Video: Backpacking From a Dog’s Point-of-View

So there we were, slowly making our way up the switchbacks towards the ridge overlooking Silver Lake in the Sierra Nevada. All in a line: human, dog, dog, human. Tramp, tramp, tramp. Little puffs of dust with each step.

Gee, I thought, the poor dogs are right there at foot-level, eating all the dust. I wonder what hiking is like for them?

A-ha! An idea!

And so began a project to show a dog’s perspective on backpacking. I’ve done a couple projects showing my perspective on backpacking and camping trips, but thought this would be a fun twist.

Holly (one of our golden retrievers) has been hiking and backpacking with us since she was a puppy, and been everywhere from the deep woods of North Carolina, to the alpine tundra in Colorado, to the deserts of Arizona. So it seemed most appropriate to tell the story from her point-of-view. Also, Jasper (our other golden retriever) is pretty goofy, and would make a good appearance on-screen as her hiking partner. Carol and I are, of course, just the facilitators of their enjoyment.

I tried paying attention to what the dogs were doing, where they were looking and what they were sniffing, and kept the camera at their height.

So what’s it like to be a dog on a backpacking trip? Not so bad, it turns out.