Some cool Dog Backpack images:
Poison dart frog behind plant
Image by Diego’s sideburns
Yellow and blaxk poison dart frog (Dendrobates leucomelas).
Poison dart frogs, members of the Dendrobatidae family, wear some of the most brilliant and beautiful colors on Earth. Depending on individual habitats, which extend from the tropical forests of Costa Rica to Brazil, their coloring can be yellow, gold, copper, red, green, blue, or black. Their elaborate designs and hues are deliberately ostentatious to ward off potential predators, a tactic called aposematic coloration.
Some species display unusual parenting habits, including carrying both eggs and tadpoles on their backs. Although this "backpacking" is not unique among amphibians, male poison arrow frogs are exceptional in their care, attending to the clutch, sometimes exclusively, and performing vital transportation duties.
Dendrobatids include some of the most toxic animals on Earth. The two-inch-long (five-centimeter-long) golden poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown men.One millionth of an ounce of the poison is enough to kill a dog. Indigenous Emberá people of Colombia have used its powerful venom for centuries to tip their blowgun darts when hunting, hence the genus’ common name.
Sunset at camp
Image by deborah.soltesz
Sunset at camp
On the third day of our camping trip on the Mogollon Rim above Sedona, we headed to the western end of West Fork. The canyon starts on the Rim, intersecting Woody Mountain Road, and cuts east, where it joins Oak Creek Canyon, a total distance of seven or eight miles. At the Oak Creek end, there’s an official trailhead (West Fork #108) at Call o’ the Canyon, which runs about three miles up the canyon. We decided to try hiking the canyon from the western end, where there’s no official trail… as a matter of fact, there’s a lovely Forest Service sign explaining that there’s no official trail there, you’re pretty much on your own, watch out for flash floods, and please don’t die.
From the bridge, there’s a well worn path that runs for perhaps 0.5 to 0.75 mile along the banks of the creek. Eventually, the canyon becomes too narrow, and walking on the banks is not possible, and it becomes a boulder hop down the creek bed. Fallen trees and very large boulders make the route a bit challenging. At this point, while the canyon is very pretty, it’s not family friendly or very dog friendly (we had to give ours quite a bit of assistance). Given the amount of scrambling, I don’t think this would be a very fun backpacking trail, but with an early start, I believe this could be easily done as a shuttle hike.
Trip report
All photos from this hike
