I was ready to head out the door when
We stopped for Hiking Breakfast at our usual spot, and headed out the Gorge. The day was cloudy, as expected. Then it was rainy, which wasn’t so much. The farther we drove, the more rainy it became. I wore my usual hiking garb; high-SPF shirt, jeans, hiking boots. I’d brought a sweatshirt, but wasn’t really prepared for rain (Note: I’m not saying I wasn’t expecting any precipitation. For most people, all water falling from the sky qualifies as “rain.” For Oregonians, there are several levels of mist, sprinkle and drizzle that don’t even count. So That’s how Oregonians can look out a window at drops falling from the sky and say “Good! It’s not raining!”). But even as Oregonians, we decided we might enjoy the hiking more if we weren’t so wet, so we stopped in Cascade Locks for Third Breakfast. So we got to the trailhead around 9:00.
Click on the images to see a larger version....
|
These pictures only capture a few moments of the entire time; we spent almost eight hours together before they dropped me off at home. We talked about all sorts of things, I shared some Triple-Chocolate Cookies for leader treats, they repeatedly offered to let me have L the dog, and... and... and. So much more. But there’s no way to cover all of the moments, all of the conversation, all of the times I looked at the woods and felt happy to be out in the wilderness with friends. It was great!
Once home, I thought I’d work on the newsletter, but it turned out to be more important that I sleep. So I took a nap. Which was pretty great, too.
ETA: I was reminded that grrlpup had an unfortunate encounter with a wasp on the way back. The vespid stung her ankle through her sock, and the mild-mannered grrlpup promptly beat it to death with L’s retractable leash. I think she gave it an extra whack or two, for good measure. (Don't make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.) And L wandered toward some Bad Dog behavior, due to his willful interest in wildlife, horses and rolling in Nasty Things. But he wasn’t my dog doing all that (despite Sanguinity and Grrlpup's efforts to get me to take him), so it wasn’t so very upsetting or embarrassing. For me, anyway.