Centre of Adventure: Dogs can’t have all the fun

At our house, we have this little routine. As soon as the trail shoes come out, our dog, Peggy, knows she is going on an adventure out in the forest. Peggy gets all excited to head to the trail (unless it is raining; then she would rather stay in bed), while our cat, Daniel the Tiger (named in homage to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) looks on, wondering what the silly dog is getting all worked up about. Then Peggy heads off to the trail with me or my partner, Becky. 

Poor Daniel never gets to come along for the fun. Not that I have ever thought about taking him. After all, he is a cat. Cats don’t go hiking, right? 

Turns out I was wrong. I found that out during a recent winter hiking trip up in the Adirondacks. As Peggy, Becky, and I were coming off a high mountain summit with our friend Jen (one of Peggy’s favorite trail buddies), we saw an interesting sight on the snow-covered trail.

“Is that a cat?” we all asked ourselves. (I don’t know what Peggy was thinking.) 

It was two cats, to be exact, being carried up the mountain by an intrepid young couple. I couldn’t believe it. The kitties were all snuggled up in a pack made for cats, looking cute and cuddly. Peggy gave them a curious sniff, and we were all amazed. The cats seemed to be happy and were halfway to the peak, but I wondered how they would handle the strong, blustery winds above tree line. Talk about a cat-venture (bear with me, there are bound to be more cat puns in this story).

This made me wonder: could we hike a feline up the famous Mount Nittany back home? We would not face strong winds or a three-foot snowpack like those Adirondack cats, but it would still be an epic undertaking.

Now, Daniel has never been a cat that enjoyed the car (like most cats), so I made plans with my son Casey and his girlfriend, Tori, to bring their cat, Beans, on such an adventure. Beans is very good in the car, and they already had a pack they use to take her out places.

But when Becky found out that I was going to take my “grand-kitty” up the mountain, she insisted that Daniel come along too. She quickly got him a mesh cat-pack with a zippered opening for him to peek his little head out of. In the days leading up to our hike, we left it out on the living room floor with treats inside so he could check out his new mode of transportation. This really helped acclimate him to it.  

So, on a beautiful early spring morning, we all met at the base of Mount Nittany in Lemont: me with Peggy(dog), Becky with Daniel (cat), and Tori and Casey with Beans (cat). We were surely a motley-looking hiking crew. 

Daniel was a little vocal in the car but seemed to settle down at the trailhead when he saw Peggy. I put on Daniel’s pack for a quick picture at the trailhead, but Becky took on the duties of carrying Danny up the trail (after all, I had to get the purr-fect pictures). Casey carried Beans, who was very content in her pack, lying down and relaxing with her head barely peeking out. 

Once we were all situated, we took the blue trail up toward the Mike Lynch Overlook, which provides an iconic view of campus. Peggy led the way on the trail that she knows very well. She seemed happy to have the whole family along for the ride, although I think she was a little unsure of why the cats were on her turf. 

The half-mile climb up to the top of Mount Nittany is very steep at points, and Becky noted that it was definitely more difficult hiking with the cat-pack, but she refused my offer to take over.

Casey said the cat-pack made him feel like he was a peasant carrying royalty in a hand-held coach (Queen Beans the First). I laughed and remembered when I used to carry baby Casey up the mountain in a backpack (he was a little heavier than a cat).

While we huffed and puffed up the climb, the two kitties were happy and relaxed in their packs, looking out at nature. With the backpacks, the few people we passed didn’t even notice we had kitties with us. 

After reaching the top, we made our way to the overlook for a paw-some (sorry) photo shoot, but it was more difficult than I had hoped. As any Instagram cat photographer probably knows, cats don’t pose or listen; they do their own thing. Still, we got some fun shots. 

At one point I picked up Daniel and held him up Lion King style, for him to see the land below and the sky above from the overlook (I did the same thing with Casey when he was little). It was fun until he got scared and I ended up with a scratch on my wrist (serves me right). Still, Daniel the Tiger was now a little Nittany Lion on top of the mountain, and I was happy.

Beans was more chill outside of her pack, and Tori and Casey got some nice photos of her relaxing with the view in the background.

When it was time to head back down, Daniel went back in his pack easily enough (it took two people), but Beans was happier just hanging out on Tori’s shoulder. She stayed there the whole hike down.

It was getting later in the morning and more people were making their way up the mountain. With Beans out of her pack and in plain view, people couldn’t help but do a double take as we passed. It was fun to see their reactions. 

“Is that a cat?” they asked as they passed. 

Not just any cat—two Nittany mountain cats, in fact.

It was a fun time with the whole family. For once Danny got to come along, and I think he rather enjoyed it. 

A couple of days later, I was lacing up my trail shoes, and Peggy was getting excited for another adventure. Daniel was looking on, so I glanced at his cat-pack and asked him (yes, I talk to my cat) if he wanted to come along. He went back to ignoring us and doing cat things, so Peggy and I ran out the door, quickly. I am sure we will take Daniel out for another adventure sometime, but I think he was just fine staying at home that day. He probably found something else fun to do while we were out, or maybe he just enjoyed a nice cat nap. We all could use one of those sometimes. T&G

Vincent Corso loves exploring the outdoors in central Pennsylvania and beyond.