Went on a two-day backpacking trip with a friend and Phantom this weekend in the Shenandoah National Park near Front Royal, VA. The weather was PERFECT, sunny and low 70s/high 60s both days. We only did about 9 miles each day, but had a lot of fun. Only deer and little critter sightings, no bears.


About 3 miles in, a waterfall and showing off the beginning of fall colors.


Me and Phanny with our packs on.


Phantom leading the way!


A tired pup! With the three of us in a tiny backpacking tent we stayed pretty warm until about 4am. Then even Phantom was shivering, so I zipped her into my sleeping bag at my head. It was a tight, but toasty, fit for the last two hours of sleep. Kind of wish I got a picture of that!


Shenadoah valley. Where I grew up!

backpacking is one thing i wounder if i could pull off with S&J.... good thing you saw no bears!
glad you had a good trip, nice pics

jbealer wrote:

backpacking is one thing i wounder if i could pull off with S&J.... good thing you saw no bears!
glad you had a good trip, nice pics

Me too...that would be so much fun!

Great shots, glad you had a good time (and no bear sitings).

Great pictures! I love Shenandoah in the fall, and would be very interested in meeting up with you guys to do some backpacking after we move up there. Maybe sometime in the spring

That looks like so much fun! What leash are you using in that pic?

26nikita wrote:

That looks like so much fun! What leash are you using in that pic?

I have the Roamer leash by Ruffwear. It is AWESOME for hiking. The handle is adjustable so it can go around your waist if you want and the main leash is stretchy which is great to keep you from falling if the dog tugs suddenly. I got it because Phantom tries to yank me down steep hills. I think a lot of people use it for things like bikejoring and such.

jbealer wrote:

backpacking is one thing i wounder if i could pull off with S&J.... good thing you saw no bears!
glad you had a good trip, nice pics

I haven't found that it adds any additional trouble backpacking with dogs. She carries her dog food and some back up water (mostly drinking from streams) and that's about all the extra gear. Oh, and burying her poop isn't fun :-/ She just snuggles with me for sleeping, although since it got so cold I might look into some type of bed situation for her. With 2 dogs I think the biggest extra weight is you MIGHT need a bigger tent. Phantom is so exhausted after a day of hiking she's wore out and no trouble during the camping part of the trip. My biggest concern is running into a bear as I have no idea how she'd react and how that reaction would affect a bear.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Great pictures! I love Shenandoah in the fall, and would be very interested in meeting up with you guys to do some backpacking after we move up there. Maybe sometime in the spring

Definitely!!!! I actually live in north central WV but I'm being relocated back to Northern Virginia in November.

Tis the time for moving, huh? My aunt and uncle have a cabin out by Canaan Valley, and I've been snowboarding out there a few times. I'm stoked to be moving back to the area, I figured out I really have missed living in Maryland. We'll be there the week before Christmas

Hmm... Another leash on my wish list now!

I've heard that bears are afraid of dogs but I wouldn't want to test that theory.

NadirCs wrote:

26nikita wrote:

That looks like so much fun! What leash are you using in that pic?

I have the Roamer leash by Ruffwear. It is AWESOME for hiking. The handle is adjustable so it can go around your waist if you want and the main leash is stretchy which is great to keep you from falling if the dog tugs suddenly. I got it because Phantom tries to yank me down steep hills. I think a lot of people use it for things like bikejoring and such.

I have that leash and I use it alot when walking both of them I also used it when we were visiting family that did not have a fence yard so one of them could have a tie out.

I love your pictures they are great looks like alot of fun..