August 7, 2008

Horton is a dog known as the king of the mountain at Quandary Peak because of his daily summits with hikers on the 14,000-footer in Colorado. (Pet Pulse Photo by John Parker and Major King, Design by Mike Lloyd)

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. –- For two legged adventurers, climbing mountains topping 14,000 feet can take an entire day round trip, but a 7-year-old English Labrador retriever, named Horton, makes that trip several times a day.

Colorado is home to 54 mountains of at least 14,000 feet, or some three miles up. Climbers and hikers call them “14ers,” and a trip to the summit on any one of them is quite an accomplishment. Horton has been hiking to the summit on Quandary Peak ever since he was a few months old.

“Horton knows this trail better than anybody,” said David Pfau, Horton’s owner and a local professional photographer. “It’s really a Quandary thing. He’s in love with this mountain.”

Since Horton knows the mountain so well, search and rescue crews often stop at the Pfau home to ask for his help. While untrained for such work, Horton is credited with saving at least three lives, including a man who found himself lost in a snowstorm.

“The one man who came to our door to tell us that Horton saved his life said he couldn’t see where he was going,” said Emily Pfau, David’s wife. “He told us he could see his feet, and Horton’s tail, and so he just followed Horton the whole way down.”

The Pfau family lives in a house very near the main trail head, and Pfau regularly takes Horton with him on photography expeditions. Horton’s overwhelming love of the outdoors often drives him to leave the family behind and strike out on his own, looking for new hiking companions.

“If he can hook up with someone who he judges is a mountaineer, he hooks up with them,” Pfau said.

No matter how much Horton the Quandary Dog loves to be on the trail, he’s picky about whom he hikes with. Horton has reached the peak of Quandary more than 1,500 times, and he likes to go with folks that can keep up.

It is hard to believe now, but Horton was the runt of his litter. Still, the Pfaus knew he would become their dog because he walked right up to them. Horton was treated for cancer two years ago, but is healthy today.

On a recent Sunday morning, Horton met two hikers from Laramie, Wyoming at the trail head at 5:30 a.m. Scott Koch and Zach Tyrrell first thought Horton belonged to another group of hikers, and a few yards up the trail he would turn back.

When Horton stayed by their side from the bottom all the way to the top, they knew their travel companion had done this many times before.

“As we kept going, we started running into people who knew him,” Tyrrell said. “‘Hey that’s Horton,’ they would say. He just stayed with us. It was great.”

During winter and spring, when there’s plenty of snow on the ground, Horton likes to go up with the skiers and snowboarders, because he loves to play in the snow.

Anyone who would make the climb in such harsh conditions is certainly not a novice. The weather can change very quickly on such high mountains. One minute the sun is shining, the next it’s snowing, even in summer.

It is easy to become lost and disoriented, but not so in Horton’s case.
“He always comes home,” Emily said.

For more on Horton’s hiking adventures, visit 14ers.com, and type Horton in the search area to read entries from hikers who have climbed with him.

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