Sisters salutes...

Kathleen and Jack of Sisters wrote:

On Monday, August 22 at approximately 7:30 p.m. two of our dogs, J and Teeter, got on the scent of something and ended up behind the high school. There was a sighting at 8:30 p.m. and they were running at top speed chasing something. The had collars and tags, just not their GPS collars.

Our tireless search began.

We put an ad on Craigslist as suggested by the Sheriff’s Department.

Cat from Pet Evacuation Team (PET) reached out right away and posted their flyer on the Deschutes County Lost and Found Facebook page and directed us to the Hahns, who are the Sisters reps for PET, and they searched for the dogs.

Karen Wadell reached out early on as well, and she and her husband, Dale, went out sometimes twice a day to search for them.

Our neighbors in the Edgington Road district searched and prayed.

We heard there were a lot of people that live behind the high school searching for them.

Furry Friends reached out and encouraged us to go to The Nugget, where a classified ad was put together.A dear friend suggested that we find a way to connect with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers and network with them.

After a long day searching on Saturday, August 27, Kathleen came across a hiker (Hobbs) in the Bi-Mart parking lot and asked how we could connect with them.

He took a picture of the flyer and posted it on the PCT navigation app to alert hikers on the trail.

When Kathleen was headed home, she saw Hobbs with a sign that he needed a ride to the observatory.

She picked him up and took him up there, where they placed a flyer at the bathrooms.

He headed up the trail.

A few hours behind him were four hikers that had been hiking frequently with Hobbs. Cookie had brought a pizza from Bend for his group, Unit, Trench, and Bam. Bam went to throw out the pizza box in the garbage can at the bathrooms and saw the flyer. They headed out on the trail toward the Big Lake Youth Camp’s PCT hut. The next morning, they stopped for a break at the Santiam Pass/Big Lake junction. That is when the dogs came toward them from south bound.

Bam said he started “freaking out and couldn’t believe” what he was seeing.

The rest of his group thought he was confused about their location and he explained that he thought they were the dogs on the flyer that he had seen.

The dogs warmed up to the group after a couple barks.

The hikers found a shoestring and a thin rope to tie to them.

Unit called us and told us she had them.

We were in disbelief.

She convinced us they were with them, and they would be going to the PCT hut at Big Lake.

We left immediately and reunited with our dogs and the hikers.

It was a tearful reunion for all involved, including Les, the camp director, and Kasondra, the employee that was documenting the hikers’ story and getting photos prior to our arrival.

The hikers gave the dogs trail names.

J has been named ShoeLace and Teeter has been named HB/Homeward Bound after the movie.

They have lost quite a bit of weight and have some raw spots on their legs; otherwise they are in good shape for being out in the woods for six days and nights.

We want to thank everyone involved for their assistance posting our flyer in their businesses and for the continued support. Not only did we get our dogs safely home, we also added five wonderful PCT souls to our family who we will eternally hold dear to our hearts. Thank you with all of our hearts.

Mandee Seeley wrote:

Thank you to everyone who came out on August 20 to clean up our national forest. The small but mighty crew of nine adults and two kids removed nearly 6,000 pounds (three tons) of trash in only three hours!