At the sight of a happy dog on the trail, “suddenly my pack is lighter, my aches are duller.” refuses to enter the backyard if winds exceed 2 miles per hour. She visibly trembles when approached by strangers. For these reasons, I discounted Stella as a hiking partner at the start. But as time went on, and I observed more about myself on the trail, I began to wonder if I had written her off too quickly. Sure, she’s a nervous wreck a lot of the time. But to be fair, so am I. In fact, it is, in part, the mountains’ effect on my nerves that keep me going back. When the trail is easy going, I’m equally at ease. And when it offers challenges, I’m forced to be present to an extent that I rarely embrace in my daily life. The mountains have taught me that fear and achievement are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps they could do the same for Stella. We started small with Poke-OMoonshine. I enlisted a human friend to accompany us, figuring that if Stella proved to be more of a liability than a partner, at least I wouldn’t have to endure the ordeal alone. I reasoned that if Stella became injured, perhaps, the two of us could muster enough strength and ingenuity to get her to my car. Still, I was certain that neither of us had the ability or desire to carry my 75-pound dog up a vertical wooden ladder. So we opted for Poke-O’s ladder-free Observer’s Trail. To my extreme delight, Stella did everything right. She kept the pace, neither dragging me up the mountain, nor forcing us to wait for her to sniff every natural wonder. She was refreshingly unfazed by the sudden movements of leaves, the sound of snapping branches, and the presence of woodland creatures. Even when we encountered fellow hikers, both with and without canine companions, Stella remained uncharacteristically calm. No doubt about it, I was proud of my girl. But simply being able to climb PokeO-Moonshine without incident didn’t, in itself, qualify her as my mountain dog. To earn that distinction, Stella would not only have to prove that her Poke-O performance wasn’t a fluke, but also that she could sustain longer distances and navigate far more daunting terrain. To be clear, state law mandates that dogs be leashed at all times in the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness and anywhere above 4,000 feet in the rest of the High Peaks. Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) forest rangers can and will administer tickets to violators. I fully respect and abide by this law. However, I needed to know if I could still count on her if Stella were to accidentally become detached from her leash, or if the circumstances became momentarily inconducive to us remaining both safe and tethered. An opportunity to gain the insight I needed presented itself when another friend asked me to join him as he earned his Porter Mountain patch. I had previously climbed the peak, so I knew the trail lacked ladders and offered rock features just steep and engaging enough to test Stella’s ability and behavior without asking her to prove too much. In fact, a significant portion of the Porter ascent demanded no more of Stella than her first mountain outing. But I was pleased to see that, again, she adopted a reasonable, steady pace. And environmental distractions, like rogue leaves, passing hikers and the soundtrack of the forest, received no fanfare. Then came the moment of truth — a section of raw rock and incline that called for Stella to demonstrate that she could handle brief independence. I made sure there was no trail traffic in the vicinity and unhooked her leash, half expecting her to dart off into the forest or retreat toward the trailhead. Instead, she began to climb. So my friend and I did, too. Stella reached the top of the rocks first. With nothing stopping her from bidding us adieu, she stood there, mouth open, tongue hanging to the side, watching and waiting for the rest of her pack. I was relieved. And when the procedure was flawlessly executed once more, I was encouraged. By the time we reached The author leads Stella on her big test: climbing Algonquin MOUNTAIN VIGNETTES SUMMER 2026 | 45
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