A Hike with Oscar; or Oscar Learns to Rough It

We chose a day pouring with rain to take Oscar on his first hike.

 It took about an hour and a half to get there, but luckily, Oscar loves car rides. He likes to curl up in the back and dream as the hum of the car and murmur of his people's voices encircle him.  He was jolted awake though once we reached the pot hole speckled road that led us to the trail head.

Oscar learned some new skills: How to rough and tumble it on the trail! Oscar had to dash through streams, leap over logs, trek through mud, dart over roots and climb up rocks during our hiking adventure. He did it with great aplomb and is a grade 'A' hiking buddy.

The hike was so beautiful for Oscar's human friends too.

Autumn hikes in the Pacific Northwest are the best. Walking thorough a green paradise of coniferous trees interspersed with blasts of orange or yellow or red from the deciduous trees is so stunning. At one point we had been hiking for a while through the greenery when we came to a clearing of an Autumn wonderland.

At the top of the hike was a humble yet beautiful lake right out of a story book. It felt like it must be one of the most wonderful places in all the world. For a second, I wanted to live there forever. Oscar could become a semi wild forest dog and we could all spend our days swimming in the lake and observing the bugs and wildflowers and birds around us.

 

But, it was pouring rain and even with our jackets, we couldn't keep the water away from our fur or skin forever. So we trekked back down to our car and drove home with our pictures, muddy paws or shoes and memories.