Cerro Alto is dog friendly

Warm weather is happening and hiking with dogs 

requires some extra planning .

Bellow is Sierra , my daily hiking companion .  This is her fourth summer hiking season . We have met many dogs in our daily hiking adventures and have witnessed many injuries and heat  strokes to dogs . In the last week I have given water to several dogs that were suffering from insufficient hydration on Cerro Alto . It breaks my heart to see dogs hiking with lack of water which usually happens because their hiking owners don't understand the the hydration needs of their dogs . My experience is when temperatures at the trail head warm up past 75 to 80 degrees on Cerrro Alto dogs suffer . They need plenty of water , pound for pound , they need more water than humans . Remember they are wearing a fur coat . Often dogs are not nearly as strong as their human companions and thus suffer more . The temperature is 15 to 20 degrees hotter on the exposed part of Cerro Alto than at the trail head which is shaded .

Tips :

• My dog weighs 81 lbs. and she drinks 25 to 36  ounces of water in hot weather when climbing Cerero Alto .
• My dog carries two 18 oz . bottles of water and a plastic bowl .
•  If your dog over heats , ( insists on laying down , seeking shade or vomiting ) cool it off with water on their pads and body . Allow the dog to cool off in the shade as much as possible until breathing , panting , normalizes .
• Many dogs have soft pads as they are not regular mountain hikers . Check their foot pads often can suffer cuts and damage easily . 
• We carry a first aid kit which includes boots for the dog . ( two weeks ago my dog cut her foot while backpacking in the Ventana Wilderness  . I cleaned her wound , applied antibiotic cream and we continued to hike out 7 miles to the Jeep . )

snakes are active now , if your dog is not snake trained , keep it on a leash and keep your eyes open looking for snakes . Hikers often hike in groups and loose focus due to conversation .

Cerro Alto

On  Cerro Alto again on my daily hike yesterday when I met a couple of interesting people , the first photo is of a young couple enjoying the shade above a flowing creek in the canyon trail . They seemed to be having a romantic moment . I shouted to them if I could publish a photo of them on my blog and they said yes in a very excited and joyful tone . Cerro Alto has some thing for everyone .

 The second photo is of a young man named Memo of San Luis Obispo . Today is the second time I met this guy . He is training for a job with CCC . He carrying a 55 pound vest . I really enjoyed our conversation in which he shared his passion for the wilderness . Memo says he will be working with a crew cutting trails in Stanislaus County for six months . He promised to send me photos .

Memo below 

Bottchers Gap to Pat Springs

March 31 st , an adventure in the Ventana Wilderness 

Wayne , Mark and I started our adventure at Bottchers Gap back packing to Skinner Ridge , , then on to Devel's Peak a 2400 ft. elevation gain . we rested and had lunch and then proceeded to Pat Springs.

There was plenty of water along the way . I needed only two  quarts of water . 

 The weather was cool .

Total elevation gain to Pat Springs was 3600 ft . a good hike .

Cerro Alto and family hiking

family hiking 

I had the pleasure of meeting Dad and his little sons doing a great job of hiking a very steep portion of the canyon trail on Cerro Alto yesterday . Their dog was following doing his job of guarding his pack . The boys seemed to be having a lot of fun and dad was doing a great job of supporting and leading the adventure . Good Job guys !

Cerro Alto

March 2 , 2016

Weather change , no sunshine  and 14 degrees cooler than yesterday  in the afternoon .

Had a great hike  with Sierra , but it was very cloudy and cold . The summit was windy .

I met several of the regulars on the mountain  , three cyclists and one runner . And I also met someone new to the  Vanessa with her three dogs , they were accompanied by a young nice guy who did not get into the photo  below . They enjoyed the hike but did not make the summit as they got lost  . Oh well , better luck the next time ! 

The trail is the ATT connector trail . I believe Vanessa  missed the unsigned left turn 6/10 of a mile below the summit at the saddle overlooking Morro Bay .  , very easy to do for first time visitors .

Cerro Alto Early Flower Bloom

March  , warm weather brings early wild flower bloom to 

Cerro Alto

We are experiencing  warmer than usual weather in the first week of march 

whichis causing a earlier start of wild flower bloom on CErro Alto . Right now you can enjoy a fair amount of color , especially on the western slopes of the mountain . Variety and volume of flowers 

will increase daily for the next three weeks . The aroma is beautiful already . Enjoy .

cerro alto attracting many new hiking residents

Cerro Alto keeeps attracting many new hikers .

Wednesday , the 24 th , oince again I enjoyed a hike on Cerro Alto and met a new hiker . It seems that daily I meet new first time visitors to Cerro Alto , thanks to smart phones and hiking apps .

Below is a young lady I met today , she was carrying the small dog and her medium size dog hiked with her to the summit . Meet Whitney and her dogs photographed below . I hope to see you enjoy the mountain frequently .

Below My dog Sierra joins Whitney and is interested in the little guy in her arms .

The photo below is a broken sign at the intersection of the canyon trail . It breaks my heart to see such  vandalism . Ron frequently replaces these signs at no cost to the public . Thanks Ron !

I tried to find the post for the sign bud had no luck . I guess the vandals threw over into a canyon .

Rinconada Trail -- Pozo area east of Santa Margarita

2-15-16

a few shots of the Rinconada trail  , beautiful weather and the landscape benefited from recent rains !

Sierra making friends again .

looking down from summit

view from i/2 way up looking west Cerro Alto in the background

below --cat tracks

s

below canine tracks

sign at the summit  looking south west to rocky decent 

decent to High Mountain Rd and yes this is the trail , most hikers miss this  . I guess they cant accept this as the trail .

Cerro Alto

President's day  weekend 

Busy weekend on the Cerro Alto , full camp ground which included many hikers and dogs .

I hiked late into the night and enjoyed the sunset. warm spring like weather .

Sierra loves the water in the streams .

Little flowers are early , and the miner's lettuce is beautiful !

At 76 years of age I am blessed to be able to summit this mountain with my Sierra .

miner's lettuce below

Sierra playing