In October of 2005 Matthew was old enough to carry enough supplies in his 
backpack to head out into the Pemi Wilderness in New Hampshire for a few days. It was our first big backpacking trip with Boomer.
The picture on the right shows Matthew packing Boomer’s treats into his pack. It would be several years before we decided to buy Boomer his own backpack to carry his own treats.
The Wilderness Trail, just off the Kancamagus Highway, would be the spot of many Boomer backpacking memories in the years to come.
The trail begins with a suspension bridge and once we made it to the other side, we took off Boomer’s leash. He gave us this look that said: “Really? I can romp freely”? And we said “OK!”, and off he went. He always had to be in front, and if he fell behind, he would come charging up behind us, banging into our legs if the trail was narrow.
This earned him the backpacking nickname: “Rude Boy”. In his romps through 
the wilderness he would often come back with something in his mouth. Sometimes he would find a tennis ball or a toy. Other times it would be something completely gross that looked like a dead animal or bear crap. Of course, the picture on his right shows him enjoying one of his favorite toys of all time, the STICK.
Hiking is tiring business, and Boom liked taking a break just like anybody else.
After three miles, we had arrived at the bridge near Franconia Falls. Boomer was a little spooked by bridges, especially when they swayed. He would creep lower to the ground when we walked. We got him to sit still for this pretty picture on a bridge over the river.
Franconia Falls is beautiful, and this beautiful Golden made for some great shots……
(the picture below shows the famous pool into which Boomer fell in a future camping adventure….)
After spending some time at Franconia Falls, we strapped on our backpacks to hike two more miles down the Wilderness trail. Our destination was the base of Bond Cliff trail. Of course, we rested a little bit more on the way…..
And finally, we made it to our destination just when it started to get dark. We set up our tent, and then we had a little fun sitting by the fire.
It was a great, great day. On the following day we tried to hike up to Bond Cliff, but the weather was too threatening, so we packed up our campsite……
We stepped out onto the trail, and Boomer was just barking at Matthew to get going!!
Before we made it to the end of our hike, we decided to play a little game with Boomie. He always loved to be in front, so Matthew walked far, far ahead and put himself on the other side of a log. Boomer was DYING to see what he was up to, so Matthew yelled out COME and I let him go. The next few pictures show Boomer sprinting towards Matthew and them jumping over the log!
We were disappointed not to be able to hike Bond Cliff, so we waited for 6 months and tried again in April of 2006. It was one of the most classic Boomer hiking adventures of all time……
