travel and rhum

So, I often hike with my dog, a very well trained dog (or treat loving) that dislikes being near strangers, and I live in an area where dogs are allowed off leash on many of the hiking trails. Therefore I’ve had him off leash, calling him back each and every time I see people or if I don’t have a decent line of sight around me.

I have had a hard time understanding why everyone here absolutely despises dog owners with loose dogs. In my mind only people with dogs and thoughts like me would think about letting them off leash. Today I was proven wrong.

I was on a shorter day hike, dog on leash as the area isn’t great for seeing if anyone comes, and I often see deer. Suddenly I heard yelling, and then a dog came storming up the trail towards me. I yelled at the dog, had my dog walk behind be as I backed up, and started telling off the owner (I’m not very quick to anger but that guy got the full effect). He still hadn’t gotten a hold of this dog, who ran into the woods while he just yelled and screamed some more at it, barely even looked at me.

I turned around and found another route.

I’ve seen this owner a few times as he lives in the area, and he’s always fond of telling everyone and no one about how well trained this dog is and all that (that kind of humblebragger type). Yeah, he lied.

So, if those kinds of people allows their dogs off leash, I fully understand why you hate it. Cause holy hell I was mad today, and the dog never actually touched me

I'm a frequent LASH-distance hiker (i.e., hundreds of miles at a time) approaching middle age and have developed back problems from physical living (labor/military/hiking/etc); specifically, mild-to-moderate lumbar stenosis + arthropathy + bulging.

Needless to say, hiking under weight aggravates my back for months after, so I'm wondering what people with similar issues do to prepare? I already hike lightweight (<20lb base) but not UL, do tons of core strength/stretching/PT, RICE, acupuncture and dry needling with stim, OTC pain meds, proper footwear, etc. But hiking just gets more painful as I get into middle age.

Wondering what your tactics are? Looking at R2R2R (Grand Canyon) this year and thinking I should look at a facet injection… got one 2 years ago and it helped, but only for ~3 months.

Hello,

Is anyone planning to hike mount Teide from Montana Balanca between 21 and 24 January included ?

I'm visiting with my sister (both in our twenties) and looking for a small group to hike together.
We are avid hikers, and would like to share the experience.

If this is not the best place to ask this, would you direct me to where I can find other interested hikers in Tenerife ? Thanks.