FIRST

A couple of weeks ago, I took our new puppy, Boone, for his first hike. I also brought our old dog, Saucony, along for her first hike in months. As recently as a few weeks ago, we’d lost all hope that Saucony would be able to hike again. She had some medical problems over the summer, and while she’ll never be as strong as she once was, it was a joy to have her on the trail again.

The biggest challenge of the weekend is that Christy was out of town. I had to manage two dogs by myself. We started the weekend with a trip to Boone for an Appalachian State football game. My friend Eric joined me and the dogs there for some pre-game tailgating. The puppy did provide some entertainment while tailgating, aside from being a total chick magnet. The week before, we had tailgated at a spot nearby. That day, Christy gave both dogs rawhide bones. Boone finished off his, before stealing Saucony’s. He promptly dug a hole, and buried it! That’s the sort of thing that I thought only happened in cartoons! I had no idea dogs really did that.

On this Saturday, I led Boone back over to where he’d buried the bone. He made quick work digging it back up, to the entertainment of the tailgaters nearby.

We managed to survive the rest of the day with only one minor disaster. I was walking both dogs along the edge of the parking area, when Boone went crazy. He was running around at full speed, despite the fact that he was on a 6’ leash. He took off away from me, and I took a step in that direction, to keep him from clothes-lining himself. At that moment, he reversed direction without warning. He hit me in the knees at full speed. I went ass over tea kettle, getting a nice view of a Carolina blue sky before landing with a thud. Apparently an afternoon spent drinking beer doesn’t do much for your reaction time! At least having a nice buzz kept me from feeling any pain from the collision – at least until later.

After the game, we headed over to Price Park, where I’d claimed a campsite early that morning. That had been a good move, as the campground seemed to be pretty full that evening. Sharing a small tent with 2 dogs was a bit of a fiasco, but we managed. I was even able to sleep a bit, despite Saucony’s loud snoring.

I woke early the next morning to clear skies. I broke camp quickly, and headed over towards Grandfather Mountain to see how the fall colors were coming along. It was only the first weekend of October, but I knew that Grandfather is one of the best places to see early fall foliage.

I picked up a $5 hiking permit at the entrance station, and drove back down the Parkway to the Boone Fork Trailhead. Somehow I managed to juggle my pack, my stick, 2 dogs, and the car keys without hurting myself or locking the keys in the car. We headed into the woods, and reached the Tanawha Trail a couple of minutes later. I immediately realized I was going to have my hands full. Keeping a puppy with attention deficit disorder moving forward was my biggest challenge. If he wasn’t sniffing at something, he was eating leaves, sticks, dirt, or rocks. With Boone, everything is edible. When he did move forward, he constantly got tangled up in his leash.

Despite these challenges, we made it to the Daniel Boone Scout Trail and headed up towards Calloway Peak. Boone eventually started to get the hang of things, and Saucony kept plodding along beside me. Saucony’s biggest difficulty was fending off the occasional impromptu attack from the puppy!

We reached the beginning of the spruce fir forest, and I knew the climbing was almost over. At the junction with the Cragway Trail, we turned and started heading down towards Boone Fork. Normally when I do this hike, I go at least as far as the summit of Calloway Peak. With Boone and Saucony along though, that was out of the question. I was looking for a short hike, and the main loop without including the summit is 4-5 miles.

We descended a rocky trail to a cliff with a fantastic view. From here, I gazed over the Boone Bowl. Some scientists believe the Boone Bowl is North Carolina’s only glacial cirque. I can believe it, as it’s definitely a landscape that looks like it belongs in Wyoming.

The view from here is incredible at any time, but especially so in the fall. It’s a high-elevation area, but most of the trees are hardwoods. Today, there was some nice color high on the ridge on the far side of the bowl. Down below, most of the foliage was still green, but even there the colors were beginning to show.

After a lengthy break, we resumed the descent. We eventually reached the bottom of the valley, and headed back towards the car on the Nuwati Trail. On this stretch, I decided to let Boone off his leash. He stayed right with me, and did much better without being restrained. I knew letting him run free had been risky, but in this case it paid off. I’m thrilled that Boone is shaping up to be a good trail dog.

We returned to the car by noon, and headed for home. That afternoon, both dogs seemed content to rest and recover from our long walk.

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