On 2/11 Saturday evening, near the Pond, Duke, one the world's best crag dogs, was struck and killed by a vehicle on the freeway. Thankfully, he did not suffer. He is survived by his parents, Nick Bujak and Jamee Stark-Riemer, as well as large groups of us from the climbing community who will never forget him!

I love you guys...at this point that's all I can say. I miss him like crazy and am still in disbelief.

This was more then a dog...to us he was a friend.

I'm very sorry.

Sorry about your loss. Do you have a photo of Duke you could post?

Here's a couple of MY favorites!

Duke climbs harder than you do! Submitted By: Alex "Tojo" Kray on Feb 13, 2012

Duke: "I don't know about this..." lol Submitted By: Alex "Tojo" Kray on Feb 13, 2012

it's ok nick! Submitted By: Alex "Tojo" Kray on Feb 13, 2012

I never knew Duke but I am sorry for your loss. Looks like he has a great family and had lots of fun while he was here.

<3

I'm sorry for your loss. The passing of a beloved companion is always hard.

Sorry for you loss...

We love and miss you, Duke! Such a great pooch :(

so sorry for your loss..

Hey guys thank you for the support. If I did not have all of you to help me through this it would have been much more difficult. This was a terrible thing that happened to Jamee and I. This was our child. I did not know what to do with him after I picked him up off the side of the road and started driving back to Glendale and then turned around to go to our fave climbing area. At this point I am wondering if the obvious grave like stone pile might somehow affect access. I thought this was public land but it may not be. Honestly I think if things are already tense (I don't think we have any issues with access so far?) it may begin discussion and disagreement. I would not want that to happen. At this point I think I will for now take the collar down. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas on what to do or could get me in touch with the rancher so I could apologize and ask for permission then please get in touch with me at 3472057667 or nbujak@yahoo.com or through Facebook. Jamee and I are planning on heading that way on Wednesday. I think I will be camping out there on the weekend company would be appreciated.

Hi, Nicholas

I am sorry for your loss and I am glad to hear that he didn't suffer.
Duke was a great crag dog and was very lively and playful. His adventurous spirit will be missed.

I know we are not the best of acquaintances. But how you dealt with duke's death at the this area was not very well thought through and needs to be fixed. Since I know you haven't been going to this area for very long please let me inform you how this will create issues.

First is the access:
1) This area is private property and the land owner for now let's us use that area and we pick up after ourselves. Any kind of disturbance around that area aka "Large rock piles" will bring attention to the land owner even further.

Location?????
2) Where you buried your dog is the MAIN CAMP site where EVERYONE comes to camp and hangout for the weekend when climbing at this wonderful area. For you and many others we find this place special and like a second home. And should not be a place where we lay to rest our beloved pets. That is disrespectful of others peoples space when they spend time there. Not even 6feet back is an area where I camp and have camped for over 5years. At the very least, take him out of the camp site. And out of plain site. I don't think it's right for you to subject every single human being that comes and climbs here to be sleeping next to a grave. Not cool.

Now I am not here to yell at you and make you feel even more worse than you already do. But I am here to inform you that this situation needs to be taken care of. And next time have other people in mind when you do something like this that will have an affect on how other people spend there time there.

-Pat

To be completely honest, I don't think anyone who was in Nick's situation would have been thinking very logically at that point. Clearly you haven't lost anyone who meant as much to us as Duke did. I understand where property issues may or may not come into play, but so far you're the only one who has brought this up as an issue to us, and this is coming from multiple climbers throughout the US.

I may only be speaking for myself, but I sure as hell will not be digging up my dog and reliving his death all over again.

And not to sound like a bitch, but that message definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

Pat the reason I gave my email and phone number is so trolls like you could reach me directly. We have history and it irritates me to even hear your opinion. This post has been changed to get rid of the area name so please delete any reference to where he is buried. As for feeling uncomfortable the bigger issue may become that you should not be camping there cause it is private land and may cause access issues. Yes I agree maybe could have found a better spot.\. Cheers. You're a jerk and will always be a jerk.

First off I have lost pets that were like children to my wife and I.

Two of them are buried right out side of our fence.

No one wants to come off like a jerk. But seriously my first thought was did he really bury his dog on public land.

Honestly I do sympathize with the guy and no I wouldn't expect him to go and dig the dog up.

But maybe someone should at least put the area back to a more natural state.

I think the multiple climbers throughout the US don't know that Duke's site is IN THE MIDDLE OF WHERE EVERYONE CAMPS. Not off the trail by a pretty bush or over looking a nice vista but.....right in the middle of where everyone camps/eats/sleeps and goes to the bathroom.

Pat is most certainly not a troll.

I'm very sorry for your loss of a friend. But I completely agree with Pat's concerns over the location of the grave. It needs to be moved for more than just property reasons.

I hope you realize that if you or someone you know doesn't respectfully relocate the grave then you may be even more upset when you find that it has been moved for you. (this isn't to sound like a threat, I live in MA, just pointing out that this is a very real possibility).

I suspect that other people on this site are equally as upset as Pat by the location but are probably too polite to post it to this thread.

Again, sorry to hear about this sad news.

For the record, we have contacted the land owner and will take up the issue with him. For many people they have commented to me that knowing a dog was buried there, especially it being Duke, would in fact be comforting to them. I understand where you're coming from and we can make the site not so obvious, but if access is the issue, just wanted to make note that we're going through the appropriate channels to determine whether or not 'legally' we need to move him.

Thank you everyone for the kind words. Not exactly the reaction I expected to get/have after losing my dog less than 48 hours ago.

Hmmm?

Really sorry to hear about your dog. Really trying to not flame you here as I know how I would feel in a situation like this. I get along with dogs way better than most people.

With that being said; burying your dog in the middle of a public campsite and then advertising this fact to the world by posting this info along with pictures of yourself and your best buddy might not have been the best idea.

There is plenty of pubic land that nobody visits that would be a much better final resting place. I'd suggest an area AWAY from anyplace that sees anything but extremely rare use. I'd be worried that people would mess with the grave.

You may also want to check into the local laws regarding this sort of thing. I know that around here it is illegal to burying any pets on public land but they don't bother enforcing that rule as long as you pick an appropriate spot that doesn't interfere with other people enjoyment.

Condolences on your loss. Sometimes the weight of emotions can lead us to make rash decisions. I can easily see how in the moment this seemed like the right thing to do. Shitty situation all around. I wish you the best of luck.

It actually wasn't us who started this forum but thanks for your input.

It isn't public land, it is actually private land which is why we have contacted the land owners.

His body isn't just sitting at ground level, it is buried in a 4ft deep hole that took hours for 7 men to dig.

Also, I would much rather be camping in an area where a dog was buried deep in the ground, than an area where people are going to the bathroom...

But once again, we've contacted the land owners so if anyone has a right to tell us whether or not to move his body, it will be them.