Friday, February 10, 2012

Climbing a Mountain with a Dog....

From July 2011
Last July Dinka and I were riding along one day in the mountains, with no particular destination, when it occurred to me that I had not climbed a mountain in a long time. And also, because of my switch to wearing regular shoes for biking, it occurred to me that those same shoes would allow me to get off my bike and climb said mountain. So we did...

From July 2011


From July 2011
Dinka was game, ready to go. Her 12 lbs barely moved the precarious scree rocks that I fought for dear life to balance on.

From July 2011


From July 2011
Dinka was also pretty impressed with snow in the middle of Summer. Taking a snow bath, snow bights and a snow slide.

From July 2011
It's a wonder the mountain is still there. It was falling to pieces! Not a rock in sight would stay put.

From July 2011
Right about here Dinka's altimeter kicked in. She began to shake, and would not move, up or down. She does this during drives over mountain passes in the truck too. At about 11,000 ft she starts shaking and yawning and sometimes throws up??? So there I was about 500 ft from the summit stuck with a dog that wouldn't move. I pondered carrying her up, but then realized the view wouldn't be any better up above, and that I really could care less about bagging a peak. Sooo, I snatched up my girl and started carrying her down.

From July 2011
And thunder boomed over there, and to the south, not helping Dinka's anxiety.

From July 2011
Anyone see an elevator off of this thing?

From July 2011
Yep, sliding down that snow field with a dog in one arm was about the dumbest thing I've ever done. The abrupt stop at the end caused Dinka to reassess needing to be carried and she once again started walking.

From July 2011


From July 2011


From July 2011
It's reeeel purrty up there...

From July 2011


From July 2011
We hit the trail back down. I was extremely happy to be using my shoes for pedaling and Dinka was really glad to NOT BE ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN!

From July 2011

1 comment:

  1. The photography on your blog is fantastic. Looking forward to more!

    ReplyDelete