I absolutely get more joy out of my near daily excursions with my 9 year old Maggie (mixed breed), then just about anything else I do. In our 7 years together now we have hiked upwards of 6000 miles on local trails, backpacking and climbing well over a dozen mountains between NY and NH. What makes our relationship so tight is the fact that both of us want to hike together. She has never just gone off on her own and left me behind. Even on trails that we have hiked dozens and dozens of times together, she will constantly take a peak back to make sure I am there. Even today, after all our hikes, when I start to put on my socks and let her know it's time, she starts jumping for joy and running around like a kid in a candy store!!! Several times during every hike she will come bounding back down the trail to me just to let me know how much she loves our companionship and hikes. When we come up to people on the trail she literally doesn't even look up at them unless they are really fussing over her, because her world consists of myself and her, so these people mean little to her.
We have had many easy, casual strolls, and we have had our share of challenges that required both of us to trust in each other. Our recent backpacking trip to Colden Lake is an example. Things didn't go as planned and both of us were exhausted, but she hung in there like a champ and we got through it. Going up and down Saddleback and Basin wasn't the easiest hike/climb we did, but we made it there and back without a problem.
Watching her sit out front of a lean-to, just watching, sniffing the air and listening to the various sounds brings a true sense of joy to my heart. As we lie down together during the long nights, and knowing that she has complete trust in me and feels totally safe being with me, is not that different then the relationship my wife and I have. Large portions of our hikes Maggie is content to just follow behind me, going along at my near snail pace, because, again, it's all about the two of us doing our thing together.
Maggie isn't the kind of dog that licks your face, snuggles up close or some of the things other dogs do. If she did I would be absolutely fine with that, but our relationship is so much deeper.
We are coming up to the Pharaoh Lake area in April, and I can't wait to spend the four or five nights we have planned together. This time we won't be doing anything overly strenuous, and even Treadway will be an easy climb compared to the many other mountains we have done together. Getting up, hitting the trail in one direction or another, lake/ponds to explore.......we're both pumped!!!
