I met several lovely dogs while hiking in Acadia National Park. Looking back, I can’t believe I didn’t take a single picture of any of them. I think I was too busy catching my breath to bother getting my camera out of my backpack, lol.

Crosby was a 6-month old Black Lab I met coming back from Hunter’s Beach. He had been in the water for the first time. He was friendly and sweet, and, even at 6 months, so much bigger than the size I normally think of for Black Labs. I decided that he had to have been named after Crosby, Stills and Nash as opposed to Cindy Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. That would have been too much to bear, lol.

There was the Cairns Terrier (think Dorothy’s Toto, in the Wizard of Oz), who was clearly leading his group down Dorr Mountain while I was making my way up. I stepped aside to let the group pass; courtesy is a great way to also catch one’s breath! I asked his owner if he was a good hiking dog. The owner, a gentlemen in his mid sixties, perhaps, assured me he was. “He dragged us up and down Cadillac Mountain yesterday,” he said as they hurried past. The dog was totally moving! The owner’s wife and friends were very nice and from them I got my answer regarding the utility of walking poles while hiking (see Hiking 101).

Also on Dorr Mountain was the adorable dog, breed unknown but short haired and medium height, who ran ahead of his owner to come greet me. He stood right beside me so I could easily reach down to pet him and nuzzled up against my leg until his owner passed by. He then left my side to continue the trail with his Human.

I feel like I’m forgetting one or two dogs. This is what happens when you blog almost a month after your vacation.

In Bar Harbor, I stopped to chat with a woman who had a beautiful, big Bernese Mountain Dog. She and her husband were from central Pennsylvania. Their daughter had attended Villanova (I was wearing a Villanova shirt) and was starting Villanova Law this fall on a full scholarship. They were both very nice and we chatted for several minutes. They recommended visiting Lincoln, New Hampshire on another one of my trips to New England. I will certainly consider it, but then again that would only take away from my Bar Harbor time. We can’t have that, now, can we? 😉

While I absolutely love my two cats, Smucker and Freckle, I have been wanting a dog (the right dog) for a while, especially to go hiking. These dogs I met while hiking Acadia did nothing to dissuade me from that wish. Maybe when I move to Bar Harbor I can make that happen.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep enjoying the dogs of other hikers. And maybe next time I’ll get some pictures too!