Bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
Trail dog Epcot overcoming challenges during a midsummer backpacking trip
My dog Epcot is a trooper. He is a 5-year-old yellow lab who came to our family as a guide dog puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind. As puppy-raising volunteers, we met him for the first time on July 21, 2019.
Some of these puppies get “career changed,” and so did Epcot. Epcot was too enthusiastic for life and too distracted (by other dogs, scents etc.) to conduct guide work effectively. We and other puppy club volunteers worked very hard to get him to focus on handlers. The following year, however, at a very critical stage of training, all group socialization outings came to a halt due to the pandemic. Ultimately, though, it was him who let us know that becoming a guide wasn’t for him. After his path became clear, we gladly accepted an offer to adopt him as a pet. It was a no-brainer - he has a great temperament and house manners and is oh-so lovable.
Just like his dad Sprocket (a.k.a. Rocket), Epcot has not been a fan of water. He would freeze and look unexcited when given a bath, and for a few years he would hesitate to cross even shallow streams on hiking trails - which was very un-lab-like. So my strategy in the past was to avoid any trails with major stream crossings. He’s a 70+ pounder who can’t easily be dragged or picked up, after all. When I attempted a sunrise hike with him last October, we came upon a river with just a few logs to cross over. It wasn’t anything deep, but I didn’t want to push it because he could refuse to cross it on the way back even after crossing it once. It was my bad that I didn’t study this route well and chose to hike it.
This summer, I took my daughter and Epcot backpacking in the Rainy Pass area to the east of the Cascades to escape the 4th of July fireworks madness in western Washington (which is such an anxiety-causing event for Epcot). I had hiked this exact trail twice before, both in the larch season (October), and Epcot has gone backpacking with me, so I thought I knew what I was getting into. I was wrong —there were SO MANY stream crossings and mosquitos this time of the year.
Epcot did not balk at crossing some of these streams, however. I would sort of lead the way and he followed my footpaths for the most part. Even when he had to cross the widest and deepest creek, all he needed was a little encouragement from us.
This was such a proud dog mom moment!
Two mistakes we made on this hike that night were 1) we didn’t apply the bug lotion at the beginning of the hike, and 2) we started hiking a little too late in the day and ended up having very little daylight left when we got to the campsite that we could actually use (two sites we passed were taken, and although I knew there were other sites about a mile ahead, we would not make it there before it got dark). As soon as we stopped moving, the bugs would land on us. The campsite ground was somewhat moist from the snow melt, which bugs must have loved. We didn’t have the time to turn around and decide against spending the night, either, so I quickly pitch the tent and hoped for the best.
I tried to put Epcot on a tie-down while pitching the tent, but that was making Epcot even more defenseless to the mosquitoes. Yes, he got bit by them in several places (sorry buddy!). My daughter and I were also getting eaten alive, not just where our skin was exposed but through our shirts and pants, too. I ate my backpacking meal standing up, moving frequently. My daughter (a first-time backpacker) started reacting to these bug bites and swelling up in multiple places. Thankfully, I had Benadryl in my med kit. She retreated to the tent (which was more of a mosquito net that night) right after taking Benadryl and crashed.
The taste of spices in the pad thai I had for dinner lingered in my mouth, but I figured going back outside the tent and brushing my teeth was a bad idea even after dark. So that taste kept me up longer than I had hoped - some mints would have been nice, for sure. The nighttime temperature and weather were optimal, though, and I could see stars and the Milky Way through the meshy roof of my tent since the rain fly wasn't necessary.
The bugs were still out and about, even the next morning. I am someone who almost never skips coffee and breakfast at the campsite when backpacking, but Epcot was the only one that ate breakfast before we packed up and hiked back to the trailhead. It just wasn’t worth the effort - that’s how bad the bugs were. Having two blueberry muffins stashed in the car was a brilliant idea - the daughter was raving about how good it was as we drove home.
The rest of the summer was very busy, with both my daughters moving out in mid-August. So this bug- and stream-laden hike ended up being the only backpacking trip of this summer for me. Now that fall is here in the western Washington, I am still glad we did this: seeing Epcot become so confident around water was especially priceless.
If you ask my daughter, who I KNOW loved the hiking part of the trip and the beautiful backcountry, she may say she’ll never go backpacking again (especially at the height of the summer). But at least my trail buddy Epcot will come with me again :)
All photo by ©Mapchan
P.S. I am a crazy Death Cab for Cutie lady. I often find inspirations for my writing in their songs and pull my blog post titles from their lyrics whenever I can! This post’s title is pulled from Soul Meets Body.