Ozark Trail: Trail Puppy Update
Here’s what happened with the puppy we found on the Ozark Trail.
My Ozark Trail Thru Hike Gear List
If you’ve been following along my Ozark Trail Thru Hike in Missouri, you remember in the Day 6 video that my wife Abby and I found a puppy at the OT Trailhead in Peck Ranch Conservation Area. The sweet trail puppy crawled out from under a car and into our hearts. She was cold, shaking, and covered with ticks and burs.
The sweetest puppy melted in my arms after picking her up.
Abby and I immediately took her to the Peck Ranch Ranger Station to see if anyone had reported a lost puppy. Unfortunately the rangers were already out in the field that day, but a couple passed by in a car who informed us that Peck Ranch is a common place for people to dump dogs. A sad reality for the area.
We decided that Abby would take the puppy back to St. Louis and I would get back on the trail. I had five days of hiking on the Ozark Trail until our next meeting and resupply at Brushy Creek Lodge. Cell reception is limited on the trail so I had five days of hiking wondering if I was now a dog owner.
Waiting for Abby and wondering if she had the puppy with her at the Brushy Creek Lodge cabin we rented.
When Abby and I were able to reconnect she shared the beautiful story of the puppy, aka Sakari, and her new family. It turns out Abby met a family at the vet who lovingly adopted the puppy. Sakari now lives at a home on three acres of land with a family that includes dad, mom, three pre-teen girls, and her canine big brother Takota.
It turns out Sakari was only three months old when we found her and she already weighed 13 pounds. The vet thought she was part Great Pyrenees and part Australian Shepherd and she would be anywhere from 60 to 90 pounds full grown. Definitely too much dog for Abby and I’s lifestyle.
It was such a blessing to find Sakari, and even more of a blessing to help deliver her to meant-to-be family. It was a truly special moment during my Ozark Trail Thru Hike.
Missouri’s Ozark Trail
The Ozark Trail contains over 430 miles of trail divided into 14 mostly connected sections throughout southeast Missouri. The established thru-hike covers eight of the connected sections and runs from Onondaga Cave State Park in Leasburg, roughly 84 miles southwest of St. Louis, to the Eleven Point Terminus near Thomasville, 23 miles north of the Arkansas border. Throw in the off-shoot Taum Sauk Section and you have nearly 300 miles of thru-hikeable trail.