It sure does rain a lot in Washington. At home, if the weather report says that there’s a 70% probability that it’s going to rain, then it will definitely rain with 70% intensity. If the forecast is for a 10% chance of rain, then it is definitely going to rain, but at 10% intensity. But here in Washington it’s kind of hard to tell the difference between when it’s raining or not because sometimes it rains and you don’t get wet, or it rains when the sun is out, or you get wet when it’s not raining. And it stops and starts again and again, so you have all the weathers in just a few hours… and then the loop starts over.
The trail we found was one of the most beautiful trails that we’ve ever run. Mom is the kind of person who rarely leaves positive reviews, but this trail was so great that it inspired Mom to leave a Six Star review on Alltrails, which is like the human version of leaving pee mail on your walk. I told her that she should start her review with “Wowie zowie,” but I guess that’s an expression that is very professional for dogs to say, but sounds different to humans.
So, wowie zowie, I can’t wait to tell you about it! We climbed up about 1500 feet in about 3 miles, which is a very fun gradient for humans because they can run it without wishing for death, and a fun gradient for dogs because they don’t have to spend the whole time waiting for their human. This trail had all of the beauties in it: pretty trees with green fuzz on them, exciting rocks doing big rock things, streams falling over rocks, wooden bridges over the water going over the rocks, and at the top a beautiful grey lake with no boats or docks or other human stuff in it. When we got to the lake, it started raining a little bit, even though the sun was also out. The sun was shining through the cloud in stripes, and the rain sparkled in the air and made the lake even more sparkly, and on the other side of the lake there was a mountain covered in dark grey trees that smelled like green. Even Mom, who gets sick when she sees clouds, was charmed with the place. Only The Witch that lived in Mom’s phone said that it was nothing special, and only captured 3/4 of the beauty for us.
We liked this place so much that we decided to stay for an extra night (Mom was also charmed by the herds of picnic tables and the fact that the campgrounds had showers). Our home for the night is a camp ground the size of a camp city that even had its own hiking trail. Mom was wearing flip flops, and I was wearing my city leash, but we decided to explore the camp trail anyway because, “how difficult could a hiking trail around a campground really be?” I mean, most of the people that we saw staying in the camp city were old people. But even this trail was steep and had big rocks for us to step over, and Mom regretted wearing flip flops and said that these camping types must be tough old coots.
Then I heard a sound in the woods below us. I look down and saw… A DEER-COW! I tried to pull Mom down the hill after it, but maybe because she was wearing flip-flops she pulled me back and wouldn’t chase the deer-cow with me. As I watched, another deer-cow stepped out from behind a bush. I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer, and barked enthusiastically at the deer-cows, “I’m Oscar and I’d be coming to getcha, except I can’t have responsibility on this trail!” That sure startled them, and they started to jog away… which is when about a dozen more deer-cows came out of the brush to follow them. Of all the things we’ve missed on this trip, I think that missing my chance to chase the deer-cows will be my biggest regret, but Mom says that there will be plenty of deer-cows in Montana, and I might get another chance. She just requests that if it happens, that I please not get kicked in the head. I guess if my head gets stove in, then it will really ruin all the pictures she’s been taking…
-Oscar the Pooch
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