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Time Traveler
03-26-2011, 17:52
Time Traveler here! I'm hiking the CDT this year with Bama and my dog Jett. I'm getting increasingly concerned as the time draws nearer to embark on our trek as too the logistics of hiking with my pup.

Is there anyone out there who has, or know anyone who has thru-hiked this trail with a dog? I know he wont be allowed in a few of the national parks. What about 'bending the rules'? How about boarding and transportation, shuttles and what not?

I'm really in need of some good advice, thanks all!:confused:

Sly
03-26-2011, 19:37
I'm really in need of some good advice, thanks all!:confused:

Just the fact you're asking leads me to believe you're better off not taking your dog. Although there's probably more, as far as I know, only one person has hiked the CDT successfully with their dog.

fiddlehead
03-26-2011, 21:29
Dog shoes? Is there such a thing?
They would be needed.
Lots of desert and roadwalking in NM.
If doing a SOBO, you have the National Park problem right off the bat and who wants to skip the beginning?
Gonna cause too many problems IMO.

CrumbSnatcher
03-26-2011, 21:58
i'd rather give up the trail, than give up the dog.
go hike somewhere together, thats how i'd roll...

Toli
03-26-2011, 22:16
i'd rather give up the trail, than give up the dog.
go hike somewhere together, thats how i'd roll...

Tru dat CrumbSnatcher...

garlic08
03-26-2011, 23:53
I don't think you'll be able to "bend the rules" in Glacier or Yellowstone. Both parks are heavily used, permitted, and patrolled--Glacier more than Yellowstone, but my permit was checked even in Yellowstone. The low number of hikers, population, and distances involved would make a pet shuttle pretty difficult at Yellowstone. Boarding might be a possibility in East Glacier. You can skip the trails in Rocky Mt NP, just skirt the park boundary on the roads--I think you could make it OK there.

Some hikers road walk through Glacier (about 60-70 miles) if they hit the season wrong, so that's an option there, but I wouldn't want to do that. Road walking through Yellowstone would probably be pretty horrible--it looks like it's well over 130 miles from Togwotee Pass to trail on the other side of West Yellowstone.

Like Fiddlehead says, there is some cross-country hiking in open desert in NM, depending on the route you take. (If you don't hike trackless desert, you're hiking roads.) That's hard on a dog, and takes lots of time with comb and tweezers. Plenty of snakes, too--make sure the dog is leashed or trained to leave rattlers alone. Can your dog handle hiking at your pace all day in 90+ degree heat with no shade and no surface water?

I doubt hitching or lodging would be a problem with a dog out there.

Can you rescue your dog if something goes wrong? I spend a lot of time in the desert with my small dog, but I can carry her if she overheats or something else happens. I also know her capabilities very well and know not to exceed them.

ShelterLeopard
03-27-2011, 00:04
Garlic just beat me to what I was about to say. You need to be able to help your dog if something goes wrong. The CDT is one of the trail about which I know least, but I know that road crossings are a little sparse. Is she a big dog? When I was in the hundred mile wilderness, I was hiking near a couple who had a spaniel (I think... dog breeds aren't my thing- not a large dog).

The dog broke her ankle while boulder hopping, and they had to carry her out in their arms. They managed to get a ride from one of the trail crossings with some summer camp group who was having a resupply, but they were lucky they only had to carry her five miles- it could've been worse. It wasn't a well travelled road, so the ride was kind of a fluke. Just one of the many things to consider.

Slo-go'en
03-27-2011, 09:42
Watch the Cookie and Paul CDT video, a link to which you can find in a WB CDT thread. That will give you a good idea of what the dog (and you) will have to deal with.

Considering that very, very few dogs finish the AT, which is a lot more dog friendly that the CDT would be, I think taking a dog on the CDT would not be a good idea.

SunnyWalker
04-08-2011, 00:13
The hiking in the desert in NM is really beautiful. A different type of beauty. But wonderful non-the-less. Hope you go cross-country and not the roads. I think hiking with a dog would be a lot of fun. It presents some problems and things but it'd be fun. Myself, I choose to go alone.

SassyWindsor
04-08-2011, 00:32
Tough enough without the dog(s), odds are very much against a successful hike when carrying pets or children.