Do they make crampons for dogs?

Since I'm still employed in Switzerland, I get the Swiss Holidays off at work even though I live in California. This has advantages and disadvantages. One of advantages is that on those Swiss Holidays almost nobody has the day off in the US and therefore, it's hardly ever crowded, neither on the roads nor in the mountains. If you go camping/backpacking/hiking on long weekends on a US Holiday, you typically have to make reservations several months in advance and will hardly ever be alone with whatever you do.
Ascension (Thursday) is one of these Swiss Holidays which is not observed in the US and together with my normal Friday off, it set the stage for a camping/skiing/hiking trip in the Sonora Pass area, where I had a few things planned, depending on the actual snow situation. In order to check out how much snow was left and what would be possible, I decided to drive up to Sonora Pass, get to the top of Mount Finiski and check out my options for the next day.

1. With plenty of snow left, I wanted to try to get up to Night Cap Peak with my skis from north, starting at the Chipmunk Flat at an altitude of about 8000ft. Even though I didn't find any descriptions for this approach for the winter in the www, judging from the topo maps and reading some descriptions for hikes along this route during the summer, I thought it would be feasible for me.
2. With not enough snow for Night Cap Peak but closer to Sonora pass, the second choice was to go to Leavitt Peak via Blue Canyon, starting at almost 9000 ft. I have been to Leavitt Peak last year, but this route seemed even more interesting with almost no flat parts.
3. For the case where there wouldn't be enough snow left at all, I wanted to climb Night Cap Peak from South in a tour from the Kennedy Meadows via East Ridge and down in the South Flank

The short story
There wasn't enough snow for 1. but plenty for 2. So I tried that but had to turn around, because of something I haven't thought about when taking a dog on a ski tour. If it's steep and icy early in the morning during spring ski tours, crampons (either for skis or booths) are often a must. I had them with me, but the dog didn't...


The long story
Day 1
I like the drive from my hometown to Sonora Pass. Even though it takes me around 3 hours. It's not your typical busy Cali-Highway trip. A lot of the drive is along the scenic and famous California State Route 49 also known as the Gold Country Highway. 49 connects many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and follows the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The road from Sonora to the pass is also quite interesting not just because you continuously gain altitude. In some place it's very steep, exceeding 8% for most of the traverse, and up to 26% grades in some locations! At Sonora Pass you're almost at an altitude of 3000m and back in winter at this time of the year.

I park my car on one of the turnouts near the pass and put on my skis. Mt. Finiski is not really an "official mountain" on the US topo maps. However, it has a benchmark on top and seems to have quite a history: "Each year, since 1956, friends have gathered for a 'Ski Finis' near Sonora Pass, Calif., at a north-facing slope (Mt. Finiski) to hold slalom races." (click)

The north facing slope is gained from the pass and the very last stretch to the top is an easy hike along the rock on the east and south side. It's only about 300ft of an altitude gain from the pass and nothing difficult. The view from up there is quite nice though. Since it's pretty early and I feel like some more skiing, I follow the ridge which eventually would lead to Leavitt Peak for a little bit. At the first "bigger bump" I stop, make a break and then ski back down to the pass.

On the drive up to the pass I saw what I needed to see: there is not enough snow on the north side of Night Cap Peak in order to go up there with skis, but plenty to do my tour to Leavitt Peak from the Sonora Pass Road, so my plans for the next day are all set. I drive back down to Kennedy Meadows, get a campsite, set up my tent for the night and eat some lunch.

In the afternoon I decide to walk along the river Stanislaus Middle Fork past the Kennedy Meadow Resort. Since I'm here and won't climb Night Cap Peak on the next day, I might as well check out the beginning of the east ridge approach. After the obvious water tank, I take a left and follow a clear but unmarked path to a nice lookout northwest of P. 7265. Later I walk back down and follow the river upstream to the big open Meadow, a wonderful place.


Day 2
The night is rather calm, I get plenty of sleep and I actually wake up before I set my alarm and feel well rested. After making some coffee and packing up my tent, I drive to the starting point of my ski tour on Highway 108 near Blue Canyon. I arrive there right before sunrise. I put on my skis and off we go, following the Blue Canyon River. After the clear night the snow is hard and icy and I'm glad I put the crampons on already. However, my dog is having a very hard time following me under these conditions and he already slipped once and slid down the mountain for about 100ft. I guess his claws aren't good enough to get a good grip on the hard snow. It is interesting though to observe how he realizes that this is not easy and he tries to avoid the steep snow and chooses the snow free patches where possible instead. After less than a mile into the canyon we come to a section which is probably around 35° steep or a little more. I could do it without a problem, but for the dog it's impossible. I don't want him to slide down the hill here because below us is a rather scary looking drop. So what? He's a little too heavy for me to carry him and I didn't bring a rope to secure him. The only reasonable option is to turn around and not go up here. Oh well, I guess lesson learned: If I need crampons for a steep/hard slope, the dog can probably not climb that slope!

After getting back to the car I think about other options for the rest of the day. It is too late now to climb Night Cap Peak, but on the map I saw Relief Reservoir an interesting looking lake upstream from the Kennedy Meadows. So why not walk along the pack trail and check out the Emigrant Wilderness a little bit. No sooner said than done! It's an easy but very scenic hike up there, especially with the river being "loaded with snow-melt".

The area of around the lake is everything but wilderness though, but everywhere you look and step there are remains and artifacts of the gold mining era. From heavy machinery, steel ropes, barrels, tools, nails, rusty (food) cans to broken glass - a huge waste dump from more than a century ago. I cross the damn and climb up a little bit on the other side, but then decide to return and walk back to the Kennedy Meadows the way I came up. Even though not planned it was a nice stroll in the Emigrant Wilderness.

To answer the question in my title: As far as I can tell, there are no crampons for dogs on the market. Maybe I'll make some for my next spring snow ski tour :-)