Grizby and Bethany Complete a Thru-Hike of the Continental Divide Trail
We just received this note from Bethany Soxman and her Belgian Malinois, Grizby sharing their tale of thu-hiking the Continental Divide Trail together this past summer. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail runs for 3,100 miles connecting Canada to Mexico along the continental divide.
Help us congratulate Bethany and Grizby for what they believe is the first canine thru-hike of the trail and an amazing accomplishment! Read her story below and learn more by reading Bethany’s blog .
This summer my dog was (I’m fairly certain) the first to complete a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail.
We began our adventure June 20th at Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park on the Canada/Montana border. We hiked through 5 states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. We made it to the New Mexico/Mexico border on November 14th. Grizby’s character and big heart was shown throughout the trip; from the rough water crossings where the Web Master Harness saved him from being washed down stream to a waterfall cliff, to the harsh terrain along the top of the divide, he endured long waterless hot stretches through the Great Divide Basin, and freezing temperatures hiking through fresh snow in Colorado.
He definitely made the hitches into towns easier as most dog people picked us up right away. He even received some trail magic including a thick slab of venison.
Most dogs would not have been able to survive the trail but being a Belgian Malinois, his work ethic is unbeatable. Even with sore pads, as soon as I picked up my backpack he would immediately get up and get right on trail.
On average he carried 10lbs. of food (4 day ration) and my hiking partner or I would carry the rest. We averaged 20-25 mile days. Grizby came in handy at times finding the trail when it was covered with snow, sniffing out springs, and even swam across a stream and retrieved a sock I had left behind (It took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to teach him to do that).
Grizby truly embraced the brutality of the CDT. To see our whole story, you can read my blog at bethanysoxman.blogspot.com.
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