My First Hike

On the eve of my 5th-month birthday I finally broke into that silly laptop Mom and Dad keep staring at. Who needs opposable thumbs! Here's my first blog:

Dad took me on my first hike today and I loved it. Instead of the usual nap I take after my 6am breakfast, we packed up the car and set off for some place called Little Mt. Si.

After a tough first part (it was sort of steep) the trail leveled out and we traveled through the lush green forests. I met a few other dogs and people on the way up and they all told me how cute I was and how well trained I was (they really meant how well trained Dad is).

It was a lot of fun sniffing all sorts of new things and jumping over logs and rocks and branches. Speaking of branches, it would take me weeks to chew up all the sticks I saw up there. I'll try that next time.

We kept stopping to look over cliffs and something called "vistas". The view was great, but I prefer to stick my nose to the ground and sniff for... whatever comes by! The top of the mountain did have a great view of Big Mt. Si and the valley. Quite nice. I also got a few more treats for doing my usual tricks for a few people who had gathered to chat with Dad. Dad forgot the water bowl, so he made me drink out of a Ziplock bag. Nice job big guy. I gave him a stern look. I think he got it.

On the way down, we met lots of other dogs. A big Newfoundland and a couple of labs were fun to meet and greet. I kept getting ahead of myself on the downhills and damn near chocked myself a few times on that damn pinch collar. I wish I could get off that silly leash and just run down. I don't think Dad could keep up. I drank a boatload of water when we got to the bottom and wished I could have jumped in the river to cool off.

Good thing we got to the trail early. When we got to the parking lot, there was a lineup of cars to take our spot! I can't wait to go hiking again!