If you enjoy hiking around Teneriffe Falls near North Bend, Washington, you may know all about the hiking buddy that resides in those hills.

His name is Smokey, and he’s a very good boy.

An encounter

Scott Brown has lived in the Seattle area since 2012 and back in 2018, he told ABC News that he encountered the pup in the empty parking lot at the start of the trailhead. Brown is involved with a non-profit, Recovery beyond Paradigm, that helps train hikers as part of their recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

He didn’t think much of it at first since there’s a neighborhood across the street. Maybe he wandered over or beat his owner down the trail. Except Smokey followed him.

“Well, I guess he’s coming with us,” he reportedly joked to the group as they hiked up to see the falls.

Guide dog

Smokey led them all the way to the top, as if to say, “Hey, look at this, isn’t this great?”

“He would sit and wait for us as we took photos and then continue on when we did,” Brown said.

Someone in the group saw a tag around the dog’s neck and decided to check it in case he needed some help finding his owners. He found an ID tag carrying two messages.

The front of the tag read: “Hi, I’m Smokey. I live nearby so please don’t take me. I like to follow hikers sometimes.” While the back said: “Don’t worry, I’ll go home when I get tired. My people love me a lot. Thanks for being nice!”

Not a joke

Brown was convinced the hiker was joking about all this.

“So I took a look,” Brown told ABC, “and, sure enough, coolest thing ever.”

It turns out Smokey really was the local tour guide – and a very friendly and protective one at that. How charming!

We’d certainly be tempted to get more exercise in if we could count on a furry friend to guide us up.

Going down

Smokey was kind enough to guide the whole group back down again as well. He even hung out in the parking lot as they changed out of their gear.

Then the dog gave them a bark, as if to say goodbye, and went on their way. Tour over, apparently.

Brown found this all so delightful that he took to Facebook to tell everyone about the group’s encounter and post a few photos to the Washington Hikers and Climbers page.

“Does anybody else know this dog? He met us at the old Tenerife trailhead and followed us (actually lead us) all the way to the falls. Then he sat there as we took our photos, barking at me as I dangerously crossed the snowy bank to the other side. Then he escorted us all the way down. When we went in for a look at his collar, it said this. Haha. What a cool lil buddy to join our hike this morning.

I imagine many of you know Smokey the same way I met him yea? Sometimes we make the coolest friends on the trail.”

Scroll down below for the live Facebook video Brown took during the hike.

And be sure to click here more about the Recovery beyond Paradigm program, which encourages people to overcome addiction by encouraging a healthy, active lifestyle.

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Source: Facebook – Scott Brown, Facebook – Washington Hikers and Climbers, ABC News, Recovery beyond Paradigm