Packing Your Puppies

Trigger loves to go hiking. In fact every pup I have had enjoys getting out to romp in the woods. with Trigger it seems to be so different though. With my other Brit, he got excited when I pulled out anything orange. He was a bird hunting machine. with Trigger though, when I get out my hiking or backpacking gear, he goes crazy and starts howling and talking to me…. Dad…Dad….DAD!!!

Trigger loves coming along. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Jeep trip, a day of geocaching, or a backpacking trip, he is ready to hop in the Jeep, running over everything and everything to claim his spot. dogs need no planning to adventure. I really want to be more like my dog at times.

Something we have learned is the importance for us as dog owners to plan well when heading out into the wilderness with our pups and to keep them safe. We need to remember to keep in mind and be knowledgeable of their physical boundaries. On a hike a few years ago with Scout on the William Pogue Trail in central Idaho, Scout was nearing heat exhaustion. This is an especially dangerous condition for pups. fortunately, we recognized the signs and I had the physical ability to hike him out on my back, while Melissa kept him cool with water in a few key areas of his belly, ears, and paws.

Trigger and I go nearly everywhere. as many of you know my adventures include aviation, off-roading, hiking, and other extreme…and a few not so extreme outdoor activities. we have learned over the years that not all places are dog savvy and not all people see our pups in the same way we see them. We have made it a habit to check on the dog regulations for the areas we will be adventuring. Even though they often allow people with little or no outdoor experience to jeopardize themselves and others, U.S. national parks do not allow dogs to share the trail. Bummer.

Socializing our pups has been a huge benefit. Taking them to stores that welcome pups always get my business. This has helped us as well as our dogs to become polite and we have learned some great control techniques. Remember to Maintain control of your dog at all times. Dogs are required to be on-leash on most public trails. Most require a leash to be 5-7 feet or less in length. We keep our 30 foot lead for certain situations, and we never …. NEVER use an extendable lead. It may be great for everyday romps around the neighborhood to give your dog more freedom, not only does it teach bad leash habits, its really not sturdy enough to live up to trail conditions.

Lessons in stores such as Lowe’s and Harbor Freight has taught us a leash isn’t enough. Keeping our pups calm as other people and pups pass by. Be aware of any situations will upset or aggravate your Companion. Ranger does not like tall men for example. we have picked up a sixth sense when any male over 5’10 approaches. Trigger Is still getting used to other dogs and sometimes makes a slight “grrrr” (not a growl) and we stay ready to redirect him.

Be prepared. Sites such as peteducation.com have a lot of great info about dogs, including many articles about first aid. Petco and the Red Cross offer first-aid classes, which I recommend highly, to offer you hands-on help. In addition, REI.com offers a selection of books that can help. One that I read from time to time is the Field Guide to Dog First Aid by Randy Acker, DVM.

I have a huge advantage that I have a wife who is a vet tech. All of my pups at one time or another has had some kind of boo-boo on a trip. We have learned how important it is to make sure one of us is ready to take care of our dogs no matter what circumstances come up. Melissa gave me an AGS Pet First Aid Kit, which also comes with a great book to help me with what to do on the trail. I recommend reading it allot. I keep the kit in Triggers saddle packs.

Speaking of doggie packs, be sure not to load your pup down. Also, train your pup, beginning first with nothing in the packs at first, and then over the series of weeks, lightly load the packs with items such as food, collapsible bowls, and the above mentioned first aid kit.

Trigger has not taken to boots yet, but I do inspect his paws often for cuts, stickers, etc. I do have him wear a protective chest vest that not only helps me see him, it protects his chest from brush. In addition, since it is in reflective orange, he is easily identified bu hunters. Finally, I put two turkey bells on him. One goes on his collar and the other on his backpack. The bells give me an idea where he is at when off leash.

Everything Trigger owns has his name, my name, contact info, and a statement “requires daily medication”. Even though he doesn’t require daily meds, Ranger does for seizures. If found, the finders will work faster to bet your pup back to you if they know they need meds.

I love adventuring with my pups. It requires a bit more planning and sometimes bypassing areas that are not dog friendly. But I can’t think of not adventuring with my buds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RC Adventure

I haven’t talked about this area of our adventure life much. It is a seasonal thing for us, but it is something that at times has drawn us together as a family. That is probably true for so many of our adventure activities, that desire to draw us all together. This can be a challenge since my bride shows up as a 1-1-1 on the behavioral scale of her Emergenetics diagnostic. This means that when presented with a new idea, she can have Spock like reactions and I really don’t know if she is disinterested or her heart has truly stopped. I also have to wonder about her acceptance of the idea of if she is just pondering.

A few years ago when I got super excited about rc cars not only did I feel compelled to allow my life to revolve around the new interest, I built an rc track in our back yard. Not just a section, but the entire yard. I then went about placing plants and flowers to offset the curves and jumps. Then I built a tabletop track in our garage….just because that’s how I roll….

The indoor teack has since been dismantled and the wood has been transformed into a workbench, tre outdoor track is seldom used and is quickly becoming a prayer path or something, and most of the cars we built to entertain guest sit idle.

Still, I love taking cars out with me when traveling or when out for a day/weekend trip in the Jeep. This is why I am in love with 1/16 scale off road rigs. I can place a car, assorted batteries, charger, and small tool kit and parts in a backpack. I have taken my 1/16 scale companion on commercial aircraft, in the back of the little Cessna, and on road trips to the coast for a weekend honeymoon. Whether alone, with the wife, with the kiddo, or all three, we can take a few rigs on a trip with minimal room.

I have had several Revos, Slashes, Rallys, and combinations, conversions, and off-shoots of these three. But by far the most fun I have had was building these two rigs with my wife. A few weeks ago she showed an interest in an old buggy.

Now she has always loved building and painting but driving was not so fun for her. Our building and painting together was great couple time and since she has a preference for structure, she was able to quickly learn thenins andnouts of rc repair.

I desperatly wanted her to learn how to drive and overcome her fear of crashing a car. I took an old slash and put a 23 turn motor in it and placed in training mode. In the privacy of our backyard track she learned to like it.

Each year we hold an event in the fall called Sweet 16. this is held when night approaches earlie in the evening and we can light up our backyard for an rc rally featuring 16 scale vehicles. Last year, for the Sweet 16 Rally, we picked up a mini slash for non rc visitors to bash. She fell in love with the car when placed in training mode.

Her rig came stock with the 12 turn Titan but soon replaced it with the slower 23 turn HPI. That gave her longer run time and slower speeds. this has proven to be effective in the Mini-Summit as well that goes camping with us.

I still like my speed and when speed is the game in a camp site or an empty hotel parking lot, I still pack my MERV. Mini Electtric ReVo is not at all stock. My rig has the Velenion brushless with Traxxas ESC, Traxxas and RPM parts where available, and run it on a Spektrum controller.

I have several Summits, Rallys, Revos, and Slashes, the last takes allot of lip due to stability. My argument is that if you drive a car within its limits you don’t flip as much. We can go through several bettery packs in an evening without ever being on our lids.

The rc cars are just another avenue for us to play. whether on our track, hiking behind the car on a trail, or playing in an empty parking lot of (with permission) an empty hotel meeting room, the cars have kept me out of mischief on the road.

This next year I hope we get into building scale rigs like the Axial SC series. Think scale models, complete with working winches, shovels, loadable gear, etc. these would be fun to build and drive….at scale speeds. I could build one to look just like my Jeep….or what I want my Jeep to be one day.

Oregon Trail Recon

I know I still owe blog entries on the Idaho Overland trip. Technically I should finish that series first, but first…we keep adventuring and second, out of respect for the trip leader I need to provide ample time for them to post the trip report before we put ours out there. Finally, this was an opportunity to get a day in with my main squeeze, my adventure partner #1, my bride…

The plan was to take off before daylight and hit the Oregon Trail (main) trail around the Boise area at Bonneville Point and move east on the trail. Instead we hit it just east of Boise and followed it east of Mountain Home. The exit is around mile marker 71 at the old truck stop where you pick it up north of I-84.

So with dogs loaded, 5-gallons of water and fuel, a small repair kit, survival bag, and lunch we were on the road around 7:30 and on the trail after topping off with fuel at 8:00.

It was great seeing Melissa pull out her camera as we flushed all kinds of wildlife including owls, hawks, game birds, and rabbits. We even kicked up three peacocks and the first Pygmy Rabbit I have ever seen. There was also a heavy population of Bovine…and the cool part was working ranch hands working the cattle. This is all open range area so caution around cattle. If you hit one, you are liable.

I have tried to do this route in the spring and the roads are just a disaster. Our conditions included loose gravel and sand.

The route is well defined with several historical stops. I recommend researching the trail before driving it, you will get so much more out of the trip. Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides is a good read that outlines the struggle of the west around the life of Kit Carson who traveled the trail.

We took a detour up to the Danskin Lookout. This is a rugged climb up a narrow back country trail that offers few pullouts if you come up on a vehicle coming down the mountain as you are going up.

We have had tons of fires in the local area and so smoke and visibility have been a problem. Views were not what we expected, however the area was clearer than it was down in the Treasure Valley.

The last 3/4 of a mile are the most rugged and you have a 4×4 to get to the top. Once there it was a feeling of triumph. We hung out for a bit, let the pups play, and then headed back down to rejoin the Oregon Trail.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, and even though it was the first day we were below the triple digits, as the afternoon heated up we slipped out just east of Mountain Home and took I-84 back to the house.

Trips like this should really be done with extra fuel and water. The Scepter fuel canisters are perfect for trips like this. We have been extremely happy with them. Highly durable, light weight, resistant to stress from bloating, and easy to fill into and from. When you travel the back country you need to be prepared.

We have also been happy with the GoPro cameras we are using. Though we have had some difficulty keeping mounts in good repair, the cameras themselves are durable. Quick video of the trip.

Next week we will recon a little more of the trail as a prep to do the McGrudder the following week.