Every so often we sneak a new site into our “Sniff These Out” section but we don’t always chat them up the way we should. So in no particular order …
Dog Paddling Adventures is really responsible for my love of camping with my dog. Back in 2004, my then dog, Dugan, and I joined up with a couple friends and their dogs and traveled up to Ontario, Canada for a six-day canoe and camping trip. It was incredible! We would canoe during the days and camp at night and the dogs never saw the clasp of a leash. The owners and founders started small with weekend trips every once in a while and demand grew quickly. Now they offer year-round opportunities – even skijoring in the winter!
NOVA Trail Dogs is a local organization that promotes safe, responsible canine hiking in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Most events are day hikes, but they have some overnighters thrown in there too for the dog and owner who enjoy camping or backpacking. They also have both on leash and off leash hikes to satisfy different puppy needs.
We’ve talked about Dogs & Ticks in a previous post and it is a must read to bone up (haha) on your pest knowledge.
And finally – for now anyway – a “woof” to Karma’s many great trainers at A Click Above. Solid obedience is key to having a reliable dog on the trail who behaves well and demonstrates that dogs do belong on the trails.
More later on our other great links, but in the meantime Sniff Them Out!
Shenandoah National Park – Central District – Big Meadows
Time: 48 hours (camping + hike)
Length: Big Meadows hike is variable
Gear: your usual weekend gear
Difficulty Level: 1 paw
Scenery: 3 paws
Pack: You and your dog or a whole pack
This past weekend the OBH crew again headed west to the Shenandoah National Park for a weekend of camping at Big Meadows (mile 51.2).
Karma and I were able to leave a few hours ahead of Cannon and Katina who were stuck at their day jobs until the week’s official end. No matter, it gave Karma and I a chance to set up and open the wine before their arrival.
Karma has a broken toe and the vet’s instructions are to keep him resting – no agility class, no playing, no running, no hiking – so we altered our plan for the weekend and did not include our normal big, three-hour hike. Instead we mostly hung out at camp and had a delightful weekend.
We had stayed at the Big Meadows campground in July and again we scored one of the walk-up sites since we didn’t have a reservation. It seems it was a good thing I got there early because the campgrounds filled up. I also learned that you could leave a note for your friend on the message board at registration in case you have to communicate your campsite. (Not knowing this, I used the payphones to let Katina know where we were.)
When Katina and Cannon arrived, they set up their new, fabulous tent and then attention turned to dinner which was grilled chicken that had been marinating all day. Yum. We stayed up later than usual catching up while the dogs hung out (mostly) on their tie-outs.
The next morning we made breakfast burritos and hot chocolate as the weather definitely had a fall feeling to it. We then spent the morning telling stories and finally took the dogs to the Big Meadow after lunch. We could tell they were ready for their adventure!
The Big Meadow is actually on the east side of Skyline Drive or opposite the entrance to Big Meadows campgrounds. We loaded the dogs into my SUV and drove to the parking lot for the meadow only because of Karma’s toe. I imagine it would take about 15 minutes one-way to walk.
One at the meadow, it really is as the guidebook describes: there are multiple paths and you just wander until you are ready to go back. There are 134 acres of meadow and what struck me was how much the meadow changed throughout the walk. It was really beautiful in a really subtle way.
Because we had to do a more laid back weekend, Katina thought that we should make it a photo weekend and we did just that. We made a concerted effort to really notice everything around us –the monarch chrysalis hanging near the restrooms; the small moments with the dogs at camp; the variety of plants that inhabited the meadow.
After about 45 minutes we headed back to the car. Back at camp I iced Karma’s foot while Cannon snuggled up under a blanket as the day cooled off. Katina made an amazing Jambalaya and dessert was the classic s’mores with hot chocolate. Cannon elected to curl up in his warm car while Karma was thrilled with the fall-like air. Silly dogs.
In the morning we ate a leisurely breakfast and took our time breaking down camp, ever aware this may be our last overnight trip of the season.
Whenever you travel with your dog, you need to have water – everyone knows that, right? But when you’re hiking, carrying enough water for both of you can be a challenge. How do you lug it around? How much do you need?
How much you need will depend on many factors – what’s the weather? Does your dog drink a lot? Get hot easily? Will there be safe drinking water available?
Cannon and Karma have very different water needs. Cannon, our Africa dog, requires probably half the water Karma does on a typical summer hike. Katina and I have separately paid attention to how much water our dogs go through and have altered how much water we carry to accommodate our boys.
Karma will easily go through a 32oz Nalgene bottle on a 3-4 hour hike in the summer. To do this I have purchased a CamelBak daypack with a reservoir that holds about 48oz of water. I can also fit a 32oz Nalgene in the pack along with a collapsible water bowl and other necessities.
If you’ve ever used a CamelBak or similar product you know that you must bite the straw-like tube and suck the water out like a straw. It’s a little hard to train a dog to do this – haha. However, if you hold the tube open by squeezing it and then squeeze the reservoir – either by wearing the pack and leaning against a tree or taking the pack off and pushing on it – water will flow out and into the dog bowl.
Honestly, I think it’s easier to pour from a bottle but the CamelBak is a great option and it’s much easier to carry the water in this way.
A note on “safe drinking water:” Just because a trail has water – in the form of a stream or pond or other – does not mean it’s safe to drink! It is so easy for your dog (or you!) to pick up a parasite from a stream that looks perfectly fine. When in doubt, try to keep your dog from drinking water that you don’t know anything about. Also, monitor your dog’s health for a few days (especially his poop) following a slurp from an unknown stream.
Cross Country Trail: Colvin Run Mill to Potomac River
Time: 1.5 hours (or more depending on your route)
Length: Out and back – up to you
Gear: daypack – lunch/snack – water – leash – map
Difficulty Level: 1 paw
Scenery: 3 paws
Pack: You and your dog
Comments: Only saw one pair of joggers the entire time – we had the trail to ourselves!
I owed Karma some quality time after being away for 12 days. Karma managed to make himself sick while I was gone and the vet chalked it up to stress – my poor mama’s boy!
I consulted my Virginia books and chose the Cross Country Trail (CCT) beginning at Colvin Run Mill Park. The trail to the Potomac River is 8.7 miles along Difficult Run that is a beautiful stream which is actually pretty big. The trail is in the woods, is easy and mostly flat. It poured buckets just a few days ago and the ground was soft with areas of standing water and mud. So much for Karma’s freshly groomed coat!
We parked in the lot for Colvin Run Mill just off Route 7/Leesburg Pike. To access the trail cut through the general store to the mill and then head toward the intersection. Just before Route 7 there is a paved road across Colvin Run road and you follow that straight onto the trail. Just before the trailhead is a small area for parking – next time I will park there.
The CCT is incredibly well marked and considering my previous trail following attempts, I am grateful. The trail starts out wide and gravel-covered and eventually narrows to a dirt trail that wanders through the woods.
About 0.6 miles in the trail crosses a stream with cylindrical concrete “stepping-stones.” The water is pretty fast here and I can imagine in the winter it could be quite icy. On the way in I walked through the ankle-deep water but on the return trip I opted for the concrete to keep my feet dry. As always, Karma enjoyed playing in the water.
We got to this point in 15 minutes give or take, so I’m guessing that we ended up doing about three-plus miles total.
The trail opens up and crosses a small road in a neighborhood. It then continues to the left and it was a little hard to find the opening but it was well marked once I found it.
There were several opportunities for water play but since it was in the 60s, Karma was comfortable so I just tried to keep him out of the mud as much as possible – ha!
At Ramey’s Meadow Park the trail crosses another small road. Straight ahead is one trail opening and that’s what we took on the way out. It is marked by the familiar horseshoes on the posts but none of the CCT markers. This trail stays close to the stream and cuts through it at one point for which Karma was grateful as it gave him a great opportunity to wade in the cold stream.
This part of the trail rejoins the CCT trail and the markers are again visible. We turned around before the next fair-weather crossing. The guidebook describes this crossing of Difficult Run to contain boulders in the stream for stepping-stones.
On the way back I stayed on CCT to Ramey’s Meadow Park and learn that I should have looked right when I crossed the road the first time. We took a break at the park sign and Karma happily flopped in the grass.
I really enjoyed this trail and look forward to exploring more of it in the future. There is another parking lot at Georgetown Pike and near the Potomac River the trail goes into Great Falls Park. The only thing to be aware of is that weather will greatly affect the trail. So if your best pal is fresh from the groomer you may want to wait for a drier day.
