Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
Good pic. Reminds me of a trip I did when my backpacking dog Shunka got sick and I had to carry him out---a 50 lb dog along with my 65 lb pack---





I mentioned this in my earlier post---about negotiating blowdowns and bramble fields and terrible trail. And postholing . . . and snowdowns!!! Snowdowns happen when the green tunnel of the trail collapses on itself due to snow load on the bushes, requiring a belly crawl below the snowdowns, always fun with a 70 lb pack. Mileage will drop significantly, like one mile in 3 hours.

And postholing will really slow you down, most especially going up a steep mountain in 2-3 feet of deep snow . . . . while carrying a full winter pack of 70 lbs etc.

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This is an example of a trail somewhat closed with snowdowns. Usually it's much worse.

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Another example of a snowdown blocking the trail.

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And sometimes the snow is too deep for your dog to get thru with his heavy dog pack, so . . . .

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You have to hump his pack along with your own. What fun.

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And then there's your usual postholing up a mountain with significant weight on your back.

All these examples show that daily mileage numbers can at times be completely irrelevant---you just try to get from one camp to the next.
That’s the benefit of a small UL dog! .


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