As some of you may know, we adopted a dog (Leika) in January. Part way through Canada we realized that while Canada’s National Parks are incredibly dog-friendly, US National Parks are not, at all. While disappointed, we figured that when it came time to spending time in the national parks, we’d have to put Leika into doggie-day care for the day/night – not the most cost-efficient way to spend your time, apart from the fact that we want our dog to participate in our activities, especially since we started to take on pet product reviews and similar projects for our blog. As we came back into the States and spent time in the PNW, we realized that we actually liked the National Forest more than the National Parks; there are fewer people, they’re often just as beautiful and dog friendly! In addition, there is “dispersed camping” – just find a spot wherever you like, you get it all to yourself! We decided that we’d do the “must see” things in the Park’s (which are usually paved, crowded, and allow dogs) and do all our backcountry and multi-day hikes in the Forest with Leika! So, if you have a dog and are planning on extensive travels in the US and the National Parks/Forests, don’t stress out too much! The National Forest, for us, have turned out to be where we prefer to be anyway – fewer people, cheaper and less crowded camping, dog friendly. Winning.