These dogs are outta this world!!!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Cosmic Canines: Racing, tours and , modeling?
The other day I was in the middle of the interpretive part of my tour when Matt came over and pulled me to the side.
“Abbie, we drew straws and I can’t explain everything right now, but you won.”
I looked at him puzzled waiting for him to tell me that I had to take some important Cruise Line people or a famous person for a tour next.
“I want you to get your 4 best dogs. The best looking, and it wouldn’t hurt if they were well socialized. You and handler Matt are going to take them up to the glacier for a photo shoot.”
“What? Are you kidding?” I asked trying to piece together all what was going on.
“I can’t explain, Sarah will tell you about it later. Just finish this part of your tour, and when you go to take the guest to the puppies I will take over. You have to hurry because you have to follow the bus down the hill.”
So I finished with my tour and walked over to my dog yard.
“Don’t tell me….Telesto, Comet, Quarky, and…and …..” Matt called out smiling with his arms spread.
“Close, “I smirked; he is really starting to know me as well as my dogs, ‘Telesto, Comet, Vega, and Leo.”
“Leo! Of course.”
In the rush of everything, getting changed into warm clothes to be on a glacier and loading up the dogs into Matt and Sarah’s truck I fell and cut my hand pretty bad on the rocks. But I was too excited to really feel any pain, I was excited to go for another helicopter ride and be on the glacier again.
I had assumed that we were to be doing a photo shoot for AIE, our company, but I couldn’t figure out why it would be with my dogs on the glacier. Why would they want a picture of “dirt dogs:” as we are called for a brochure for the glacier operation? Or why would they want a picture of dogs on a glacier for the ground operation?
As we drove down the hill, Sarah explained how we would be flying with Coastal Helicopters up to the Taku Glacier to do a photo shoot for Rolex. All of the glacier operations were shut down due to weather, so they had to take our dogs up to the Taku because it was the only accessible glacier right now, and even that was getting worse. They were running out of time both because of the weather and the budgeted time of the film crew. So we were to rush to catch the window up to the glacier.
How exciting!
We got to the Coastal Airport and it was immediately clear that this was a somewhat unorganized endeavor. But we packed into the helicopter anyways. The dogs loaded into a wooden kennel in the back seat and Matt and I in the seat next to it. With the production manager Adam in the front with the pilot.
I was nervous taking off, there are rumors that Coastal is the least safe heli-company in town and I kept hearing how the weather was going sour. But soon the scenery and the stories of our pilot’s exciting life took over. We flew over Juneau south bound over the Gastineau Channel then we turned east up the Taku Inlet. This is over the other side from the mountains that cup our dog camp in their green hands. I had long looked at the area in my Alaska Gazetteer Atlas and now I was flying over it in a helicopter. We cut up one of the valleys there were lakes and creeks. We approached a summit and flew only 20 feet over it. When we got over the other side the bottom dropped out quickly. It was amazing! Finally we reached the Taku Glacier. It curved down between the stony peaks in blue, grey, and white striations. Then we were over the white vastness of the ice field. Over to the left in a valley there was Linwood’s Camp. I pretended to throw a grenade over to it. Matt laughed.
We approached camp. It was tiny within the huge ice field. We could see one huge yellow base camp style dome tent. And then a smaller dome. There were many people wandering around.
When we landed we were greeted by Jason Harriman who is the manager of the 3rd glacier operation in town. He remembered me as the girl who would hitch-hike 4o miles to mush dogs at Jack Berry’s. I guess we had met before; he lives down near Jack’s in Homer. I apologized that I did not remember ever meeting him. After we unloaded the dogs and put them on a picket line. I was introduced to various French People who were working with the filming crew, and then to the outfitters, Beyond Alaska, who are from Juneau. I was shown around the tiny camp, including the food which was laid over 4 tables, with 2 chefs’s preparing everything from Crab to Salmon, Ceviche, oysters, fruits, and desserts, and all kind of other gourmet food. Matt’s eyes lit up.
“Help yourself to everything, “ Edjuard, our interpreter said.
So in about an hour we went from our daily routine to eating a gourmet meal prepared for us by personal chef on a glacier in the middle of no where with a bunch of Europeans, most of whom did not speak English, while my dogs were being models for Rolex. How surreal!
Jason explained to me what the photographer, who was a famous in the photo world, was trying to capture
They wanted the snow in front of a sled that was set up just in front of the camera completely undisturbed but somehow they wanted to the dogs to magically be set up in front of the sled, which was of course impossible. The hand model would be lifting his hand just above the handlebar of the sled and in the near foreground would be the dogs, and in the distance would be mountains. So basically it was as if the hand model had just stopped his dog team to check the time on his Rolex. Like any dog musher could ever or would ever afford a Rolex!
I tried to disturb the snow as little as possible as I set 2 dogs in harness in front in the camera’s view. The photographer waves his hands for me to move over one way, then the other. He had about 5 assistants that adjusted the camera at his commands, loaded the film, and various other tasks. Basically all the photographer did was call the shot and press the shutter. He kept explaining to the interpreter for what I should do who would call out in a think French accent.
“AH bee, de photographer vants you to make your dogs you know, bottoms turn laike dis!” He motioned an angle with his hands.
So I tried as best I could to arrange the dogs, who thought they were going for a run so they were jumping and barking excitedly.
The photographer looked in his camera for awhile and then called to the interpreter who called to me, “AH bee, de photographer sayz it iz too hard to take peecture when de dogs are jumping around so.”
So I told the dogs to quiet down. I got the other 2 dogs on the line. Then came a series of commands to move the dogs to the left, to the right, make them quiet, make them howl, turn that dog’s butt this way, turn this butt that way, make them look back, make them look forward, all called out first to the interpreter, then called out by him, “AH bee, do dis, do dat!”
I have to admit I have no idea if anyone else was impressed because no one spoke English, but I was pretty darn impressed by my dogs. They follow my command pretty well for a bunch of wild sled dogs. We shot picture for at least an hour; Matt was busy making his way around the buffet table, huge smile on his face.
Then the light went bad for the photo shoot. Suddenly everyone was like we have to pack up to go. Everyone had to be off the glacier by 8:45 or else they would have to stay for the night. Also the weather was getting bad so we had to catch a window out.
I helped myself to all the food, and then helped the outfitters pack. The first helicopter arrived, and of course the film crew left first. Then another, they were wondering who would be the next group to leave. I looked at my dogs on the picket line and then to the looming clouds.
I turned to the interpreter, “I’ve seen 8 Below. I don’t leave this glacier with out my dogs!”
Matt and Jason laughed but the interpreter looked at me like I was crazy. I had to explain to him about the movie.
We did actually get off the glacier, dogs and all. On the way home we flew over our Sheep Creek Dog Camp. The pilot wouldn’t drop us off even though it would be easier, and darn cool! If we landed by helicopter home after finished our international photo shoot.
It was worth it to fly into Juneau to see the sun breaking through the clouds over the Lynn Canal. I have to say I love this place! This summer keeps getting better and better. Live your dreams and everything will fall into place. The world will unfold a beautiful, wonderful, and exciting path.
By the way the Rolex Campaign is to be released in December in magazines worldwide.
The labyrinth before me is magical
It seems like every weekend my days off keep getting better and better. Juneau really is a magical place, with so many places to discover, things to do, and nice people to meet.
Last weekend Johnny and I took out his boat where Sheep Creek spills into the ocean. The chum salmon were jumping all around us. I mean 100’s of them. So we went out to enjoy the scenery of the beautiful Gastineau Straight and to see if Johnny could catch a salmon. He is a big time fly fisherman, like I mentioned before he was a fishing guide down in Wyoming. All he had was his fly rod and flies to catch trout, so even with the plentitude of fish he didn’t catch any. So to top off our unsuccessful but enjoyable evening we went to the Twisted Fish for dinner. Where of course I had Salmon for dinner.
I had promised to go out with the gang from Sheep Creek to the night life around downtown Juneau. Johnny opted out so I met them and we bar hopped and had basically a fun but silly night. Sean and Matt (my handler) were busy being boys trying to meet girls. While we girls either danced, met new people or tried to encourage girls to hang out with Matt and Sean. I had some interesting conversations. One with an Eskimo guy from Nome that lives in Juneau now. He taught me some Eskimo words, none of which I remember now, much to my dismay. I also talked to the same mushers from Linwood Fiedeler’s camp that I hung out with on a few weeks ago at their bonfire on the beach. I guess a couple of them will be running the Mt. Robert’s Tram Run which is this Saturday. Our camp has been running a few races. Since our run in the “Only Fool’s Run” everyone has kept running. 6 of us ran in a 10k last week. We are team Sheep Creek and we are making a name for ourselves around Juneau. Partially because of our strange cart-pulling performance, and partially because of our enthusiasm. It doesn’t hurt either that Sean and Matt H. place pretty well in the races too. Needless to say we have a vendetta against Linwood’s camp at this Mt Robert’s Race. They are going down!!!
I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am. I camped over on Douglas Island so I could get up in time for a 5k called the Governor’s Cup that would start at 9:00am downtown. Matt (my handler) and Sean were supposed to run in the race but I was the only one to show up. They had shown less self control the night before than I had. But I was still feeling a little “rough around the edges” being I had only had 3 hours of sleep before the race. Still I did well. I came in 2nd in my division, and had a pretty decent time. Now I am 2nd for the Empire Cup, which is a cumulative point contest that goes through out the summer. Goes to show that persistence pays, because I am not the fastest runner but I do try to go to every race, and I always try to do a little bit better. I had a nice “runner’s high” after the race, so I was excited to go get a coffee and meet up with everyone to enjoy the rest of the day. `
A few weeks ago I stopped at beautiful place 20 miles north of Juneau on my way to the end of the road. It is an old monastery called the Shrine of St. Theresa. It sits on a little peninsula that hangs out into the Lynn Canal just north of Auk Bay. It is a serene and spiritual place no matter what religion you claim, so I decided to take a bunch of us from camp there. Kym, Caellyn, Sean, Matt, Cosmos and I all took off in my big blue dog truck and headed up the road. I felt like a Hierophant, guiding everyone on a spiritual day camp. It was a beautiful day, it was overcast but the clouds added to the ethereal feel of the day. There is an old stoned church that sits on top of a knoll. You can see the ocean on three sides. It is surrounded by the 14 Stations of the Cross. So there are stone pillars scattered through out the moss covered Spruce forest. Each with a marble carving of an event in the resurrection of Christ. It is very well laid out, for example the station where they place Jesus in the tomb, is down in a hole, it is dark and low. Then the resurrection is up on top of a sunny hill and you can see the surrounding ocean.
Everyone separated and went off in quiet meditation. It was a wonderful afternoon. There are beautiful gardens everywhere. One is called the Columbarium. Every flower, rock and plant is specifically laid out to represent a bible verse and meaning.
The coolest part is a Labyrinth. A little clearing where paths are outlined with stones. The paths wind in and around themselves so that they form a cross inside of a circle. A labyrinth is different than a maze in that there are no choices in the path you take. You just follow one path to an ultimate goal. Which in this case is a large stone in the center. Everyone carries a small significant item and places it on the stone. It is a meditative exercise and as you can tell very metaphorical to life itself. I placed a Yukon Quest sticker on the rock in the middle, for that is my focus right now. Along with some feathers I had found during the day.
On the way back to town we all stopped at Auk Recreation Center. We walked to the end of Lena Point. There were some people out there snagging Chums. I showed everyone how to determine a Chum salmon from all of the other species. Thanks to all of my years in the fish industry. I decided I should really go get a fishing license and a pole so I can can up some salmon for the summer. It would be nice to have to eat and also to leave with people that I stay with as I travel around the Yukon and Alaska this winter.
We went back to town and I met back up with Johnny for coffee. (Yes again, I went from being a barista to not having coffee except on my day off so I am still doing well) We stopped by the music store so he could get more picks for his Ukulele he just bought. Johnny and two other girls on the glacier bought ukuleles and are going to start a ukulele “band.” they are nice because they are small and light so they can take them in the helicopters on the glacier and not worry about weight or size restrictions. So while we were there I found a Pan Flute. I had been wanting one for quite sometime now. I was so excited, but I didn’t have money, (I purposely put my money away so we can have a great winter this year and focus on racing not working.) So Johnny bought it for me and now I owe him. I also got a book by Pablo Coelho written in Spanish the weekend before which I am slowly trying to read. All in preparation in someday traveling to Peru and Chile. So maybe if I practice long enough they will let me be a member of the Ukulele Band.
I finished off the wonderful day off by going out for pizza with all of the glacier people that had been stranded down in Juneau due to weather. They were trying to get me to “upgrade” to working on the glacier. It s nice to be wanted but I am not sure it would in fact be upgrading. We have a pretty nice set up here in Sheep Creek. It nice to be able to do things like go for jog or pick berries. Things that are not possible when you are on a glacier. But I would make the sacrifice for my dogs, if someone would actually tell me that it is better for the dogs. No one can say, but still maybe one season I will send on the glacier just for the experience.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Happy Birthday America
We had a camp field trip last night. We all piled in the trucks and drove to the beach to watch the midnight 4th of July fireworks put on by the city of Juneau. From the beach you can see downtown Juneau and you can see up and down Douglas Island. Lining the beach there were numerous bonfires and fireworks were being shot up all over. Wow! What a display. They really put a lot of money into the state’s fireworks. It was so impressive. They even had fireworks that were shaped in the outline of a star! It was the perfect night for it. It finally cleared up after weeks of rain. It was pretty dark but there was still remnants of dusk with colors lining the horizon, and brush strokes of charcoal colored clouds hanging above. Up and down the channel you could here everyone yelling and howling. They really get into the 4th here in the Southeast. And the booms just echoed and rumbled rolling down the ridges of the mountains that soot up out of the water. And when it was over every boat, ship, siren and car horn went off. It was awesome!! Happy birthday America Southeast style!
I don’t know how exactly all of this started, but one night we were all sitting around talking about running races. We had an entry form for a race called, “Only Fools Run at Night.” It is a 5K (3.1 miles) race run around downtown Juneau at Midnight. They have a centipede category where racers can run as a team but they must be tied together in someway. Competitors are encouraged to dress up in costumes. So somehow running the race morphed into running the race as a centipede, which led to the idea of everyone dressing up as a dog and puling one of the carts around the course.
For the most part, nobody in camp ran regularly, so this would take some training on the part of the camp. We have a dry erase board in our kitchen which lists our dish duties (we all take turns doing the dishes) and things we need from town. Added to the list was a “running list.” everyday someone ran they would get a star next to their name, except Jonathon the cook, who got a Star of David next his name because he is Jewish.
The whole camp really got pumped and everyone really tried to get in shape for the race. I was really proud of our motivation and team spirit. We kind of wanted to do this to show up the glacier mushers, because they always giving us a hard time about how easy we have it and how we are in some way lesser for it. So everything was kept top secret. Everyone got involved except Dustin and Amanda, which actually worked out in the long run because then we had someone to take pictures of us. Kym, was designated the musher. Cosmos would dress up like a human with a shirt and a pair of shorts on. And Lily would ride in a baby seat in the cart.
The week before the rave we all made our costumes. We made ears and tails out of fake fur. Some of us had floppy ears, some pointy. Everyone was a little different just like the dogs. We had to make harnesses and go for test runs. We recruited Danny who is a “floater” between all of the AIE camps and Jacques Phillip, who is from the Skagway Glacier, but super cool , an athlete, and coincidently in Juneau the day of the race. Jacques is somewhat a famous musher and I thought it was funny that the first I met him he is sitting in our kitchen wearing a set of floppy ears.
Everyone added their own special touches to their costumes. For example I wore a dog collar and made a dog tag that was labeled, “Astro.”
A few hours before we decided on our line up, Imagine if it were really like that, with the dogs debating on who should be where. “Doggy” jokes were being thrown around like, “Don’t put Nicole next to Jonathon, she is in heat.” and, “ I think Danny is a fighter you might what to careful who you put him next to.”
The line up is as follows:
Lead: Matt Hayashida and Danny
Swing: Sarah and Sean
Team: Jacques and Caelynn
Team: Forrest
Team: Jonathon and Nicole
Wheel: Me and Matt, my handler, team Cosmic pulling the heavy load!
We drove into town and went to the start. We were quite the hit. Everyone is looking at us wondering if we were actually going to pull this 1 ton cart around down town Juneau. Of course we were jumping and bucking like a dog team. Barking and howling and really hamming it up. There were some other cool costumes there also, like the US, with 50 people each representing a state all tied together, complete with a fence running next to it labeled “Homeland Security.”
Cosmos really added to the whole thing, standing with his front paws and the bar, like a musher would and baking the whole way, like he was yelling commands to us.
The first part of the race was pretty flat but then started the hills. I have new respect for wheel dogs. It was a lot of work on Matt and I getting up that hill. Then there were the other 4 hills we would have to climb. Also we would have to pull the cart wide around the corners.
Of course what goes up also has to go down. Coming down those hills was very stressful in wheel. Especially when the driver has the nickname “drunk driver” because once she crashed the whole cart full of tourists into the embankment. When this happened my tourists were watching asked me, “Is that driver drunk?” Not to mention that the brakes frequently need work. Needless to say I was always looking over my shoulder when we were heading down hill.
I had also mad a soundtrack which we were blasting from a boom box on the cart. The mix included songs like, “The Theme from Rocky“, “Chariots of Fire“, “Who let the Dogs Out“, and “Giving the Dog a Bone“
People were so impressed with the whole thing. Not only was it cool but we were actually passing people on the way. We crossed the finish line with “Chariots of Fire” blasting and a pretty respectable time. Everyone was amped! What an awesome time.
So now we not only have perspective of a dog’s life, but we also have a new camp bond. A sense of team instead of individual.
For the most part, nobody in camp ran regularly, so this would take some training on the part of the camp. We have a dry erase board in our kitchen which lists our dish duties (we all take turns doing the dishes) and things we need from town. Added to the list was a “running list.” everyday someone ran they would get a star next to their name, except Jonathon the cook, who got a Star of David next his name because he is Jewish.
The whole camp really got pumped and everyone really tried to get in shape for the race. I was really proud of our motivation and team spirit. We kind of wanted to do this to show up the glacier mushers, because they always giving us a hard time about how easy we have it and how we are in some way lesser for it. So everything was kept top secret. Everyone got involved except Dustin and Amanda, which actually worked out in the long run because then we had someone to take pictures of us. Kym, was designated the musher. Cosmos would dress up like a human with a shirt and a pair of shorts on. And Lily would ride in a baby seat in the cart.
The week before the rave we all made our costumes. We made ears and tails out of fake fur. Some of us had floppy ears, some pointy. Everyone was a little different just like the dogs. We had to make harnesses and go for test runs. We recruited Danny who is a “floater” between all of the AIE camps and Jacques Phillip, who is from the Skagway Glacier, but super cool , an athlete, and coincidently in Juneau the day of the race. Jacques is somewhat a famous musher and I thought it was funny that the first I met him he is sitting in our kitchen wearing a set of floppy ears.
Everyone added their own special touches to their costumes. For example I wore a dog collar and made a dog tag that was labeled, “Astro.”
A few hours before we decided on our line up, Imagine if it were really like that, with the dogs debating on who should be where. “Doggy” jokes were being thrown around like, “Don’t put Nicole next to Jonathon, she is in heat.” and, “ I think Danny is a fighter you might what to careful who you put him next to.”
The line up is as follows:
Lead: Matt Hayashida and Danny
Swing: Sarah and Sean
Team: Jacques and Caelynn
Team: Forrest
Team: Jonathon and Nicole
Wheel: Me and Matt, my handler, team Cosmic pulling the heavy load!
We drove into town and went to the start. We were quite the hit. Everyone is looking at us wondering if we were actually going to pull this 1 ton cart around down town Juneau. Of course we were jumping and bucking like a dog team. Barking and howling and really hamming it up. There were some other cool costumes there also, like the US, with 50 people each representing a state all tied together, complete with a fence running next to it labeled “Homeland Security.”
Cosmos really added to the whole thing, standing with his front paws and the bar, like a musher would and baking the whole way, like he was yelling commands to us.
The first part of the race was pretty flat but then started the hills. I have new respect for wheel dogs. It was a lot of work on Matt and I getting up that hill. Then there were the other 4 hills we would have to climb. Also we would have to pull the cart wide around the corners.
Of course what goes up also has to go down. Coming down those hills was very stressful in wheel. Especially when the driver has the nickname “drunk driver” because once she crashed the whole cart full of tourists into the embankment. When this happened my tourists were watching asked me, “Is that driver drunk?” Not to mention that the brakes frequently need work. Needless to say I was always looking over my shoulder when we were heading down hill.
I had also mad a soundtrack which we were blasting from a boom box on the cart. The mix included songs like, “The Theme from Rocky“, “Chariots of Fire“, “Who let the Dogs Out“, and “Giving the Dog a Bone“
People were so impressed with the whole thing. Not only was it cool but we were actually passing people on the way. We crossed the finish line with “Chariots of Fire” blasting and a pretty respectable time. Everyone was amped! What an awesome time.
So now we not only have perspective of a dog’s life, but we also have a new camp bond. A sense of team instead of individual.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Eclipse Lost and Found
I have 5 puppies that I am running here at dog camp. They are my “sun themed” litter. They were born last year, and just had their 1st birthday on June 18th. 4 girls, Corona, Umbra, Zenith, and Eclipse. And one boy, Solstice. With 35 dogs mistakes can happen, and Eclipse was accidentally bred with Saturn while she was on the picket line , waiting to be hooked onto the gangline. To remedy this problem I was going to have her spayed on my day off. So on Thursday afternoon, Eclipse, Cosmos and I all set off down the mountain to go to town. Her appointment was the following morning, so we would spend the night on a beach somewhere. I have been parking my truck at the bottom of the mountain at the Sheep Creek Trailhead. That way I can leave the day before my day off whenever the tours are down for the day because I don’t have to wait for the tours to Gold Mine tours at the bottom of our road to finish. Remember it is a narrow winding one lane road, you don’t want to meet a Tour bus part way down the hill. We can take the Sheep Creek Trail to the bottom and not interfere with the tours at all.
We headed out the driveway. Right outside of camp I meet Sean who was running down the mountain to go to a restaurant that is right up the Thane Road. They have a Salmon BBQ and the camp cook had the day off, so somehow everyone convinced Sean to run down and pick up dinner for everyone to go. I knew Cosmos would follow him anyways, so I asked Sean if he would mind if Cosmos went down with him and if he could just throw him into my truck when they got down there. Sean didn’t mind so off they go leaving behind Eclipse and I to walk down. I had a huge backpack on with all my gear for my day off, so we were just going to take our time. Eclipse was on a leash, but she has run free many times before, just like all of my dogs. They all do pretty well hanging around me. I wanted to make sure she got out of camp before I let her loose, because sometimes the dogs would rather socialize all the other dogs before they go for a walk. So when Sean and Cosmos were out of sight I let Eclipse loose. We took the road down to the old Mine Superintendent’s house, then cut over to the Sheep Creek Trail. Eclipse was having fun and was staying close. Part way down the steep part of the trail I looked around and Eclipse is gone! I called for her. Nothing. I stopped and looked around. I called and called for her for about 5 minutes and then I looked back up the trail. It is straight up and I didn’t really want to climb back up, but I couldn’t find Eclipse. So I headed back up the trail, calling as I climbed. I got all the way back to the top of the hill and still couldn’t find her so I walked back down past where I first discovered she was missing. No Eclipse. So back up I went, uuugg, climbing up and down a mountain with a pack on, when humidity is at 100%, is frustrating. Not to mention I had just taken a shower and put on some “un-doggy” clothes so that I could look half-way civilized when I went town. Now I was sweaty and dirty. I got to the top again, and still couldn’t find her, so back down I went. Along comes Sean carrying a HUGE box full of the food for camp.
“Did you see my dog?”
“No. Cosmos is in your truck.”
Damn! So obviously she wasn’t down the trail, or Sean would’ve ran into her. So much to my dismay I begin climbing up the hill again, following Sean and his box. Part way up I start realizing the strong scent of fish coming from the box.
“So do you realize we are walking bear bait with that box,” I ask him.
“Yeah I thought about that, if a bear comes and steals our dinner, I won’t be mad because then I would have a cool story to tell.”
Now that’s the attitude.
We climb back up to the top. We cut over to the road where Dustin has driven the 4 wheeler to meet Sean. I am very upset now, still not finding my dog. Dustin tells me that my handler Matt saw Eclipse in the bushes just around the dog yard. Good!
So we all pile on the wheeler, that’s 3 people, a backpack, and a large box of fish.
When I get to camp handler Matt tells me about seeing Eclipse on the edge of camp. He tried to catch her but she’s a little shy so she ran off into the bushes. Then Kym walked out into the bushes, thinking that Eclipse would more likely come to a woman than a man. Kym said she heard Eclipse running through the brush but she never saw her.
So I walk out into the brush calling and calling. No sign. So I go back and take the trail I cut to my tree, being that it is nearby. No sign. So I go back up to camp and think. I borrow a bike and go all the way up and all the way back down the trail. No sign. Horrifying images of maimed and hurt Eclipse flash through my head. Its now been 5 hours. I am totally upset. Everyone is trying to reassure me that she will come back to camp eventually. I think that maybe she went back down the trail to find me. Plus Cosmos has been down at the trail head sitting in my truck the whole time. Matt and Sarah loan me their cell phone so that they can call me right away if she show up to camp. And I head down the trail to the bottom. Now I am stuck and unable to get back to camp until tomorrow. So Cosmos and I head into town. I call every so often to camp, worried sick about Eclipse. The next day I call the Humane Society and file a missing dog report. The day drug on forever. It was the worst day off I had in a while. I called camp almost every hour. Finally I got clearance to go back up to camp. I decided to sleep in the middle of the dog yard so that if she came back I would be right there to catch. I was literally sick with worry.
Matt and Sarah went for a hike with a couple of their dogs an Lily their baby. I was sitting inside sulking about my lost dog. Sarah busted in the door out of breath.
“We just saw your dog!”
They saw her down on the trail heading up the mountain. So I headed out the trail to my tree so I could head her off at the pass. When I got to our field where we become “faeries” I saw her running through.
“Eclipse!”
She hesitated and looked at me a little scared.
So I sat down right in the middle of the field.
“Eclipse!”
Then she ran over to me an jumped in my arms. There we rolled in the lupines and buttercups that are in full bloom. What a reunion!
“ You crazy girl! What did you want to play coyote for a day?”
So off we went back to camp, the major load on my heart lifted. The Cosmic Canines all one again.
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