Shoes to Views
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Our Lab Otis and I got to hike alone Saturday. We were planning to hike Sunday, but our friend and co-owner wanted to give him some vaccinations and an eye exam then, so Saturday morning we were off early. As usual he slept comfortably in the back of the car while I drove. When we arrived at the Glencliff trailhead about eight, there was one person waiting for a group from the Boston AMC chapter. He said another group had just left a few minutes earlier. There were a lot of cars in the lot, so I knew there would be people on the trail. It took me a few minutes to get my gear on while Otis tried to make friends.
Pretty soon we were on the trail. We started on bare ground, but it wasn’t long before there was a dusting of snow.
Sure enough, we caught up to a large group before long. They were carrying quite a bit of gear, so I asked whether they were staying out for a few days. They said no, their hike was part of the AMC winter hiking series, so they were carrying full winter gear, except for snowshoes and crampons. The hike leader, taking up the rear asked whether I wanted to play through, but I said I’d be happy to bring up the rear as long as they didn’t mind that Otis would take up his usual place behind the lead hiker. That was OK, and I followed along. Otis was usually in sight, but the group was about 15 or more people, so I often couldn’t see him. At the next rest stop people went each direction for a private moment, and I figured Otis was with the woman who went ahead. She came back, but Otis wasn’t with her. My first thoughts were….. YAAAAAHHH, WHERE IS OTIS??
I excused myself and hiked ahead as fast as I could. There were quite a few tracks in the snow, and I could occasionally see paw prints, so I was starting to feel a little better. I was still wondering how I was going to explain to our friend and co-owner Sue why he wasn’t there for his exam and that I lost her champion show dog on Mount Moosilauke. I met a hiker coming downhill and asked whether he’d seen a lab with an orange collar. He said yes, he’d seen him with another large hiking group about two minutes ahead. I kept my breathless pace and soon was in sight of the last hiker in this group. When I caught up, I asked whether they’d been joined by a four legged hiker. The answer was yes, but we couldn’t see to the front of this group and they didn’t think he was still with them. We got a message to the front of the line, and sure enough they had a goofy lab with them up front. I called him, but he wasn’t going to relinquish his place, so I waited for a short break went ahead and rejoined him. While I was talking to the people, they noted that the man I’d seen going downhill had tried to bring Otis with him to see if he could find me, but Otis wasn’t having any of that. He hadn’t reached the summit, so he sure wasn’t going down!
I decided to move on ahead of this group too, so I could keep a closer eye on Otis for the rest of the day. Soon enough we were breaking out of the trees and I had to put on wind gear. I met a young couple on their way down and they said it was pretty windy. We broke out of the trees and were at the summit in a few minutes. We didn’t stay long because there was already rime forming on Otis’ fur. He was happy to stay close to me now, and had an exciting moment when we met another dog finishing his climb up.
We met the first of the AMC groups just when they were putting on their wind gear. Otis greeted all his new friends on the way by. We also met the young couple we’d seen before, and Otis got some turkey. He likes friends with food best of all. We also met the two other AMC groups on the way down. Otis made a point of saying hello to all his new friends.
I wore microspikes for part of the descent, but it really wasn’t too slippery at all. Otis didn’t need any traction, and he had a grand time making all the new friends.
We were both a little sore that night, because we haven’t done any hikes over five miles in a month. He recovered first.
Pretty soon we were on the trail. We started on bare ground, but it wasn’t long before there was a dusting of snow.
Sure enough, we caught up to a large group before long. They were carrying quite a bit of gear, so I asked whether they were staying out for a few days. They said no, their hike was part of the AMC winter hiking series, so they were carrying full winter gear, except for snowshoes and crampons. The hike leader, taking up the rear asked whether I wanted to play through, but I said I’d be happy to bring up the rear as long as they didn’t mind that Otis would take up his usual place behind the lead hiker. That was OK, and I followed along. Otis was usually in sight, but the group was about 15 or more people, so I often couldn’t see him. At the next rest stop people went each direction for a private moment, and I figured Otis was with the woman who went ahead. She came back, but Otis wasn’t with her. My first thoughts were….. YAAAAAHHH, WHERE IS OTIS??
I excused myself and hiked ahead as fast as I could. There were quite a few tracks in the snow, and I could occasionally see paw prints, so I was starting to feel a little better. I was still wondering how I was going to explain to our friend and co-owner Sue why he wasn’t there for his exam and that I lost her champion show dog on Mount Moosilauke. I met a hiker coming downhill and asked whether he’d seen a lab with an orange collar. He said yes, he’d seen him with another large hiking group about two minutes ahead. I kept my breathless pace and soon was in sight of the last hiker in this group. When I caught up, I asked whether they’d been joined by a four legged hiker. The answer was yes, but we couldn’t see to the front of this group and they didn’t think he was still with them. We got a message to the front of the line, and sure enough they had a goofy lab with them up front. I called him, but he wasn’t going to relinquish his place, so I waited for a short break went ahead and rejoined him. While I was talking to the people, they noted that the man I’d seen going downhill had tried to bring Otis with him to see if he could find me, but Otis wasn’t having any of that. He hadn’t reached the summit, so he sure wasn’t going down!I decided to move on ahead of this group too, so I could keep a closer eye on Otis for the rest of the day. Soon enough we were breaking out of the trees and I had to put on wind gear. I met a young couple on their way down and they said it was pretty windy. We broke out of the trees and were at the summit in a few minutes. We didn’t stay long because there was already rime forming on Otis’ fur. He was happy to stay close to me now, and had an exciting moment when we met another dog finishing his climb up.
We met the first of the AMC groups just when they were putting on their wind gear. Otis greeted all his new friends on the way by. We also met the young couple we’d seen before, and Otis got some turkey. He likes friends with food best of all. We also met the two other AMC groups on the way down. Otis made a point of saying hello to all his new friends.
I wore microspikes for part of the descent, but it really wasn’t too slippery at all. Otis didn’t need any traction, and he had a grand time making all the new friends.
We were both a little sore that night, because we haven’t done any hikes over five miles in a month. He recovered first.
