The plan was to walk up to McAfee Knob on this first walk with six-month old chocolate lab Moose along (and also four-year-old, draggy black-lab mix Cookie). But with it being new-to-hiking-dog Moose’s first time on the trail, we opted for the far less crowded stretch of AT on the other side of the road.
The new hiker took to it like a dawg on a trail. The big older dog not so much, dragging behind to the point that her owner The Day Hiker got distracted a little from her own malaise-in-the-woods of late to worry over Cookie. Who of course recovered pretty well once lunch was getting ready to unfold.
The way back was pretty much like the way in . . . one frisky dog, one slow dog.
Little Doggie’s First Hike, and along the AT! About 5.5 miles
How to get there: Va. 311 west from Salem to parking area at the high point on Catawba Mountain
