I know it has been quite a while since I have posted any blogs. Honestly I have not really wanted to. Also my trips have been few and far between. If you have followed my blog previously, then you know that my old hiking partner, Shasta was aging. She had turned 15 in December, on Christmas day and I knew it would be her last birthday, her last Christmas. I knew her last trip to Pine Valley in August, for her annual Dog Days of Summer, would be her last. Shortly after that trip in August, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Our vet said, at this time it was only a matter of time, so we made a final plan for her. And when she has more bad days, then good days, it will be time. I got 8 more months with her. But I stayed home, I wanted as much time as possible with her. Her final day was May 4th, 2018. I knew the day before that she had to be in more pain then I realized. She was being strong for me, I know that now. But I promised her I would never allow her to be in pain and keep her longer, for my own benefit. It was time.
When I knew she was sick and it was only a matter of making her comfortable, I would eventually want another dog. So I started researching and trying to find what breed I wanted when it was time to get another pup. I narrowed it down to 3 breeds; Catahoula Leopard Dog, German Shepard, and Doberman Pinscher. I landed on Catahouls Leopard Dog. I wanted a breed that could keep up, was high energy and had a protective nature. Shasta was a great adventure pup in her good years, whatever I ended up with, had some big paws to fill. Shasta was my rock, literally my best friend, I could always count on her, when I could not count on people. She saw me through terrible times in my life and always knew when I needed her. I had her from a pup, we had an incredible bond, she would protect me to the death if need be. She was funny and quirky and loved life to its fullest. Even on her last day, as we were leaving the house for the last time, she did a “get your tail” spin and made us all laugh, leaving us all with a great final memory. It was a Friday.
On Monday I reached to some rescue groups, none seemed to want to rescue passed their state lines, I contacted breeders, looking for pet quality, most either didn’t want to sell “pet quality” or didn’t answer me at all. One breeder in Arizona, got me in touch with a national rescue group. I figured it was going to take 6 months to a year before I found what I wanted. I was specific; young, female, grey/black coloring, and blue eyes, but blue eyes was not a deal breaker. On Thursday, the group contacted me, there’s a young female, in Kingman Arizona at the humane society. I told them I wasn’t ready, I thought it would take a while, I have not even picked up my Shasta’s ashes, I haven’t had time to even process her being gone. Life was so busy, we were moving, we had made an offer on a house and it had come in several thousand under what we offered in appraisal, so we had counter offered that same day. On Saturday the group sent me a video of the conditions that this young pup was in. It was horrible. We still had not heard from the owners on the offer. We were pacing the house, do we pack? Do we start to look at other houses? We were in limbo. I could not get this pup off my mind. It was all too much. So I made the decision, it was a two hour drive. So I called the humane society… no answer… no answer… no answer. I then called the other humane society that they were affiliated with. They said the humane society was not open today, they are having a special adoption event in Hualapai Mountain Park. Now Hualapai Mountain Park has a special place in my heart, it is where I first started to heal, started to get my life right. Maybe this was meant to be! But there was no way to get ahold of them. Was she even still there? We rolled the dice! We would head out and see, make a road trip out of it. Neither one of us wanted to stay in our rental house amid boxes, that we didn’t know if we were going to have to unpack. It was all too much, all too stressful and unsettling.
We arrived and “Catti” wasn’t at the event, she was still down at the kennel. The manager of the human society seemed so put off by my questions. I drove all the way from Las Vegas! Can you have someone run down and get her? I suppose. I was so frustrated at how I was being treated. I realize that you are at a big event, but you only have one dog left here for adoption. The manager was more concerned with hanging out and visiting with her family. So we walked around. We had been informed on the way to the park, that the owners had accepted our offer, so there were new documents to sign while we waited. I went back to the manager to let her know we were still here and asked some questions, she didn’t seem to have any answers and pretty much ignored me. Great people skills, how the %*#@ did you EVER make it to manager?? Finally she arrived. She was full of puppy energy and absolutely gorgeous. No blue eyes, but I am happy for that now, Shasta had blue eyes, and I think that would have freaked me out. She seemed sweet and friendly with other dogs in the park. OK! Lets do this! Papers signed, microchip in stalled, payment complete. walked her to the truck, opened the door, in she went and curled up, sleeping the entire way home. We named her Sandy on the way home. “Catti” was a dumb name and she had only had it for a couple of days.
We moved into the new house and I started working with Sandy. Our vet had said she was about 7 – 8 months old and not the year that the humane society thought she was. I was having a hard time bonding with her, as I still had not processed Shasta’s loss. But we still worked on obedience, recall, voice commands and special whistles. She was super smart and caught on quick. In August, I took her on what was Shasta’s trip. I was releasing some of Shasta’s ashes in her favorite swimming hole. It was an emotional weekend for me, but I had two really good friends, there for me after the ashes. They brought me up, we played games, drank wine and they kept me laughing. It was exactly what I needed. I was finally able to process Shasta’s loss and the bonding with Sandy began.
We continued to work, I had gotten her a backpack, and while it was kept empty, she seemed to love having it on. Her recall was amazing and she was quick to learn. She loved being on trail, she loved car camping with me. She was becoming a fast companion. And we were bonding quickly. She had even taken to creeping into bed at night to curl up next to me. (Good thing we have a bed large enough to accommodate us, a little Schipperke and a 65 pound beast!)
The time had finally come where I could take her on her first backpacking trip. I had wanted to go to Little Zion aka: The Park in the upper regions of Red Rock Canyon for several years. It would make the perfect trip for her first adventure. 4 miles in, it had a bit of up and down, the only significant up, was on the return trek. There was no reliable water, so we had to pack it all in. I went with Magic Man and two other ladies. A perfect small group of friends. Right after leaving our cars and hitting the trail, I took a deep breath, reached down and unleashed the beast. Sandy was carrying four liters of water in her RuffWear Approach backpack. RuffWear link I also had left on her Garmin Delta XC Delta XC link just in case I needed to correct her by tone and bring her back in. This trail wasn’t heavily trafficked, so that made it even more perfect. Sandy was so happy to be off lead and carrying some weight in her pack. I whistled a recall and she immediately turned and came right to me, no question, no bulking.
So off we went! Sandy would stay right in front of me, while I practiced her commands, and whistles. She was spot on. Happily trotting down the trail. Tail waving high in the air. If she got too far in front, she would turn and look for me.
Soon we came to the first of many views. We all had a quick break took some photos and rested, as now began the up and down up and down section of the trail. The ups were pretty steep and slippery, gravelly rocks. Sandy just kept on moving and stopping to wait. On the downs I would give her a “easy” voice command, meaning to slow down. I didn’t want her running the person in front of her down on the downhill slops, they were precarious enough as it was. She listened intently and if she got too close, she was given the “wait” command and she would hold until I said “ok go” and off she would go again, trotting with her tail in the air.
We finally surpassed the point where I had not been before. I had been in this area on one of my peak hikes, but had never dropped all the way down into Little Zion. Sandy listened perfectly to the commands. And then she got concerned, as I was taking my time on the steep and slippery slop. So she waited for me and let me pass her, while she fell in behind me. Taking easy and gentle steps. Not pushing, not trying to pass. Soon we were down onto the slick rock sandstone of the upper parts of Little Zion. And it was a beautiful sight to behold. We ran into a couple of people, but Sandy did not rush forward, she whined a low whine and looked at me, while she sized up the people. She stood by me, without having to give a single “hold” command to stay by me.
We dropped down into Little Zion and made our way to camp. We got drinks of water, had a bite to eat, relaxed in our chairs, while Sandy laid down on her side resting and looking at me in her funny way. She also has her quirks, she like to vocally complain when she doesn’t get her way, not whiling, not growling, but making “dinosaur” sounds. She wanted her snack. Ok! Ok! I give in, you deserve it!
After giving her her snacks, it was time to set up my new tent. My Big Agnes UL 1 was not going to work for a person and a 65 pound beast! I had picked up a Big Agnes Tiger Wall 2 person. It was not freestanding, but at 2.3 pounds, for a two door, two person tent, I think I can deal with that! Tiger Wall UL link
Once all set up, it was time to explore. Suddenly I heard a voice say, “I figured it had to be you taking our favorite spot” And my friends Nish and Jen were standing right in our camp, backpacks on. It was so good to see them. Jen had a terrible hiking accident earlier in the year, so the fact that she was out and enjoying nature again was great to see. We had seen a larger group of day hikers, coming down from one of the peaks, just as we arrived in camp. They passed by us as Nish, Jen and their small group were setting up their camp nearby. Then I heard some excited squealing and another backpacking friend, Caitlin, came around the corner. She was with the day hikers. And our backpacking world just got cozier! This was just what I needed to get out of the funk I had been in. Seeing happy smiling faces! Other souls who enjoy nature and being outdoors, slinging packs. We chatted for a while as she talked about her recent 700 mile AT trek. I wished she was staying so that I could hear more about it. But she had to go. I was wanting to explore the area and Jen brought us over some beer that they had packed in, it was still cold and I was grateful for the share. We visited more, checking out everyone’s new gear. Finally it was time to go exploring!
After exploring, we hung out and visited, Nish, Jen and that group had taken off to hit up Hidden Peak. It was nice to visit in camp, and hear stories of what everyone had been up to. The laughter in camp. The fun, the jokes. I just soaked it all in. It was an overnight trip, we would be packing up bright and early. This crew was an early to bed early to ride crew. Campfires were banned even though there was a pit and others had been having a campfire there, we weren’t going to be “those people”. We snacked on food, Sandy ate some dinner. When the sun started to set, we made our way up to the view point and watched the sky turn bright pinks, purples and reds over the Las Vegas strip. We talked about how the people, hustling, bustling and partying it up on the strip have no idea that we are all the way up in the mountains of Red Rock Canyon, looking down at them, and over Spring Mountain Ranch. The sun was fading on a spectacular day. With the fading daylight, I had put Sandy’s jacket on her and leashed her back up. We had planned to watch the Vegas Lights come on and the sun go down.
We made our way back to camp, and visited until 7:10 PM. I had brought a book to read, as I knew it would be an early tent night. Sandy had protested and complained long before that and I had put her in the tent about 6:30. She was happy all snuggled in, sleeping on my pad and my quilt. I had cut up one of my old foam pads in half for her, so that she would have her own bed. I should have picked up a blanket or a down quilt for her too, but I didn’t know how she was going to do. Last bathroom run before heading in. Sandy snuggled down curling into a ball on her bed. The new tent had plenty of room for both of us and all my gear as well. I was super happy with it. It had nice low pockets and super high pockets. I was able to put my Goal Zero Luna Book Light attached to my Flip 10 and read until 8:00 PM. Turned off the light and snuggled up with Sandy.
We got up with the sunrise. I had planned to see the sun set and the sun rise on this quick trip. Sandy and I walked up on a sandstone slab to watch the sun come up. Incredible red and purple splash across the sky, while the Las Vegas Strip lights were still lit up and slowly started to turn off.
Sadly it was time to pack up and we were making our way back towards the vehicles by 7:15 AM. I knew the trek out of Little Zion was going to be a tough one for me. I was out of shape and had not been doing much hiking, and had not backpacked since a 5 day trek on the JMT, all girls. (I had wanted to write about that trek, but it was bittersweet, and I wasn’t sure what all I should write. One thing I can say, the scenery was amazing and an all girl trip is super empowering! And a new section hiker was born.) I told Magic Man I would get to the top when I got there. But in true Magic Man fashion, he waited for me at different elevations. It was a steep incline. At one breather break, I turned to look, as I often do, at where we had come from. The view of the Vegas Valley below was so spectacular, I had to take one last shot. As I was standing there, Sandy got all worried and came back to make sure that I was ok.
We made our way back to the vehicles, Sandy leading the way, happy dog, trotting tail waving. She would stop, let everyone pass and check on me bringing up the tail end. Once she saw I was ok, she would trot back up to the lead, tail waving. She was attentive and consistently checked on me. She is a great addition and is going to make an incredible backpacking partner in crime. I can’t wait to see what our next adventure might be.
The weekend was just what this soul needed! Companionship, friends that wait for your slow butt to come up a tough climb, and a group that encourages you. This is what it should be like. Laughs around a camp, relaxing, story telling, Magic Man telling jokes. These are the things that I have missed, and I was reminded of what I love about the outdoors, not just the solitude and sounds of nature, but the camaraderie of good trekking friends. And the love of a new four legged, rescued companion.
Journeys of Snake Jumper 
Welcome back!
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