One of the reasons often given for banning dogs from trails is that they somehow spoil the beauty of the wilderness. While we will always cherish those journeys into areas seemingly touched by nothing other than the hand of nature there are also many times that the interest of a hike is heightened by the intrusion of man - to a firetower or bridge or historic ruin. These are often dog-friendly pursuits and we will highlight some of the trails that feature the Hand of Man in this occasional blog…