Today, Tim and I tried to go on a hike and we were not very successful. I found a hike that looked like fun in one of our hiking books, and the photograph looked like it was a hike through a little forest. It was close to where we went biking in Martinez, CA last weekend, so we figured it would be fun. I'd been wanting to take the dog on a hike all week, so we packed up, grabbed a nalgene of water, and headed out the door with Navi. The drive was almost exactly the same as our drive to our bike loop last Sunday, so we knew how to get there. We pulled into the park, parked our car, grabbed our things, and found the trailhead. Navi was exploring around excitedly, and we start hiking up...and up...and up...and soon there was no more forest. It was just the tops of big, grassy, rolling hills with the hot summer sun blazing down on us.
The sky was very blue. While the scenery wasn't exactly ugly, it was very uniform and lacked variety. I realized that I'd left the nalgene of water in the car, and puppy was starting to get hot. She would find one little patch of shade ahead, sit in it and watch us until we got close, and then stare at us as we walked by. Then, when we got too far ahead, she would dash ahead to find the next spot of shade, and do the same thing in her new spot. We started to get worried, and we had only really hiked 1.5 miles or so. After a while, we decided that the hike wasn't that much fun since there wasn't anything to see, and it was too hot for the dog. We turned around...and the cloth of Tim's flip flop snaps. He couldn't walk in his flip flop easily, but he also couldn't walk barefoot because the sand was very hot. After he slowly shuffles the next 50 feet, I decide that something needs to change. I suggest either tying his flip flop to his foot with Navi's leash, or tying it to his foot with a plastic bag. He doesn't like either idea, so I rummaged through my backpack and found a spare pair of socks. So, the flip flops came off, the socks went on, and he started hiking in socks! It worked, except for when he stepped on small spiky things, which he did once or twice. We started heading back to the car, and we came to a bunch of trails that we thought were going in the right direction, but weren't sure. They weren't marked on our map, but there were lots of trees along the path, which meant shade. We decided to take the risk, and we hiked down this steep path. Navi loved the shade, and started walking through all these plants with burrs. She ended up having at least a thousand burrs stuck on her. She would try to chew them out periodically while waiting for us to catch up. As a result, a lot of her fur was wet from her chewing on it. We finally got back to the car, and the last 50 feet was just covered in spiky things. Poor Tim. He slowly limped his way across while I went to get the nalgene of water from the car. I drank a little, Tim didn't want any, and then Navi drank the entire remaining amount of water. What a thirsty, hot dog! Tim and I spent a few minutes pulling spiky remnants out of his feet, and then we set off home in the car. The dog was so hot that we turned the air conditioning on, and blasted her with it. If the car was stopped at a red light or a stop sign, Navi's panting would shake the car. She was like a steam train! She eventually cooled off, but...lesson to me not to forget the water again! I spent the rest of the day combing burrs out of Navi's fur.
The sky was very blue. While the scenery wasn't exactly ugly, it was very uniform and lacked variety. I realized that I'd left the nalgene of water in the car, and puppy was starting to get hot. She would find one little patch of shade ahead, sit in it and watch us until we got close, and then stare at us as we walked by. Then, when we got too far ahead, she would dash ahead to find the next spot of shade, and do the same thing in her new spot. We started to get worried, and we had only really hiked 1.5 miles or so. After a while, we decided that the hike wasn't that much fun since there wasn't anything to see, and it was too hot for the dog. We turned around...and the cloth of Tim's flip flop snaps. He couldn't walk in his flip flop easily, but he also couldn't walk barefoot because the sand was very hot. After he slowly shuffles the next 50 feet, I decide that something needs to change. I suggest either tying his flip flop to his foot with Navi's leash, or tying it to his foot with a plastic bag. He doesn't like either idea, so I rummaged through my backpack and found a spare pair of socks. So, the flip flops came off, the socks went on, and he started hiking in socks! It worked, except for when he stepped on small spiky things, which he did once or twice. We started heading back to the car, and we came to a bunch of trails that we thought were going in the right direction, but weren't sure. They weren't marked on our map, but there were lots of trees along the path, which meant shade. We decided to take the risk, and we hiked down this steep path. Navi loved the shade, and started walking through all these plants with burrs. She ended up having at least a thousand burrs stuck on her. She would try to chew them out periodically while waiting for us to catch up. As a result, a lot of her fur was wet from her chewing on it. We finally got back to the car, and the last 50 feet was just covered in spiky things. Poor Tim. He slowly limped his way across while I went to get the nalgene of water from the car. I drank a little, Tim didn't want any, and then Navi drank the entire remaining amount of water. What a thirsty, hot dog! Tim and I spent a few minutes pulling spiky remnants out of his feet, and then we set off home in the car. The dog was so hot that we turned the air conditioning on, and blasted her with it. If the car was stopped at a red light or a stop sign, Navi's panting would shake the car. She was like a steam train! She eventually cooled off, but...lesson to me not to forget the water again! I spent the rest of the day combing burrs out of Navi's fur.
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