Never plan, never never plan.

Keeping a blog requires planning.  I publish one,  breathe a sigh of relief and suddenly it’s  back to the drawing  board…what to talk about next?  It has been so  rewarding to see your  comments that  it makes me want to come up with a humdinger of a hook to keep you reading….although let’s face it there is nothing more interesting than yours truly.    Knowing someone in Hong Kong, or Indonesia  or Libya is reading about me, (yes, I can see you on my map)  well it  makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, although I prefer staying sleek to fuzzy.   (ha, says my owner, more likely makes the damn dog feel self important!)

Anyway, I had a big plan for this post.   It involved MEAT. That’s right MEAT.  However, that plan  has had to be scuttled for a few days until I can get out and do some interviewing.  Lying  on my soccer ball dog bed I came up with a fabulous idea.  Tales needed to be told  about the  hikes I’ve had up to Silver Lake where the fish swim along the shoreline.   It was a good idea but all my pictures of Silver Lake are gone. Cyberspace? Who knows.  The  blog was beginning to take shape  in my head and I was ready to let my creativity have free reign.  But with no pictures plans had to change.  So this week saw  two ideas and two plan changes.  From now on there will be no planning.  Once the computer is turned on it will be paws  full steam ahead….until I deliver.

Since we can’t go up to the top of Bridal Veil Falls and turn right to Silver Lake, I think we will go up and turn left and head to Ajax Peak.  I have actually hiked up Ajax several times  and even  walked  the ridge line at the top so the humans could scribble  their names in a  little booklet. This  proves they made it to the end.   My owner can get to the top but she can’t walk the ridgeline to get her name in the book – too bad.  I refuse to sign for her. Obviously everything is simpler for me, I simply mark my territory.

Just getting to Bridal Veil, where we like our hike to begin, is an adventure. The best mode of transport  is going by  truck because I get to ride in the back. Benj stole our Subaru  and ran off to hang out with  College, as I told you in another posting.  Friends have to  take us up in their vehicles now and  that has its benefits. Hiking gear rolls  around, everything smells like camping, and  my pal  is often  there (not as often  now  as he’s getting  older.)  Everyone is happy  except my owner who is in the front seat gripping the door handle and praying extra hard that no one will back  off the cliff, or fall over the edge. She has not lost control of her bladder yet but I know  this is one bet easily won.  Patience is a virtue.    She gets  totally freaked out and usually her friend, Jeanne, says, “Kathryn, this is not my first rodeo.”  This always confuses me because I think we’re going hiking then to a rodeo then hiking.  By the way I’m pretty sure Zack stole my red bear bell on this hike because I had it on in the car and it disappeared. It matched my collar and my leash; now I have to wear a yellow one which isn’t the same thing at all.  I bet he buried it in his yard 

You need to  know I do not fib…here I am  with my red bear bell which I absolutely loved.    Of course not every photo is from one hike…I’ve done Ajax a lot of times now and I like to show you the best photos, so allow me a little literary license, eh guys?  It is only fair.

  We are headed  to the top of the peak on the left hand side, Ajax Peak, almost 13,000’ up.  (3,960 metres) This photo makes me laugh because I took it during  Telluride’s Nothing Festival when lots of naked people rode their bikes up and down Main Street. That is a story for another time and place.  If you have really good  eyes  you will see a water fall in this photo  (1/3 of the way over directly in line with roofs on the right hand side of the photo)…that is Ingram Falls and  we walk up and over that and continue on to the Peak.  I told you this is hiking.  It is not for the faint of heart or the “I have to get back in an hour” hiker.  First you have to get up to the top of Bridal Veil Falls from the mine parking lot.  This  mile or two long  drive takes you  to the house ( upper left hand corner).  Right about now is when my owner is panicking and making God all sorts of crazy promises.   The first time we climbed Ajax Peak we parked at the mine and it took an extra  hour to get to the house at the top of Bridal Veil. We only did that once!  Most tourists only make it to the pretty view at the bottom of these  falls  as that is enough altitude for them for one day.  On a hot day this water and mist is appreciated.    On a cold day….not so much.  From the house the hike begins and it is  a long haul  but well worth it as the views of town down below  are great.   We always go early in the morning so as to be off the mountain by about 1:30 p.m. in case stormy weather arrives.   We spend a reasonable amount of time checking the sky.  I may only be a dog but I don’t like lightning up there either.  One trip  a mine dog joined us all the way up the mountain.  He was fun. 

I had to do this so you can get a sense of how high up we are as we look DOWN on Tomboy Road which leads to Tomboy Mine…on the OTHER side of the peak. So, to drive this point  home!  at the peak we can look over the other side….try that for vertigo!    Before we get  here though we need  to cross Ingram Falls and walk up and over Black Bear Pass – one of the most dangerous passes (to drive)  in all of Colorado.  Our family never  has and  never will come over this pass in a vehicle, although we have met many people, including friends, who enjoy this strange pass time.  We met an eight year old girl who drove a four wheeler over it this year.  This seemed a bit extreme.

    

The picture of the pass just doesn’t make it look deadly. But as they drive down over this slippery stair case of rock, drivers  then  have to make a 90 degree turn around a corner on a cliff.  

I like to insinuate myself into  group situations.  I got a lot of petting  here.  Plus, this photo shows you I now wear a yellow bear bell!  The little girl on the right is EIGHT!  Obviously this was mentioned further up but EIGHT….what are they thinking?

You can see people, slowly picking their way up the switchbacks so  they can say they made it to the top of Ajax Peak.  The next photo will give you a sense of the vastness of the hillside we are climbing.  It feels like it goes on forever. Obviously we are above tree line now.

Once we get to the top we have a snack.  Peanut M & M’s seem to be very popular up here.  I always have a little bit of kibble brought along because my energy  lags.   We drink some water, we check the sky for clouds, we rest about ten minutes  and then we start down.  Yes, we find it fun.  

Here’s a nice view of town I took when the Perretti’s visited from Texas. This was a day we couldn’t go too high…tons and tons of snow to traverse and it was June. We still had fun though.  Gosh I  take good photos for a dog.  I just don’t’ get enough credit around here for my abilities.

Because it absolutely drives my owner crazy, I like  to sit on the edge of a cliff to give her heart a bit of a jumpstart!  Works every time. 

See ya later.