Pacific Crest Trail Smells Like Puppy Dog Tail

This morning we went for a hike in the Columbia River Gorge along a short section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Thinking 5-year-old Aubrey wouldn't like a long walk in the woods, we asked Jana's sister, Stacey, to take Aubs. In exchange, we took Jackson, Stacey's charismatic fox terrier pooch, on the hike with us.

Stacey tried to get Jackson to eat before we left. Dogs need calories too, right? Stace tried dog food, and Jack was having none of that. In desperation, she tossed him some pepperoni. Mmm, pepperoni! He gobbled it right up. Good boy.

We piled into our Jeep, and our friends in their Suzuki, and headed for the Gorge. We didn't even get out of the neighborhood before the pepperoni's effect on Jackson's gastro-intestinal tract became disturbingly clear. Thank goodness for electronic windows.

For the kids in attendance to meet a hiking requirement, our journey needed to be three miles long. We planned to hike in for about an hour, then turn around and hike out. Jackson the fox terrier, still digesting his pepperoni, had more leisurely plans.

As soon as we got on the trail, he pinched a loaf of nasty solid waste. A few minutes later, he did it again. Then he decided he needed to "mark" every 100 yards or so of the Pacific Crest Trail. This dog is no through-hiker. He is incapable of high-mileage days. He's just got too much personal business to take care of to be bothered. I'm afraid we left the Pacific Crest Trail smelling like puppy dog tail.