One of my all time favorite things to do, is to go hiking. If I get to go hiking in the mountains, that’s even better.
And if I get to take my furry hiking buddy with me, then life is just about perfect. Whenever I go on a longer hike, I make sure that I take my hiking poles, my camera, I wear my hiking boots and pack a snack for both me and my buddy.
Heidi is pretty much the only one of the three dogs that I take on longer hikes anymore. Charlie, the golden retriever, is 10 years old now and has arthritis and hip problems. Abby is partially blind and is going deaf. She has a high prey instinct and if she saw a squirrel and got loose, she’d be gone. She doesn’t hear well enough for me to be able to call her back. Heidi’s only problem is she is small and her short little legs have a hard time crawling over all the obstacles!
She is persistent and is good at figuring things out. “When the going gets tough, she gets going!”
She’s happy as long as she is with me and gets a snack every once in awhile!
Occasionally, she calls “rest time” which is good as I have a tendency to not stop often enough for breaks. She signals “rest time” when she lays down in her “froggy legs position” and won’t budge.
And sometimes, the going is just too tough for her short little legs. Then she enjoys a chewy bone or some freeze-dried meat while she hitches a ride in her doggy backpack carrier.
It’s not long before she is rested and ready to go again, especially when we get to enjoy views like this together.
While Heidi likes a snack of freeze dried meat or a long chew on her bone for a snack, I like my home made trail-mix. I used to buy a pre-made snack, but they’re pricey and they usually have some ingredients that I don’t really want. The ingredients for my trail-mix are still expensive, but not as much as the pre-made, plus it’s packed with protein and a little bit of sweetness!
The ingredients I use are yogurt covered almonds, almonds, dried cranberries, pistachios, sunflower seeds, walnuts, dark chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds and cashews. Sometimes, I vary the combinations with other dried fruits and nuts.
All the nuts are raw, without any salt and buy them from my favorite organic food coop. I dump everything in a big bowl
and then mix them together.
I store the mixture in an airtight, glass container.
Then I grab a hand-full and pack it into a baggie whenever I’m headed out for a long hike (or even for a snack when I watch a good movie). It’s bursting with protein to fill you up and give you energy to make it through those long mountain climbs!
- 1/2 cup yogurt covered almonds
- 1 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup cashews
- Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
- Experiment with adding other ingredients to suit your taste. Vary the dried fruit you choose. Add banana chips. Try adding dry roasted salted peanuts.
