Who knows the dog...

[erugs]

I remember reading before, perhaps here, about a dog who lives near the Mt. Kinsman Trail trailhead who hikes with hikers. (Yes, I've made a search and can't find any reference.) We had two dogs join us yesterday. The older one stayed with us a little further up from the WMNF boundary, the younger one stayed with us until we were coming down. It was fun to have a dog along. We wished we had known their names. Does anyone know? Has the older dog taught the younger dog about this?

 

[David Metsky]

I've hiked with that dog (probably the older one by now). I'm guessing it's just local knowledge among the canines of Kinsman.

-dave-

 

[Sleeping Giant]

When I climbed the Kinsmans in 1969 to finish the 4kers a very friendly dog accompanied me just about the whole way. Could it have been a great-grandfather of the ones talked about above?

 

[dug]

About ten years ago I had two husky/shephard mixes that stayed with me all day. There was an older one who hiked the trail, and a younger one that was up, down, left and right with my dog all day. We did only North Kinsman, and they were with us the entire way.

Once we got back to the trailhead, they walked across the street and went right to the porch of the house sitting there.

A couple of years later, I played a soccer game against some guys from Easton (Bode Miller amongst them), and I met the guy who lives there. He owns several hundred acres in the area, including the tennis camp nearby, and he mowed his own soccer field. They were his dogs. It's not uncommon for them to be gone exploring the land for several hours.

Ahhh, the life of a dog.

 

[miehoff]

I know those dogs well. I stay at the Kinsman Lodge a lot (spent Christmas there this year and last). They live next door to the Lodge and wander around most of the time, doing what they please. I have hiked up that trail twice with both of them at my side. Great dogs. The owner is also very nice.

 

[Mike]

In January 1995, a Shepard mix kept me company when I hiked both the north and south peaks of the Kinsman Ridge. It was obvious that this dog had hiked the trail on many occasions because he knew the route and helped me "break" trail. Since I was hiking solo, I was grateful for his company and didn't mind sharing my P&J sandwiches with him. When I returned to the car there was a note on my windshield, from the dog owners who live across the road from the Mt Kinsman T/H, stating that they had forgotten to put his collar on and asked that I do not take the dog home with me. I am not a dog owner but was impressed with this dogs ability to run ahead of me on the trail, then double back to make sure that I was still there and following his lead. He must have doubled my mileage that day!

 

[Chip]

While in college, many years ago, I was joined by a friendly black mutt with a terrific white blaze on his chest. He came out of the woods at the start of my hike, stayed with me all day and then took off back into the woods right near the end of that day's section. I really enjoyed his company, but he never got close enough to let me pet or feed him. After hitching back to my car I stopped at a local, really local, old store, like the ones you see in Norman Rockwell paintings. I chatted a bit with the clerk, describing my day and the dog that had joined me. Just then an old, really old, man who was sitting next to the Franklin stove chimmed in, "Black mutt, white blaze on his chest ?" "Yes, you know him ?" I responded.
"That's A.T., he was my dog when I was your age, he loved hiking that section..."



I couldn't resist. I kept thinking that's how one of these Kinsman dog stories was going to go.

 

[erugs]

That's a great, goose-bumpy story Chip.

I love the idea that one dog has taught another the pleasures of hiking with us so that the "tradition" goes on and on for decades, as long as the hills are old.

Lately I've been yearning for a companion dog. It's been about five years that I haven't had one to hike with, the longest time ever in my life. I think I"ll be heading for that trail more often...

 

[HH1]

Eruggles,

The dogs who likely escorted you are 'Simone' (aka 'Beauty'), a white, maybe german shepherd/something mix, and 'Blue', a floppy eared, crazy eyed, much darker german mix. Simone is certainly the more sociable of the two and is always looking for a tummy scratch; both are very fine dogs. They live in the vicinity of Kinsman Lodge.

Cheers.

 

[miehoff]

Yea, that is their names!

Simone we called Snowball and Blue we called Sammy Davis (the bad eye).
Might see them this weekend, since I am definately going up there for some good snow action.

 

[Waumbek]

Simone (white) and Blue (brindled) are the current unofficial canine Kinsman trail guides, although Blue is getting a bit old to make the hikes.

The earlier canine trail guide was Rowdy, a golden-something mix. Rowdy used to hike over the ridge and down into Franconia Notch, then hitch a ride home with members of his fan club who kept an eye out for him on the other side. He lived a bit further south on 116 than do Simone and Blue.