The Feathered Hat
Active member
Trail: Mt. Kinsman
Distance: ~5 miles, up and back
Elevation gain: 1,400 feet
Time: 2.5 hours
It had been way, way too long. Some business travel followed by the flu kept me off the trails for five weeks. I was going crazy. So were the dogs.
That's right, "dogs," plural. Some of you know Tuckerman, my energetic Plott Hound mix. A couple of recent experiences on group hikes with dogs, plus a Labor Day picnic with my sister's family that included their dog, convinced Cindy and me that he could use a companion. (I thought first, naturally, of rocket21, but Cindy, who's usually pretty broad-minded, says she can't live with a Stoogeian. Alas.) So we hunted for candidates among shelter and rescued dogs and eventually found a big ball of white fur named Savannah, 9 months old. She was described as a Great Pyrenees mix, and had been found starving and tick-ridden at a cattle yard in Tennessee; a kindly truck-driver saved her at the last minute from execution by the yard's owner. Once we got her and saw her color, which looks like buttermilk pancake batter, we renamed her Polly after the famous flapjack house that's just up the hill from where we live. We also did a little research and discovered that she's not a Great Pyr at all but mostly Slovak Cuvac (pronounced "chew-votch"), which is closely related to the Hungarian Kuvasz. These are flock-guarding mountain sheepdogs, accustomed to being on their own. (Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Cuvac if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Cuvac)
Tuckerman got accustomed to hiking without a leash fairly quickly, but Polly's been slower about it. She sees the mountains and figures that's her range and there must be sheep up there that need herding. So she tends to wander off, though we're working steadily with her to come to us on command. Also, where Tuckerman's hound build gives him an efficient, streamlined gait, allowing him to walk for miles and miles without exhaustion, Polly's walk is more, uh, provocative, shall we say -- think Mae West in a white fur coat. I had no idea how long she could go with that bump-and-grind of a gait she has.
So... since I was still recovering from the flu and since I didn't know what Polly's stamina would be in the mountains, we opted for a quick up-and-back on the Mt. Kinsman Trail to Bald Peak. Turned out to be just the right thing for all concerned. I felt fine the whole way, and Polly and Tuckerman -- you've never seen two happier dogs in the mountains:
You'll see that Polly isn't on a leash. When we got to the spur trail over to Bald Peak, I thought I'd give her a shot at freedom to see what happens, figuring that since the short trail dead-ends at the peak she couldn't get into too much trouble. And she was great! She stuck by Tuckerman pretty much the whole time all the way back down the mountain. It was a pleasure watching them romp and wrestle in the snow like kids on Christmas morning. And the views from the peak were none too shabby, either:
Kinsman Ridge...
Looking west...
Moosilauke in the misty distance...
So next time you and I cross paths in the mountains (which I hope is soon), you might be greeted first by this lady -- do say hello:
Our whole route, by the way, was bare-bootable yesterday, even with eight inches of snow at Bald Peak, and the three brook crossings presented no problem. There are a handful of small blowdowns (I removed four) and one large one at the third crossing which will require some serious saw work, but it's easily got around. Some folks we met who were coming down off of North Kinsman reported some significant drifts up above the 3,000-foot level and recommended snowshoes.
Tuck, Polly and Big Boss Man:
More photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/sets/72157622782763699/
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
______________________________________________________
Tuckerman's and Polly's report for dogs :
Snow!
Mud!
Sticks!
Brooks! (Polly: "But I don't like to get my feet wet." Tuckerman: "Get over it, sister.")
Seven friendly people, one friendly dog besides us.
*** Three sniffs (out of four). T-Dog and P-Dog say check it out.
Distance: ~5 miles, up and back
Elevation gain: 1,400 feet
Time: 2.5 hours
It had been way, way too long. Some business travel followed by the flu kept me off the trails for five weeks. I was going crazy. So were the dogs.
That's right, "dogs," plural. Some of you know Tuckerman, my energetic Plott Hound mix. A couple of recent experiences on group hikes with dogs, plus a Labor Day picnic with my sister's family that included their dog, convinced Cindy and me that he could use a companion. (I thought first, naturally, of rocket21, but Cindy, who's usually pretty broad-minded, says she can't live with a Stoogeian. Alas.) So we hunted for candidates among shelter and rescued dogs and eventually found a big ball of white fur named Savannah, 9 months old. She was described as a Great Pyrenees mix, and had been found starving and tick-ridden at a cattle yard in Tennessee; a kindly truck-driver saved her at the last minute from execution by the yard's owner. Once we got her and saw her color, which looks like buttermilk pancake batter, we renamed her Polly after the famous flapjack house that's just up the hill from where we live. We also did a little research and discovered that she's not a Great Pyr at all but mostly Slovak Cuvac (pronounced "chew-votch"), which is closely related to the Hungarian Kuvasz. These are flock-guarding mountain sheepdogs, accustomed to being on their own. (Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Cuvac if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Cuvac)
Tuckerman got accustomed to hiking without a leash fairly quickly, but Polly's been slower about it. She sees the mountains and figures that's her range and there must be sheep up there that need herding. So she tends to wander off, though we're working steadily with her to come to us on command. Also, where Tuckerman's hound build gives him an efficient, streamlined gait, allowing him to walk for miles and miles without exhaustion, Polly's walk is more, uh, provocative, shall we say -- think Mae West in a white fur coat. I had no idea how long she could go with that bump-and-grind of a gait she has.
So... since I was still recovering from the flu and since I didn't know what Polly's stamina would be in the mountains, we opted for a quick up-and-back on the Mt. Kinsman Trail to Bald Peak. Turned out to be just the right thing for all concerned. I felt fine the whole way, and Polly and Tuckerman -- you've never seen two happier dogs in the mountains:
You'll see that Polly isn't on a leash. When we got to the spur trail over to Bald Peak, I thought I'd give her a shot at freedom to see what happens, figuring that since the short trail dead-ends at the peak she couldn't get into too much trouble. And she was great! She stuck by Tuckerman pretty much the whole time all the way back down the mountain. It was a pleasure watching them romp and wrestle in the snow like kids on Christmas morning. And the views from the peak were none too shabby, either:
Kinsman Ridge...
Looking west...
Moosilauke in the misty distance...
So next time you and I cross paths in the mountains (which I hope is soon), you might be greeted first by this lady -- do say hello:
Our whole route, by the way, was bare-bootable yesterday, even with eight inches of snow at Bald Peak, and the three brook crossings presented no problem. There are a handful of small blowdowns (I removed four) and one large one at the third crossing which will require some serious saw work, but it's easily got around. Some folks we met who were coming down off of North Kinsman reported some significant drifts up above the 3,000-foot level and recommended snowshoes.
Tuck, Polly and Big Boss Man:
More photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/sets/72157622782763699/
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
______________________________________________________
Tuckerman's and Polly's report for dogs :
Snow!
Mud!
Sticks!
Brooks! (Polly: "But I don't like to get my feet wet." Tuckerman: "Get over it, sister.")
Seven friendly people, one friendly dog besides us.
*** Three sniffs (out of four). T-Dog and P-Dog say check it out.
Last edited:
