Two Appalachian Trail news items of interest this week:

Mike Caetano of Pensacola, FL is hoping to become the oldest person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and he’s already on his way into the record books. The 86-year-old man started his hike this spring and hopes to complete the journey in November. Caetano is planning a “flip-flop” hike where he’ll skip some southern sections of the trail this summer and will return to them in the fall to complete the hike. This is not Caetano’s first time on the trail as he’s “section-hiked” the entire Appalachian trail in the past. The current record holder, 81-year-old Lee Barry, completed his thru-hike in 2004. We’ll try to keep you posted on Caetano’s progress as we hear more…

A legally blind hiker was rescued after becoming lost on the Appalachian Trail last week where he spent 6 days alone in Amherst County, VA. Ken Knight became separated from his group while hiking on the trail and it took rescuers three days of searching to locate the man (he wasn’t reported missing until three days after he disappeared). After lighting a signal fire that turned into a 2-acre brush fire, Knight was found by rescuers mostly unharmed.

Knight says he’ll consider hiking with a satellite beacon or a cell phone next time but points out that the most important things hikers should bring along are survival skills. Technology can fail he says and survival skills may be the only thing that keep you alive until help arrives. Amen to that.

Some hiking trails, like this one, require hikers to get vertical.

Fredericksburg.com published an article by Bill Freehling about a recent hike to the summit of Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park. Old Rag is a popular hike (I’ve heard of it and I live 400 miles away) but it’s not exactly a walk in the park.

Freehling tells us the most challenging part of the hike is a an area known as the “rock scramble” where upper body strength is a must to pull oneself up the trail. To me if a hike involves more than just a little upper body strength it ceases to be hiking and morphs into mountaineering or rock climbing but that’s another story…

The Old Rag hike is a loop where the way up (the part with the rock scramble) is twice as long as the way down which begs the question: why not just go up and down the less steep way if it’s so tough? The answer, I’m sure, is that it’s the challenge that makes it such a great hike. Isn’t that what hiking is all about?

The Reporter-Times out of Indiana posted a humor column by Gordon Grindstaff titled “Camping and Canines Don’t Mix” recounting a recent Florida camping trip with a barking dog. I’m guessing the experience wasn’t too humorous for the other campers staying at the campground that night and if your dog is a barker he or she may not be well suited to campground livin’.

A barking dog isn’t just annoying to other campers - it’s also annoying to the wildlife around you. Nature lovers may not appreciate your dog scaring off the birds they’re trying to watch and a dog chasing a squirrel through a field of tents is just an accident waiting to happen.

I’m sure I’ve shared this story on the blog before but for some reason I couldn’t find where (or if) I did. Anyway, we took our dog Jackson on a backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia a few years back and after finding a small, secluded campground along the trail we settled in for the night. At some point after we all fell asleep in the tent, Jackson woke us up with a low, guttural growl that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. What was out there? I didn’t hear anything but apparently he did.

My mind raced - what could it be? A bear? A person? Just a raccoon? If it was a bear I didn’t want Jackson attracting or provoking the animal somehow so I tried to quiet him. He continued to growl and crane his neck to look out the mesh tent window for a little while longer but eventually went back to sleep.

I, on the other hand, could not get back to sleep the rest of the night for fear of what could have been outside. I’ve been camping for decades and I’ve never been fearful outdoors - except this time - even though I’m sure it was nothing. Stupid dog.

Anyway, camping with your dog can be a fun experience but just remember that you will be forced to take the good with the bad. Read our tips for camping with your dog to make your next canine camping experience a good one.