I have spent night's in crippling humidity and heat, merciless sub zero temps, cold and drenched in water, muggy and bug ridden nights, but the worst night I ever spent was in 1976 on the Appalachian Trail - we pulled in to a lean-to in the evening and settled in for the night. Later that evening a couple showed with a dog. Today dogs are ubiquitous, but in the 1970's (thankfully) it was fairly rare to see a hiker/backpacker with a dog. Anyway, they proceeded to tie the dog up on a short leash at the front of the lean-to. Sometime in the middle of the night barking brought me out of a deep sleep from the commotion. Then the smell. Skunk. Yup, the dog decided to tangle with a skunk, which unloaded its full arsenal right into the lean-to. I choked the remainder of the night under the merciless tyranny of that scent. I never could get all the odor out of my down bag.
I will never be a fan of dogs in the backcountry...
Had the folks took the dog in with them like they should have, it would have been a non issue. People ain't to bright most times.
