[pct-l] I'll be doggone..!

[Bob McCallister <bigmac@tbwt.com>]

savamutt@razorlogic.com wrote:
> Let me ask you Bob, if you were buried in an avalanche >and a bloodhound or St. Bernard found you 
>and saved your life, you'd consider that a "crutch",
>right?...and you'd rush right out and bury yourself in the >next available avalanche because a canine's intervention >in saving your life didn't fit in with your image of  wilderness 
>self-sufficiency...correct?

  Uh, I don't see any "razorlogic" there, Mutt. In fact, that statement's so wacko, I'm not sure *how* to answer you question.  Heck, I'd be ecstatic if a 9-year old skinhead pulled me out of a jam, but I don't hike with one for backcountry peace of mind, that's for sure! ;-> And you can't seriously be saying we should all travel with specially-trained scent-hounds, "just in case", right? Also, if any of us are "buried in an avalanche", a dog-companion may be able to locate us under the rubble, but I doubt if it's going to be able to move a ton of boulders or compacted snow - that's a people-job.
    Have I gotten myself into a flame-war with one of those guys who fantasizes about being attacked or crushed or in general "faces death" every time he goes on a camping trip? Oh boy...

>You speak of "idiots" in the context of rangers and the >wilderness in your post.

  Now, watch it, man!  Because your latest post called some guy Stefan Somethingorother a "girl",  I referred to *your* previous Yogi and Boo-Boo thread where you falsely quoted some ranger and made snide remarks about him.  Don't go telling the rangers on this list that I call 'em idiots, because I don't. I've got a lot of respect for those guys. (Ditto S&R volunteers - which were not mentioned in your original post, nor in mine, so stay on-topic, please. Don't try to "win points" by posting I hate dogs, rangers, or rescuers. That's sleazy tactics, and nothing could be further from the truth.)

> Get in touch with your county canine rescue volunteer >agency sometime and ask them how many self-sufficient >wilderness idiots have their lives saved by canines every >year. 

   Are you equating "self-sufficient" with "idiot"? Seems like apples and oranges to me. Are you saying it's better (or safer - I can't tell *what* you want to say, frankly :->) to be an idiot with a dog than self-sufficient without one? I'll ask around, but offhand *my* S&R group doesn't advocate taking dogs on backpacks for "avalanche safety" (in
summer, no less). Or bear or mountain lion safety. Or route-finding, either. They selflessly bail out idiots and non-idiots alike without admonishing them sternly "Next time, take a dog with you!" :->
    I'm a pushover for my dogs, and we get good outdoor exercise regularly. In a remote place with vast wide-open terrrain like Alaska, I'd consider taking a dog along - partly as the  crutch you mentioned in your post, I'm not proud. But in the unremote, already stressed by overcrowding, so-called Wildernesses in, say, California, seems like a guard (etc) dog would be unneccessary and an annoyance to wildlife and other hikers - as other posters pointed out. This is a PCT forum, remember. Doubt if even a marginally
competent backpacker needs a dog to "protect" them or help them navigate there.
    The topic was backpacking the Trail with a dog, not "do we appreciate the efforts of seach and rescue teams" (we all do, don't we?). I still maintain that anybody who thinks he needs his dog as an ever-present S&R effort is either *real* accident-prone :->, or needs to brush up on his own skills, whatever.

> Without getting into a pissing contest on the subject, let >me just state that I was a Ranger in the US Army

   By all means, drop any macho "credentials" you think  you need to, no problem! Smells like the first drops of a p.c. to me,  though  (excuse the puns, :->), so I'll "drop" the
subject.
                                                                         
  Bob (Big Mac) McCallister


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