also, at times, difficult to get her to eat.
I started doctoring her food by adding a little warm water with boullion
or ramen seasoning. This interested her greatly in her food. Or, I'd mix
in some of my dinner with hers; or use treats. Anything special to get her
to start eating, including summer sausage or pepperoni. Once she'd start
by eating the treat, she'd kind of realize 'oh, maybe I am hungry' or
something. Once we switched to puppy chow, she put on weight and muscle.
You'll probably want to consult with a vet though, depending on the age of
the dog, puppy chow can be a bad choice. Heidi is three and we had no
problems; like I said, the extra protein seemed to really help her out.
I could go on and on, but will stop here for now (sorry about the length).
If anyone has other questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. We
don't have any post-trip information yet, but you can learn a little bit
about Heidi at http://kokal.stonecover.com/simonat/
and about our trip at http://kokal.stonecover.com/simonat/
where a friend kept track of me while on the trail. There're also pictures
at http://kokal.stonecover.com/simonat/
Brian ("Kernel") and Heidi
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Katrina Aid
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