Fall hiking with dogs
The gorge is the perfect place for some fall hiking – there’s an abundance of opportunity for fall colors, mushroom hunting, discovering new streams and trails and taking glorious pictures of your dog(s) in the amber colored sunlight. There’s also always a good chance of getting stuck in the rain and seeking shelter in an abandoned creepy cabin. You just never know which one you’re going to get on any given day. The good news is that even if the day starts rainy, by the time you’re soaked through to the skin, the sun will likely come back out and you’ll get a magnificent sunset. The downside to a sunny start to your hike is that you’ll likely end up busting back down hill as fast as you can once the heavy rain starts. I can almost smell the familiar scent of wet dog in the back of your car already.
Being prepared for fall hiking with your dogs isn’t that much different to summer hiking. There are probably going to be some streams popping up now that we’re getting more rain again (and snow on Mt Hood!). If you have a thick coated dog like a husky, shepherd or a lab, rain won’t bother them but what about the pitties, german shorthairs and hiking chihuahuas out there? A jacket of some sort may not be a bad idea for them. Jackets and bright collars can also help if you’re hiking in a densely wooded area or if there’s fog. A really great place to go is up to Wahtum lake to hike around – especially when it’s drizzly and foggy because you can get some incredible pictures of your dogs on the trails there.
Since you can’t get a cool looking photo of your dog while they’re contorted like a pretzel, scratching at their neck – make sure you keep up with their flea and tick prevention. Don’t have any? No problem – we have plenty of preventative and zero ticks.
It’s a great time to get some flea and tick preventative at your Veterinarians office as they’ll be out in droves to do some of their own winter hiking (read: they’re looking for some warm fur to cozy up in with their tiny pumpkin spice lattes).
