Wednesday we did the Lost Man Hike again, this time Shelley was free so she came with us. We also decided to take Sophie along, which we had not done on any of our hikes up to this point. Our concern was that some of the hikes we've done were pretty steep and rocky, so we weren't sure how she would do. We have a front carrier for her that straps her to my chest, where she can ride if she's too tired to walk, but even with this, we were concerned that it might be risky, trying to scrabble over big rocks with her on my chest. But, since we had done this hike before and knew the terrain, we decided to give it a shot. Early on in this hike there's a single log bridge to cross a fast moving creek, so I put her in the carrier until we got past this point. After that, I took her out, strapped her leash to my belt and let her go ahead of me. Since I was the last one in line, she was raring to go, to try to catch up to Trisha! But she loved it and, though it took her a little time to figure out how to negotiate the rocky path, she began to get more confident finding her best way through. She really seemed to have fun and enjoy it. At home when we've been walking in the neighborhood she usually gets tired after a couple of miles and just plops down on the ground, needing to be carried. So this was one other reason why we took the carrier, assuming she would not be able to make it the whole way--wrong!! She hiked the whole rest of the way, except for when I had to put her in the carrier to cross the single log bridge on the way back--nearly 4 miles, not counting the elevation gain/loss factor. So we were really surprised, but happy that she liked it.
It had been a week since we had done this hike, and what a difference a week makes! So much of the snow had melted since our first time on this trail. Several places where there had been snow all the way across the trail were completely melted, and this one patch where Davi had played before was just a small patch. But he and Sophie still loved playing in this little patch of snow, and of course scooping up mouthfuls of snow to hydrate themselves. When we made it up to Independence Lake, there was no snow or ice at all on the lake; when we had been there the week before it was half frozen over still--pretty amazing what a week of warming temps and sun can do. It was a pretty warm day, but we all enjoyed the sun, and had lunch sitting on some rocks near the lake. Sophie's little feet did get pretty dirty, coming through some of the muddy parts and on some of the crossings of the snowmelt runoff that were small, we just let her run through them, so of course she picked up some dirt after that. So I had to clean her up a bit when we got home, but it was fun to have her with us and I know she was happy to be along as well. That night, just about as soon as she ate her supper she just went straight to her sleeping crate without any encouragement!
Getting ready to cross the single log bridge--Davi, of course, chose to go right through the water!
Sophie getting a ride across the bridge!
Now she's down and ready to hike!
This bridge was wide enough for her to do it on her own.
Beautiful contrasting colors of wildflowers
This was the remains of the snow patch you can see in the pictures from our first Lost Man Hike where Davi played.
Sophie was not too sure at first, but after seeing how much fun Davi was having in the snow, she jumped right in!
Nature's corsage!!
Sophie straining to catch up with Trisha!
Here we are at Independence Lake--absolutely no snow or ice on the surface! For a contrast, scroll back to my post of our first Lost Man Hike and you can see the difference in the lake.
Lunch on the rocks!
Looking up at the saddle, which the week before had been covered with snow
Heading back down
It had been a week since we had done this hike, and what a difference a week makes! So much of the snow had melted since our first time on this trail. Several places where there had been snow all the way across the trail were completely melted, and this one patch where Davi had played before was just a small patch. But he and Sophie still loved playing in this little patch of snow, and of course scooping up mouthfuls of snow to hydrate themselves. When we made it up to Independence Lake, there was no snow or ice at all on the lake; when we had been there the week before it was half frozen over still--pretty amazing what a week of warming temps and sun can do. It was a pretty warm day, but we all enjoyed the sun, and had lunch sitting on some rocks near the lake. Sophie's little feet did get pretty dirty, coming through some of the muddy parts and on some of the crossings of the snowmelt runoff that were small, we just let her run through them, so of course she picked up some dirt after that. So I had to clean her up a bit when we got home, but it was fun to have her with us and I know she was happy to be along as well. That night, just about as soon as she ate her supper she just went straight to her sleeping crate without any encouragement!
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