I really should pre-write these things if I'm going to do something exhausting on a given day. Granted, I've gotten a lot more proficient at hiking up that mountain than I was a few years ago, but even so, I'm pretty wiped out now. I was feeling all proud of myself for how quickly I went up and down, and how flexible I was over the bumps and around the curves. It gave me hope that my world is expanding beyond the confines of the rigidity that I live in out of sheer necessity. But what goes up must come down, and now I'm physically, mentally, and emotionally wrung out. If I could just shut it all down and go to sleep I would. If only it were that simple. Something things I can't just turn off, and most of the effects of today are several of them.
It was a beautiful day for an outing, I will grant that. Long before we opened the gate to the back yard and told the dogs to get in the truck, they were bouncing around, like they knew what we were packing for. Don't let anyone convince you that dogs are not smart. They knew ahead of time what was up, and they knew where we were headed while we were on our way there. Once parked, they knew exactly where to go. They led me to where I needed to be. I was bringing up the rear, sometimes literally, when I had to pick up the crossbar of Murray's wheels and help him over several obstacles on the way up. He and I have been getting along much better since he got sick several weeks ago, and I helped him recover. He stayed close to me for much of the trip in and out, and he groomed me a little while we were on the mountain, so that wild animals weren't alerted by my stinky human smell. (I'm guessing he didn't calculate how his particular variety of parfum de chien might read to those wild animals.) On the way back down, we stopped for a while, and came back to the car with French fries. I fed some to Murray through the side window of the truck, and it was like inserting dollar bills into a vending machine. (Not really sure I got what I wanted out of the machine, though...)
Bump had the best day ever. By halfway up the canyon, Murray and Elsa were lying down, chilling out for the ride. Bump went back and forth to the side windows, sticking his whole head out and letting every single molecule of scent roll through his skull. He never stopped, the whole day. He loves the wind in his face on the highway, and he keeps a blissful expression like he feels like he is flying. Well, almost always blissful. Bring out a camera and he either gets wiggly or he goes full-on doofus.
There was actual work to be done today, not just doggie fun and games. Somewhere in the last month, the tent and the teepee were pulled apart by a bear. We debated on what kind of animal could have been responsible for all of the damage, until we found damning evidence in the remnants of the insect screen of the tent. It also made me think the bear was left handed, but I'm willing to hold judgement on that one. I'd really rather not find out conclusively. In all the trips up there, I've seen very few actual animals live and in the flesh... er... fur. Last time I saw some bunnies and a deer. This time I saw the deer that crossed in front of us on the way down (and so did Bump!), but I didn't catch the split-second glimpse of the unknown predator that Mr S-P saw. He thinks it was a mountain lion disappearing under a guard rail, but when he pulled over to try to look for it out the car window, we saw nothing.
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