This cat and his man companion have traveled over 9,000 miles together. It looks like the cat hardly walked at all, but that’s to be expected. The guy (or maybe the cat) built a website about their travels together, but the English-language version isn’t exactly firing.

via Wend

A dog too exhausted to finish a hike in California spent the night in the wilderness with his owners and was rescued by a helicopter the next day.

When I heard about this story I thought, “You know, this should make me upset, but I actually like a lot of dogs more than I like people.” The couple who owned the 80-pound dog sat with it overnight on the trail, and they attempted to carry it out but couldn’t make it. No word on who’s paying for this rescue.

thanks Adventure Journal

Photo by Paul Balegend

I use Gmail, FedEx, UPS. I rarely have need for the post office, so it was only with a twinge of sadness for a bygone era that I noticed many rural post offices would be closing. The U.S. Postal Service is seeking to close 1 in 10 of its retail stores to save cash. That’s 3,600 locals. And that’s bad news for people hiking the Appalachian Trail. Many of the 2,000 who thru-hike the trail in one season setup drops at the post offices near the trail so they can resupply without spending too much. The new system will mean those trying to make the trip on a shoestring could have to walk quite a bit farther off the trail to find their goods.

Some Canadian National Parks are now requiring hikers to carry bear spray. They’ve also banned cycling and dogs during peak bear activity months. The law falls under their National Park Act, and fines could be as much as $25k for not carrying spray, though it’s hard to imagine them actually charging someone that much for not being properly equipped. Hopefully people don’t start buying Halt! and spraying on themselves like mosquito repellent.

Is bear spray required in any U.S. National Parks? I did a quick search online and couldn’t find requirements listed for any parks.

It was a beautiful day, there was enough light to walk down, and they had plenty of water and warm clothes. It’s a wonder why the mountain rescue team didn’t tell them to “stay on the mountain if you’re tired” when they called and requested someone climb up to get them. They were told to meet on the summit, instead they walked down a gully and got lost. Finally fed up, the rescue crew walked the 20 minutes up the trail to assist the two hikers. It took them an hour to walk them back down.