Rules of Engagement
A tale of love, loss and love again in the Adirondack High Peaks.
It’s normal to cry when your own dog dies—maybe even when your sister’s dog, with whom you’ve spent a lot of time, dies. But on Friday, September 27, 2019, I found myself at home on the phone with a coworker explaining that I had left work because “A *sob* dog *sob* I *sob* know *sob* died *sob*.”
I met Jackson only a few times, but I know his owner, Jay, pretty well. A force in the canine hiking world—yes, that’s a thing—Jackson rose to local Instagram fame through his pursuit of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks four, five, six times over. (I was fortunate enough to join Jackson and Jay, a Saratogian, on Jackson’s 250th Adirondack summit hike back in 2017.) But while I didn’t spend much time with Jackson during his 13 years on this earth, I did have an understanding of the deep bond that existed between man and man’s best friend, as anyone who heard Jay talk about Jackson in person or in Instagram captions would have. “I could go on forever about how proud I am of Jackson, or how many memories we’ve created together,” Jay wrote in a 2017 post, “but for now I just want to thank you for being the best damn friend I could ever ask for.”
Those posts became all the more emotional when Jackson was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2019. “While we have been blessed with over 12 years of amazing adventures together, we have also been blessed by the friends we’ve met along the way,” Jay wrote in the caption of a series of photos of Jackson standing atop Whiteface Mountain in June 2019. “To all of you I thank you for the endless love and respect you’ve always shown my warrior, my wolf, my best friend. His days of crushing mountains may be behind him, but I am confident that his strength will carry him on 3 legs into the next chapter of his life.”
It was after that announcement that a woman—a cancer survivor—reached out to Jay on Instagram to see if Jackson would join her for her 46er finish on Whiteface. Not one to deprive a fan of the chance to meet Jackson, Jay obliged, and met the hiking party at the summit with Jackson, who was, by that point, a “tri-paw,” in tow. (They drove up the mountain rather than hiking it.) It was on that day that Jay and Jackson met Allison and Crosby.
Jay and Allison immediately hit it off—“It was literally love at first sight,” Jay says. For the next few months the humans and dogs went on tri-paw-friendly adventures, until Jackson’s health started to deteriorate. “Some things go together, like mountains & valleys, mac & cheese, moon & stars…Jackson & Jay,” Alli wrote on a post on September 26, 2019. “Thank you to Jay who shared @jacksonsjourneys with the world. Proving positivity, loyalty, love and an epic bond can influence thousands of humans to smile, explore and adopt!” (If you’re not already crying, you can check out @jacksonsjourneys’ post from the same day at the bottom of this newsletter—I personally can’t possibly bear to revisit that.)
Two years after Jackson’s death, almost to the day, Allison found herself atop Whiteface (the place she first met Jackson and Jay) for a picnic with friends. As the memories flooded back, she did a double take. Jay had shown up, and was standing in the spot they met, wearing the exact outfit he had been wearing on that day in 2019. “What are you doing here?!” Allison asked. “I met you here—how could you come here without me?” Jay responded. Next thing she knew, Jay was on one knee, Jackson’s ashes in one hand, ring in the other. Needless to say, she said yes.
“Jackson took care of me for 13 years,” Jay told me when I congratulated him on the engagement. “He knew he was on his way out, so I accredit him to being the matchmaker. Damn I miss him.”
—Natalie
