Auden Johnson's Blog

Capturing Fantasy Landscapes with my Hiking Dog

Walking a path through fantasy landscapes. It feels like home. Each season brings its own magic that I can explore and capture. Hiking with my camera feels like I can breathe. It energizes me to create. This time my dog Bambi came along.

Hiking Dog

I’ve had pets since I was little. My household rarely went long without some animal. Of course, I continued the tradition when I moved out. Bambi is my second dog. I hike solo and wanted a furry companion to come with me on my photo walks.

I adopted Bambi from Brooklyn ACC in February 2024. She’s such a beautiful dog and, at 30lbs, she’s a good size. I thought of changing her name to an anime character, but I kinda like Bambi. She’s now Bambi Erza Johnson. The shelter didn’t know her breed. Bambi’s vet bill is expensive enough without a DNA test. Google says she’s a Formosan mountain dog. It checks.

I got her used to the trail by taking her on 4-5 mile hikes in my local park. I worked with her on pulling her leach. It wasn’t so bad that she was dragging me down the street. But, she was hurting my back while I was trying to reign her in. I switched to a no-pull harness and spammed her with treats. Now I need to work on getting her off-leash ready. She likes to wander while I’m photographing a scene in infrared. Sometimes her leash will hit my tripod and mess up my shot.

Trails Near a Train Station

I know how to drive but I don’t have a car. All my trails need to be near public transportation. It is limiting but I can’t afford to rent a car whenever I want to take a day trip to the Hudon Valley. Seems a waste since NY has the Metro North. The Poughkeepsie line travels along the Hudson River. It’s such a beautiful ride. I’ll listen to a podcast while staring out the window. Never get tired of that view.

When boarding at Grand Central Station, you sit on the right side of the train (when you’re on the train facing Grand Central) for the best views.

Creating Fantasy Landscapes

West Point Foundry is a short trail. The hike doesn’t offer any challenge and no mountain-top view. It’s not a place I usually visit. It takes me about 2 hours and some change to reach the trail. That’s a long time to travel just for an easy hike unless it has absolutely stunning scenery.

I visited West Point Foundry for infrared photography 2 other times. Didn’t get a good shot either time.

Third time’s a charm.

You can read about my infrared journey below:

Getting into Otherworld Infrared Landscape Photography

Turning Nature into Colorful Infrared Landscapes

I got into infrared mostly because I love creating landscapes with colorful trees and grass. Also, hiking often has me out during midday when the sun is harsh. That’s not the best photography condition unless it’s overcast or you’re doing black and white. Infrared works great at that time of day.

It took 3 years, but I’m finally getting the hang of infrared. I still don’t know how to consistently create colors other than pink. You never really learn everything. I don’t mind that there are still things to discover.

Watch the full trip on Youtube

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First Time Traveling to the Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains have been on my list since I started hiking. However, it’s too far for a day trip. NY state’s size still surprises me and I’ve lived here for 15 years. From Manhattan, it takes me 4 hours to reach Washington, DC by train. 4 hours upstate and I’m not even in the Adirondacks yet. Vacations require time and money. I’ve been lacking in both. I don’t get paid time off.

However, my mental health has been in the toilet for a while now. It’s improving but my stress levels are still a bit too high. Sacrifices had to be made. I had 4 days off recently, still unpaid, but it was the perfect time since my birthday is August 12. I worked on my budget and made room for a trip upstate to Lake George, NY as a present to myself. This would be my first vacation in years. The first one I actually planned. All other times, I’d been going along with someone else.

Side note, I always misspell Adirondack. Usually, I’ll type it into Google, let it autocorrect and just copy and paste.

Traveling by Amtrak to Lake George

Most people recommend driving to Lake George. It seems to be the fastest way. To reach upstate, I’d have to drive through all of Manhattan which would be super not fun. You can take an Amtrak to Fort Edward station and then pick up a rental car near the station, take an Uber, or hop on the trolly to Lake George.

I wanted to rent a car but the rental place is closed on the weekend. Don’t really know why. Maybe because the station is so remote.

I got an Uber from Fort Edward station to our hotel. Fortunately, Lake George is walkable. You don’t need a car to get around if you plan on staying in town. I wanted to hike Shelving Rock Falls but that’s on the other side of the lake, around a 45 minutes drive. Too far to walk.

Hiking the Adirondack Mountains

Instead, I hiked up to Prospect Mountain. It’s walking distance from town. I started early to get most of the trail to myself since this is a popular destination.

@thehikingauthor Always nice to start a hike with 3 flights of stairs. Trail didn't get any better. . First hike in the Adirondacks. It's been a dream for years. I definitely plan to explore more of those mountains. . Prospect Mountain is a short trail, walking distance from Lake George. It's not an easy hike. It's all uphill and rocky. Killed my legs for days after. Not for casual hikers. The view at the top is nice. . . . . . . . #hiking #hikingadventures #hikingtok #adirondacks #adirondacksny #adirondackpark #upstateny #upstatenewyork #prospectmountain #naturevibes #natureathome #blackhiker #blackhikersoftiktok #outdoorlife #womenoutdoors #hikergirl #naturetiktok #hikewithme #hikingtrail #traveltiktok #travelbucketlist #travellife #outdoorsygals #outdoorspace ♬ To The End – Divide Music

It’s not a loop. Just a straight path, about 2-3 miles, to the summit. Certain parts of the trail were better marked than others. It’s far too easy to walk in the wrong direction if you aren’t paying attention. The Garmin eTrex 22x Handheld GPS helped. I also bought a National Geographic map and studied that before I left.

It’s a strenuous trail. As someone who hikes a lot, even I thought of giving up toward the end. Fortunately, I hit my limit about 5 minutes from the summit. Also, the end is a paved road and the easiest part of the hike.

I dipped my toe into Adirondack hiking and plan to return to photograph different parts during the fall and winter. Yes, I will be braving upstate winter to get those snowy mountain landscape shots. Apparently, it gets so cold up there, the lake freezes enough to drive over.

Sunrise Landscapes Over Lake George

Lake George is a peaceful town in upstate, NY that sits on a lake by the same name. It seems to be a popular vacation spot for New Yorkers and tourists. Surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George is one of the most photographic places I’ve visited.

It almost feels like it’s not in NY. I made sure to photograph the mountain view at sunrise.

Absolutely perfect conditions. Even with no clouds in the sky, I got stunning colors. I had the view all to myself because it was so early in the morning. Nothing but peace, quiet and a serene view.

The landscape gave me a wonderful surprise on the last day. Fog is kinda like the white whale of photography, at least for me. It’s an amazing condition that’s hard to predict and doesn’t come around often. Imagine my joy when I walked to the waterfront and saw this scene:

For my gear, the Rangers 8pcs ND Filter kit came in handy. I couldn’t take these photos without them. They don’t seem to be available on Amazon anymore. Shame. They were super affordable. A tripod is another must. I don’t carry a special camera hiking backpack. I own the Osprey Tempest 20 for walking to the waterfront, or to my local park, with my gear. My Osprey Tempest 34 is for hiking in the mountains.

Visit my gallery for more photos.

Lake George Sunrise Photos

Some of these photos are available for sale as prints and merch on my print store.

Shop Prints and MoreA Mental Health Boost

I didn’t plan on filling every moment of my day with activity. This trip was for resting and recharging. Sometimes, I sat on the hotel balcony, soaking in the sun and the view. I broke out my journal and jotted down my thoughts as the sun rose other the Adirondack mountains. Visiting Lake George brought clarity to certain things. I highly recommend a visit if you’re looking for a chill place with great food and a beautiful view.

Fantasy Map Making: A Quick Guide

My journey with fantasy map-making has been an interesting one. I don’t have a design background. Any covers, maps, videos, basically anything I needed an Adobe product to create, I had to teach myself. Maps are especially difficult because you have to know basic geography, like how rivers flow. Some of my early designs aren’t the best but they got the job done. They’re also wrong. I had to fix a few of them.

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years.

Your landscape does not have to be “realistic” to our world. It’s fantasy, anything can be realistic. However, for me, I’d like a reason for the change other than, it’s magic. In my current work in progress, most of the world spends a good 90% of its day without sunlight. The amount of research I have to do for that is insane. Because of it, I’ve become kinda obsessed with fluorescent plants.

When I started taking map-making seriously, I studied a lot of actual maps. Read a bunch of articles on how mountains and rivers are formed. Created a Pinterest board for inspiration and tips. I inhaled fantasy map-making tutorials. This video helped me a lot.

Find What Works for you

Map-making, like world-building, requires a lot of work and research. Don’t let your background stop you. I started designing by just trying it out. Had to teach myself Photoshop. But, be honest with your skills and your time. If you can’t do something, be honest about it and find a way around it. I don’t really draw. All those trees and mountains are stamps on Inkarnate. I made the below map entirely out of stock photos.

Check out my guide on building a fictional world. These templates would help you make better a fantasy map of your villages, town, and cities.

Using Art to Calm the Monster of Stress

When stress is trying to control me, I use art to subdue it. Life is rarely 100% bad or good. You hope there’s more good than bad. For the past couple of years, mine has been the other way around, even before the plague that shall not be named. Ever have that moment, when your life is on fire and you go, at least things can’t get worse, and life calls you’re a liar?

Oreo

This is my first time sharing this story publicly. I doubt I’ll bring it up again unless someone asks. At the beginning of May, vigorous scratching woke me before my alarm. My dog, Oreo, had started sleeping under the bed, probably cause it was cool. At 14, she couldn’t get on the bed anymore.

I jumped out of bed to Oreo having, what looked like, a seizure. She made the most horrifying howl of pain and fear and then she stopped breathing. I rushed her to the hospital but they couldn’t bring her back. She was 14 but this still came out of nowhere. She wasn’t sick. Oreo never had any serious health issues. She never had a seizure. I still don’t know what happened.

Oreo had been a part of this brand and my art for years. She was sitting at my feet while I wrote blog posts over on Blogger. Oreo was my writing buddy when I published my first book. She was my comfort when my master’s degrees had me stressed out. Some days, the only time I smiled was when Oreo greeted me like I’d been gone for a year. When I got a new camera, I practiced on her. We did long photo walks around the neighborhood.

Having a pet is a lot of work. They make a mess, they’re noisy and they destroy things at inconvenient times. You have to walk them when you’re dead tired. When it’s snowing or raining. When the cold feels like an attack. Pets are so expensive. You spend about $500 per vet visit for an old dog. But despite all that, I never regretted having Oreo. She did so much to help my mental health.

This happening by itself would’ve been bad enough. as I mentioned before, life had been a struggle well before this. And it hasn’t let up. Now, I don’t have a happy dog to come home to.

Art: The Weapon Against Stress

Nothing has really changed for the better but I’ve trying to fix the things I can control. Constant stress can lead to health issues. I grind my teeth causing pain in my jaw and gums. I get headaches, not migraines, fortunately. My stress levels and heart rate are always slightly elevated. A good night’s sleep does not exist. I either sleep badly or really badly. Im tired all the time. I don’t want to be a 37-year-old having a heart attack. When life is on fire, I use art to put out the flames.

Map Making

For a while, I had stopped writing. Even before what happened to Oreo. But, I did a lot of fantasy map-making, though. A lot.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Most of my fantasy landscapes, I created for fun. They aren’t for a story. I had a vision in my head that I wanted to see if I could bring to life. Designing is fun.

This one is for a story. And it was an experiment. I just wanted to see if I could make it.

Made with Inkarnate.comBack to Writing

I’d been trying to finish two stories. But, each time I sat at my computer, nothing came out of me. I was stuck. So, I eventually stopped trying. Almost a year went by. Recently, around my birthday in August, I decided to give writing a try again. No inspiration hit me. I wanted to try since it usually gives me peace. The words kept flowing and flowing. I started taking a journal to work with me. I’d write while on hikes. And, I was finally able to finish a book I’d been trying to complete for a year.

Sent the final draft and all the images over to my publisher and editor for comments. This cover may change depending on their feedback.

I got a bit too caught up in my books not selling, in my marketing not working. I love writing and world-building, designing the cover and maps. Laying out a book is fun. I like the publishing process. It’s also relaxing to create stories in my head when I can’t break open a journal or computer to write. So, I’m focusing on that for now. I probably won’t do much marketing outside of posting on Instagram and Pinterest, and here of course. I’ll probably streamline my social media marketing to just those 2. By some miracle, despite being fairly inactive on Pinterest, my profile now gets 2 million views a month.

Knitting

I started my yarn hobby with latch hooking. I was the typical bookworm bullied kid who made friends with the librarian cause I had no one else. She taught me latch hooking. That led to trying crochet and then knitting.

I only make blankets and shawls. I’ve never been interested in creating anything else. The act of knitting is relaxing. Although, I recently came across crochet animals. I may try that out.

Hiking and Photography

I never stopped photography like I did writing. No, that’s a lie. I did but for a shorter period. It’s so relaxing to get lost in capturing a scene, trying to find unique ways of photographing subjects. Hiking has become essential now. I go to the mountain and walk through my park. Either way, I need to be alone in nature, just me and my camera.

Fortunately, NY has the Metro-North train which takes me to some good trails. At $30 for a round trip ticket, it’s not a cheap trip but it’s cheaper than gas.

Some none art related things I’m doing:

I brought an essential oil diffuser to help me sleep at night. Lavender, cherry blossom and eucalyptus are my favorite scents so far. Eucalyptus is also great for allergies, at least for me. This may not work for everyone but Youtube has 10-hour relaxing sound videos. Since I pay for premium, I don’t get ads. Every night, I’ll sleep to the sounds of rain or something nerdy like Zelda or Studio Ghibli music.Singing songs in my head often calms me down. My favorite anime, Bleach, is back. So, I have Number One playing on loop. Reading/listening to books. I’m currently switching between listening to The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher and reading The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates. Junji Ito’s The Liminal Zone is next up. Watching cozy Youtube videos or anime. Or, playing a relaxing video game. I’ve started spending hours scrolling through TikTok. Sometimes it’s the only time of the day that I laugh but I do have to cut myself off. I could literally waste my entire evening watching TikTok videos. This may be a Northeast thing, but my grocery store sells spiced apple cider drink mix. Drinking hot cider before bed is so soothing.

All these things don’t remove the stress, they give me some relief. They’re temporary fixes since, for the moment, I can’t do much about the root causes. When I feel my heart rate increase, singing in my head brings it back down. Writing stories or planning my next hiking trip are good distractions from the mess. Editing photos or reading are good ways to calm down before or after a stressful day.

How do you deal with stress?

9 Years as an Indie Fantasy Author- What I’ve Learned

I started my indie fantasy author journey in 2013. I layout books myself, design the maps and covers and upload them to sites like Amazon, KDP, Smashwords, IngramSpark and Lulu. But, I also work with a small press publisher for things like ISBNs, editing, promotion and getting into bookstores.

I’ve been writing for longer than 9 years. I usually say about 27 or 28 years mostly because I don’t remember my first story. Technically, Chains of the Sciell was my first novel-length book. I called it other titles over the years but I kept rewriting and rewriting it. For some reason, I couldn’t let that story go.

Some author friend and I are getting together to talk about our writing journey. Check out those awesome posts at the end for more inspiration.

I’d be lying if I said my journey has been fun but I don’t regret it.

Being an indie fantasy author could change your relationship with writing

I started writing because I had stories in my head that I needed to get out. As I got older, it became therapy, a way of expressing things like loneliness. When I started publishing, it was easy to get focused on sales. If a book didn’t do well then I’m like, why bother. I don’t really enjoy writing the way I used to but it’s a part of me. I’ve tried giving up but the stories never stop coming. I actually have trouble sleeping if I go too long without writing. Maybe one day, I’ll connect with that love again.

This journey opened the door to other creative passions

Many, many years ago before I released my first book, I attended a digital publishing conference. If you follow this blog, you’ve probably heard this story. There, I won a year’s subscription to Adobe Creative Suite. I’d been aware of it but I never dabbled in design. But I was like, “I have Adobe Creative Suite, it would be a waste not to use it.” Never thought I’d fall in love with cover design, fantasy mapmaking, video editing or book formatting.

Or photography, which is leading me down another rabbit hole.

None of my art started like this. The first couple of maps, photos and book covers were terrible. But, that’s how you grow. Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Being an indie author means you wear a lot of hate. You may hate some of them. But, you may also find a new passion.

Write to Market?

Books would always talk about writing for your audience. I used to hate coming across that. It’s my book. I can write what I want. It’s your story. But, if you want other people to buy your book, read it and review it favorably, you need to do or not do certain things. For instance, you can’t just slap any cover on your story. People should be able to look at your book and know it’s fantasy.

Also, you’ve probably read things in books that you didn’t like. I don’t enjoy head-hopping and hate love triangles. I skip scenes that go on too long and don’t seem to advance the plot. If a story opens with an infodump, I’ll usually skip that section or just drop the book altogether.

If you want to sell books, you have to balance what you want to write and what readers will enjoy. If you still want to put certain unpopular things in a story, then understand readers may not like it and they’ll talk about it in reviews.

Most fantasy stories take place in a medieval setting. I don’t want to write that and it makes marketing and promotion a little difficult. A medieval setting is not required but it’s expected unless you’re writing urban fantasy or steampunk.

IngramSpark, Lulu, KDP or Smashwords?

Currently, I use Smashwords and Amazon KDP for ebooks. I like Smashwords cause it distributes my book to most major retailers at no cost. There’s some fuzziness about whether or not Smashwords distributes to Amazon. It didn’t when I first started unless you sold a certain number of books.

I released The Sciell and Chains of the Sciell ebooks through Bookbaby. They formatted my books and distribute them to online retailers, even ones I’ve never heard of. I stopped using them because you can only make minor changes, like fixing grammar issues, after you publish. I can’t add newer books to the “Other Titles” page, for instance. Can’t change any images, including the cover.

On the paperback/ hardback side, both Lulu and IngramSpark print quality books. But with Lulu, it can take 6-8 weeks for your book to show up on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The last book I published through them had some issues with global distribution. Nothing I did. But, they had to resubmit the book which meant waiting another 6-8 weeks. In 9 years, I’ve never had to wait that long for a book to get distributed. 4 days was probably the longest.

On the other hand, IngramSpark is expensive. It’s about $50 just to publish one book. And, you can’t order proofs. You have to publish your book and then order a copy to see how it looks in print. If you find any issues, which I did, you have to pay to update it.

I’ll probably stick with IngramSpark for books but use Lulu for other things. I released a calendar through Lulu and I’m working on journals.

The Industry is Always Changing

I’m gonna sound old but a lot of the writing and world-building tools available now did not exist when I started. Most authors were creating book covers in MS Paint (don’t do that). Stock images were trash back then. If you wanted to make a map, you’d use Photoshop or some alternative. CreateSpace is now just Amazon KDP. You now have to pay to give your book away through Goodreads. YA dominates the genre. It’s been difficult to find places that review/ promote adult fantasy books from unknown authors. Self-publishing still has a bit of a stigma but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be.

This constant change can be a bit annoying. What worked before may not work again. But certain tools like Inkarnate have made world building easier. Wonder what indie publishing will look like in another 9 years.

What have you learned on your writing journey? Do you have any questions? Comment below. Then, visit other awesome authors sharing how they’ve grown as a writer over the years.

Julie Gorges- 3 Ways Writing Made Me a Better Person

Sandra Bennett- What I Have Learnt As A Writer That Can Also Help you

Rosie Russell- Summer Blog Hop, What I’ve Learned As A Writer

6 Questions to Answer When Creating a Fantasy Town

Creating a fantasy town doesn’t always mean several structures together in one location. I’ve created towns in one building, underground or a ship. I love that about fantasy. It’s fun, and a bit challenging, experimenting with different types of communities. Despite the kind of town you’re creating, there are 6 key things you need to keep in mind.

For a more detailed guide check out World Building Template: Creating A Fictional World.

What’s on Your Fall Bucket List?

I used to look forward to Fall. I still do, kinda. If you follow this blog or my Instagram account, you know I got into infrared photography. It works best in the summer when leaves are green. Now, I won’t be able to capture those fantasy landscapes. At least not as much as I used to.

But, autumn colors are magical. Hiking through a fall-covered forest is like stepping into another world. And it is October. The Month of Horror. Got some things to get excited bout.

Infrared Photography in Fall

Even though all the tips say infrared photography works best in summer, I obviously need to see for myself. On top of that, there are evergreens. I still have plenty of experimenting to do. I’ll still be doing infrared photography even if it’s not summer.

Halloween Maps

In the post Creating Fictional World Maps with Inkarnate, I talked about my new adventure in map-making. Inkarnate has a fairly broad definition of maps. In honor of The Month of Horror, I’ve been working on spooking maps. Here’s my current WIP:

Fall Book Release

Since Halloween is coming up, this month I’ll be releasing Book 3 of my Other Investigator Series: The Cursed Society. Kiran and En have started their own investigation business in the most haunted city in the country, Massort. Before they take on any clients, they need to banish the dangerous entities haunting their new home base.

More Hiking Trips (Hopefully)

This year I had planned on hiking the Adirondack Mountains during peak autumn season. That’s unlikely to happen. Money issues. But I can take my regular hiking trips in the Hudson Highland State Park. NY is gorgeous during the fall.

That’s what going on with me. Happy October! Do you have any fall plans?

Creating Fictional World Maps with Inkarnate

Since I started publishing, I’ve been creating my fictional world maps in Photoshop. There were alternative apps but I don’t think they were as good. I can’t believe I’ve been publishing for 8 years. Things have changed so much. I sound super old.

A lot of the tools I used are no longer available or they cost way more. Back when I released The Sciell, you could run a Goodreads giveaway for your print books for free. It was a good way to get your book on people’s shelves. Now, you have to pay over $100 for it.

Anyway, writing Fantasy MapMaking Software for Authors, had me sampling different apps for creating fictional world maps. I finally got a chance to use Inkarnate Pro and I’m in love. I made the below map for my upcoming book The Cursed Society: Book 3 of The Other Investigator series. I added the frame in Photoshop. I also brightened the colors a bit.

I decided to try out Inkarnate because I had a vision for Massort and knew it would be annoying to do in Photoshop. On top of that, any file I create in an Adobe app eats up hard drive space just by being open. I’m working on an online course and lose about 3 GB of space just by opening the video file to edit it. This map isn’t done yet. I’ve gotten some good advice on a few things to add like a harbor and scale.

Inkarnate Pro vs. Photoshop

Will Inkarnate replace Photoshop altogether for mapmaking? Probably not. But I’ll do most of the designing in Inkarnate then export it into Photoshop to add the finishing touches.

With Photoshop, it’s always a pain to get those realistic jagged edges. Land texture and color was another nightmare. I would spend so much time trying to get the land and forest a shade of green I didn’t hate. Inkarnate made both pretty painless. I love how easy it is to mix colors and get a more realistic look.

I also love the different kinds of maps you can make.

Here’s my next WIP.

In Book 4 of The Merging Worlds series, some characters are wandering through Jael’s massive underground tunnels. I don’t think I’ll be putting the final version in the book. I’ve mostly been having fun seeing what I can make with Inkarnate. This is an experiment to see if I could make a portion of the Jael underground.

Just to give you an idea of the variety of things you can make, here’s another WIP for Halloween.

I’m paying $25/year to make these maps. Inkarnate has a free version but it’s way too limited for my liking. And with the pro version, you can use your creations for commercial purposes. If you’re going to use Inkarnate, you should have the mapmaking basics down. Similar to Photoshop, this app gives you a lot of tools and it doesn’t hold your hand. You’re still making a map from scratch. You just have more tools at your disposal.

Vote in the Fine Art America Billboard Contest

Somehow, Sundays have become photo days. I didn’t add it to my calendar. I need to, though. At some point every Sunday, I’ll make my rounds to DeviantArt, Behance, and Fine Art America. I’ll check out notifications, upload new photos and interact with the community. While checking in to one profile, I discovered the Fine Art America Billboard Contest. Here’s some info on it:

Twenty lucky winners will have their artwork featured on billboards throughout the United States!

Each billboard will be at least 24 feet wide by 12 feet tall and will prominently feature the winning image, the title of the image, and the artist’s name or preferred social media handle.

The billboards will be positioned in various cities throughout the United States and will remain visible for at least one month, each, during the fall and winter of 2021.

Fine Art America

Sounds pretty cool. What could it hurt to add some of my photos to the mix?

I need your help. Please take a moment and vote for one of the photos below for the Fine Art America Billboard Contest. No pressure. If you don’t want to vote, I understand. I’d really appreciate any votes. You only need to choose one photo. Thanks so much!

Vote for Otherworldly Park Goose Stretching Its Wings. Vote Now! Vote for Hawaii Ocean Waves at Sunrise

If you’re on Fine Art America and haven’t submitted your photos, check out the contest. Entry is free. It doesn’t hurt to try. Even if you don’t win, you’ll get exposure.

Hiking Guide: Best Dog Breeds for Hikers (Infographic)

Since I’ve started hiking, I’ve been wanting a furry buddy to walk the trails with me. But, not all dogs are made for trekking up mountains and through thick forests. What are the best dog breeds for hikers?

I’m looking for dog number 2. Oreo, my Maltese/Terrier mix, used to go on long walks with me but she’s now 13. When she was younger, each trip for her was like a new experience, even if she’d been there hundreds of times. I’d get energized just watching how excited she became.

Since she’s small, white and fluffy, I was surprised she enjoyed the outdoors so much. For some reason, I had assumed Oreo would hate getting dirty. But she’s a walking champ. I often go out during NY snowstorms to take photos. I’d bundle up Oreo and bring her with me. She’d have a blast. It’s the Terrier in her.

In preparation for my second dog, I’m doing some research. Here are the best dog breeds for hikers.

Oreo is about 20 lbs. Ideally, I’d like a dog larger than that. Between 30 and 50 lbs. I’d feel a bit more secure solo hiking with a medium-sized dog. But, I’m finding that most apartments and rentable houses don’t allow for medium-large dogs. Also, I’ve been watching videos of hikers tackling the Adirondacks. It looks like certain parts of the trail would be difficult for dogs. One hiker had to pick up their dog. Would be kinda difficult for me to pick up a 30+ lb dog. I might have to go small again.

Remember, your work doesn’t end just because you got a good dog breed for hiking. You still have to buy the right gear and train them for the trail. But those are separate posts.

Check out these sites for more hiking dogs and more info about why certain breeds are better suited for long hikes.

15 Small Dogs Breeds That Make Great Hiking Buddies

Hiking With Dogs: 10 Breeds That Make Great Trail Partners

15 Best Dogs for Hiking and Climbing

7 best small breed active dogs

10 best small dog breeds to take hiking this summer