Brutus, my beloved Newfoundland dog, passed away. He climbed peaks in VT, NH, ME, MA, NY, CO, CA, and was my constant companion.
In 2005, he completed a second round of the NH 4’s, this time in one winter – for more details
see this link. Some of you have climbed Owls Head via the “Brutie Bushwhack”, so named because I needed an alternative to the slide route. WMUR in Manchester, NH., heard of our silliness, and did an interview which aired in
March, 2005 - (hopefully I have the file permissions set correctly).
Many peaks he hiked multiple times, including Lafayette (27), Moosilauke (20), Washington (10), Camels Hump (11) and Telescope Peak in DV twice. He hiked with me to Trail Camp on Mt Whitney three times. He accompanied my wife and I on two cross-country road trips, and for reasons known only to him, was especially enamored with Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive and watching Yellowstone’s Old Faithful erupt.
Some of my favorite pictures of him were taken with my late wife,
and are posted here:
Newfie’s are playful and mischievous by nature, and I’d like to share three stories of Brutus. One such instance occurred when several of us accompanied a friend as he finished his NH Winter 4’s on Wildcat. As we descended via Polecat, and sometimes ski trails, the fact that the trails were packed was not lost on him. On several occasions he “pretended” to fall, sliding down long distances on his side, much to our delight and skiers within eyeshot.
Another time we were finishing his all-season NH 4’s on Jefferson. It was mid-October, and an early snowstorm and cold-snap made the going slow and arduous. We’d tried a week earlier, but had to turn back due to an ice sheet on the Randolph Path, so was reluctant to turn back on this second attempt. We didn’t reach the summit until 4PM, and I was worried that I’d pushed him too hard. I gave him a few dog bones, let him rest for about 10 minutes, and headed back down. About 100 feet later he sneaked up behind me, and tried to trip me up, much like we used to do the each other on the playground as 3rd graders. So, I knew he was fine.
The third instance was on a hike in mid-October in Maine. Two friends wanted me to accompany them as they did Sugarloaf, Spaulding and Reddington and I’m always ready to hike Maine in October. As we descended the ski slope on Sugarloaf on a particularly beautiful, sunny afternoon thru the tall grass, Brutus came down the hill behind us. He liked to pretend that he “slipped” and couldn’t stop as he head butted you in the rear. It wasn’t a hard butt, and it didn’t happen very often so you never quite knew when he’d pull that stunt. Anyway, on this particular day he wasn’t paying attention, and he misjudged and ran into my friend instead. She was most startled, and burst into laughter, at which point Brutie realized his mistake and sat down, looking a bit chagrined.
I’ve been much blessed to have them in my life, and I shall miss them forever.
In Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming
