Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan is published by William Morrow. It tells the story of my adventures with Atticus M. Finch, a little dog of some distinction. You can also find our column in the NorthCountry News.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Little Giant

Sometimes we take things for granted. I know I do. Last winter when Atticus and I were joined by Tom Jones on a 23-mile Bonds Traverse that covered four peaks, we were slammed by a surprising snow storm. At times the winds were so loud we couldn't hear each other and the snow was so blinding we could barely see and we were at least 11 miles from the nearest road. It was by far the most challenging of our winter hikes and took about 15 hours. After that hike I had a whole new appreciation for what we had done, how we had worked together, and especially for this little dog. In posting a trip report on an on-line hiking forum a member emailed me back that she looked forward to some day meeting the "Little Giant". Then this summer, while flipping through a magazine I came upon this advertisement and I thought, "I already do". But I wasn't talking about giants but one Little Giant. It makes one think if this little dog could do all this, imagine what we could do if we put our minds to it. Imagine if we really did set out to change the world...well, maybe not the entire world, but our own little corner of it, how much better everything would be.

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