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As regular followers of the blog know, we like hiking on all sorts of trails around our house, in the Pisgah National Forest (or click here for an unofficial website) and on the Blue Ridge Parkway plus the numerous other parks and trails in our area. We do not hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park even though we can see the park boundary from our house, because dogs are not allowed on those trails (you can read the park service’s reasons here). But even though we would love to go hiking there, we believe it is important to follow the hiking rules so that everyone can enjoy our beautiful parks. It is precisely because dogs are allowed in some parks and not in others that we always try to respect others who use the park, human or animal.
A part of that etiquette is stepping well off a trail when we meet other hikers. We understand that not all people like dogs, so we sit quietly while others pass – unless of course they want to come over and say hello.
But the fun part of hiking is meeting all of the different hikers. Here are a few we met on Sunday. First up are Tonka and Nala (please forgive us if we misspelled the names):
Beautiful, aren’t they? We would have loved to gone hiking with them, but we were just coming off the trail when they were getting out of their car and preparing to start up the mountain. And Tonka did love Wooooing at us! Qannik was particularly enamored with her, maybe because they are both all white, fluffy furred.
But everyone was particularly thrilled to see this unique hiker. We were just starting up the trail when they were getting out of their car and preparing to hike. We thought this was a pretty funny looking dog, and he did not quite smell right either. But The Herd was really, really interested.
And just in case you think we are kidding about this “dog” hiking on the trail, we passed them later. We had gone to the top of the mountain and were on the return trek, when we passed them coming up the trail. And the dog never barked at us at all:
The people were very nice and the goat was far better behaved than many dogs we meet on the trail, so we are always glad to share the trail with a well-behaved hiker! Unfortunately, we forgot to get his name (we, of course, are calling him Bill E.). But the people were asking about our website, so hoping they comment on the blog and let us know his name!
Happy trails!
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We need our humans to take us on some hikes. WOO see the coolest stuff!
WOOOOO woo rar rar rar,
Kayla and Maebe
The first two are so beautiful! The third one is really cute too! Maybe mom and dad can get one to keep me company! 🙂
Mochi
Hiking is so much fun. Seeing other canine friends during those hikes is pawesome!
Wow! We’ve come across almost every kind of dog you can imagine in our hikes. Big dogs and little dogs, some of them being carried. But we have not once see a goat on a leash. I wonder how our dogs would react? Of course the reaction couldn’t be worse than when they encountered their very first horses on the trail in DuPont. They were totally amazed at the size of the animals, never having seen a horse before. They slipped behind us and sat down in fear until the beasts past us by.
Does Nanny Goats in Panties know about this?
I read through all the comments to see if the goatdog had visited, but sadly not yet yet 🙁
Huffle Mawson
That’s about the last thing in the world I was expecting to see. What a fun friend to make along the way! I love the name – as long as he does not end up living in my garage with Scared E.
How fun meeting other hikers!!! Those first two looked VERY wonderful and I just know we’d love meeting them. And that third one? You really got my goat on that one! Hee hee hee!
That’s payback for the deer comment on Sunday! 😉
Love,
Ammy
Wow…what a cool new “dog” friend! And the other 2 doggies that you met were certainly beewootiful! What a fun day.
Wuv,
Gus and Waldo
What fun! Your “dog” friend bill e looks mighty fun… though I wouldn’t like to get bonked by those horns!
LOL! One of mom’s coworkers just got a goat like that. She also has dogs, so I bet those dogs are having fun!
Steve
Definately a funny looking doggie – but who are we to talk – we have heads shapped like eggs – and frequently get mistaken for other species – everyone thinks MJ is a lamb
woodrow sweetie mj
Jasmine here. That third animal you met on the trail was a Pygmy goat, not a dog. Make no mistake, us goat are fantastic hikers. Too bad you didn’t get his phone number for me. Maaaa!
Bill E. is a very cute guy. I hope the people weren’t going to take him to the top and make a picnic out of him.
You guys have the MOST fun!
Kisses,
Stella
Brice agrees that Tonka is quite a babe.
Bill E looks quite interesting and tasty…..ummmm…..I mean athletic
Do you hand out your own business cards? Momma is thinking of ordering some for us.
Doesn’t everyone bring their mountain goat for a hike? I mean C’mon! 🙂
We also step off the trail whenever we encounter other hikers. We found not everyone likes dogs. We’ve heard “Oh $hit!” muttered several times by hikers if we surprise them. The greenhorns probably think they’ve just encountered two wolves. Of course we are very people friendly and some people really like stopping and asking questions about us.
Simcha
The first two doggies you met were beaWootiful!
That other one,Bill E, I am not so sure of. Strange looking dog. I think I would have wanted to chase it.
-Kira The BeaWootiful
Just goes to show you that you never know who you will meet up with on the trail. Those two pups are gorgeous.
Woos, the OP Pack
Wow!
Those are some beaWOOties!
Bill E. was a khutie too! I khan imagine The Herd was khwite taken with him too!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
First off, those are two lookers that you saw in the parking lot. Woo! Woo! Next. .that IS the stragest looking dog I have ever seen. Really? That “dog” was hiking? And you guys didn’t try to eat him? That’s crazy!
Ozzie