Grounded Tour 2012

Actually, pretty simple: to, we took the train in Germany from Mainz to Freiburg for $ 27 and back, we took the train from Chamonix, France to Mainz, Germany for about $ 180. The only nuissance is that, with the dog, we were forced to take smaller regional trains because they're not allowed on the faster [but more expensive] trains. This means, on the way back we had to change trains about six times.

We bought a map of Switzerland in advance, 1:200,000 [ISBN 978-3-8297-4017-3]. The scale may appear a tad small but trails are included on the map and carrying many maps weighs us down.

As for moula, we spent about $ 26 per person per day including the dog. So we're totaled $ 390 per person for the tour without transportation. As usual, we carried a tad more. So that the tour excluding equipment came to a grand total of about $ 600 per person.

w i t h d o g :

Being underways with a dog is somewhat different ... you've gotta plan things a bit different. Our dog should be autarc, meaning should be able to carry all he needs for the tour; even his own leash ;)

The first thing that's important is to have a really good backpack. It has to be close to the body and not too heavy. Two hydration packs on the sides are used a] to stabilize weight and b] to carry drinking water.

A dog can carry up to 1/4th his own weight. Quivo weighs 66 lbs, which means he could theoretically carry 16.5 pounds. To make things easier on him and make him more capable on the tour, we'll be reducing this to 1/6th weight, meaning 11 lbs.

Since the dog will be on continuously, daily long walks, we've also equipped him with dog socks/shoes. We thought this would ensure that the paw cushions do not get damaged. From time to time, we wanted to have him walking without shoes but mostly -or at least half the time- to be walking with them. During the tour, we were forced to change our view on this and let him walk entirely without [see blog].

e q u i p m e n t :

Without the right equipment we might freeze or get drenched or be forced to chow down on powder soup or have an issue in the mountains, which would force us to turn around. So equipment's important but it can't be too much ... minimalism is law!