Battening down the hatches

Yesterday was the most fun I've had in quite a while! A new friend and I went for a hike on the Boulder River Trail. We figured there'd be some snow, in fact we did break trail for a while, but it wasn't impossible. Slow going, however, because there were stretches where every step you fell through to your thighs. At least it deterred any other people from joining us :)

I parked the car a ways from the trailhead because the snow looked a little iffy. We probably could have made it except for the fact that a guy had tried to take his front wheel drive truck thing and got stuck in the mud. I will proudly state for the record that Stewart and I pushed an SUV from the ditch. Oh yeah, still got it in me ;)

Gazza was awesome. She loved it and was a ball of energy! I took her pack off a ways in because it made her too wide in some places so that she couldn't jump from footprint to footprint. It was kind of cute, actually, seeing a dog print in the heel print of our boots. She finally realized that she's better off moving alongside of our trail because she doesn't fall in as often. She busted a couple moves, not unlike a goat, that surprised me.







This last photo is her with my sock duct taped on. I don't know why she looks so pathetic because she was still wagging her tail. Her foot started bleeding near the end (ice crystals, I think), so I put it on her to prevent any further cuts. Booties may be in order next time. Stewart gave me one of his socks to wear (thanks!). Putting on somebody else's sweaty sock might be one of the grosser things I've done lately, but as long as it doesn't turn black and fall off, we'll call it good :)

Not so good, however, is that I appear to have the beginnings of the plague. I feel awful. I think the local bugs are all in cahoots to get me sick every year for my birthday :/