Ashley Bartley via AP
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A golden retriever named Baylor, one of a pair known to roam the Stowe Pinnacle Trail as unofficial hiking guides, has died.
Baylor, one of the “Pinnacle dogs,” died at age 12, the Burlington Free Press reported Thursday after owner Perry Schafer, whose family lives near the trail, confirmed it in a Facebook post.
Hikers on the trail knew Sampson and Baylor and frequently took photos of them, especially while lounging at the trail’s summit.
Austin Davis, a resident of Winooski, said he was hiking the trail Saturday with a group when they came across one of the dogs, instead of the usual two. Davis said Sampson joined them on the way to the top, calling the dogs “local legends,” but wondered why the second golden didn’t appear.
“They say all dogs go to heaven, however, I am not sure heaven can offer anything more to Baylor than he already had in Stowe,” Davis wrote in an email.
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