Dog on Rockwall Trail

The Rockwall Trail, a 55km through hiking trail which lingers between the BC and Alberta border follows the continental divide and a large wall of limestone, aptly named the Rockwall. As many trails in the National Parks are designated dog-free, this one, curiously is not and we decided to give it a try.

We hiked the Rockwall Trail at the end of September, the larches were amazing but the weather quite cool. This was advantage number one of having a dog at the end of the days, the 3 of us huddled together as the temperature lingered near freezing at night.

As our first long distance hike with Freya, our Australian Cattle dog cross we weren’t sure how much food to bring with us. In preparation we bought a saddlebag for Freya and packed it with dog food. Fortunately there are many and frequently placed water sources on the trail to drink from so water wasn’t a huge concern. We quickly learned that we would need to supplement Freya’s food occasionally with some pasta and minute rice as the colder temperatures and active hiking certainly increased Freya’s appetite.

Another consideration we learned quickly on was a comfortable, well fitting harness. Luckily we had one that was well suited for Freya’s size. A hands-free leash was also important as dogs can often trigger wildlife encounters and are not allowed off leash in the National Parks for obvious reasons.

Luckily the weather was quite dry on our trek except for the first day when it poured rain, other forms of precipitation came in the form of snow on the mountain passes. Being an Australian Cattle Dog, Freya isn’t prone to smelling even when she’s wet but I imagine if the rain would have continued issues with staying warm and maintaining a dry tiny tent would have been a struggle. Another consideration in taking a pooch on these longer distance hikes.

Overall, we learned quite a bit on this hike and we are looking forward to bringing our four legged friend on all of our treks. We often wondered while on the hike if Freya could truly witness all the beauty that surrounded us on our journey or also if she questioned why we suddenly decided to put our backpacks on and walk through the forest, over passes and sleep on the ground for days! Though honestly, I don’t think she minded and it brought us all even closer together.