Date: 5/17. Time: 20:06.
Today was quite the day for Sasha and me. This morning we decided to hike Mount Kearsarge… with Atlas. Luckily for us, the trail is pretty easy, not very steep, and simple to follow because the rest of the events taking place on our hike were taxing enough. Our first ordeal occurred on the way to the summit when we encountered another group of hikers with a dog. And, Atlas still being a puppy, gets very excited around other dogs. Yet unfortunately for us, and especially for Sasha, Atlas probably has the considerable strength of both of us combined and a bark so deep and authoritative that it could knock the socks off any man. So there we are, at a crossroads with this group of innocent hikers and their tiny dog, Sasha’s white-knuckling Atlas’s leash in a stance that keeps all her weight back, trying to prevent him from lunging towards this quivering dog being carried off the ground by its harness. Then, all of a sudden Atlas gives a good lunge and Sasha goes down…yet she somehow manages to keep a grasp on Atlas’s leash and prevents us from having to chase him down the trail as he would have undoubtedly followed the other dog. Now I know that Atlas is friendly and a very sweet dog, but the look on the other hiker's faces showed that they were not privy to that knowledge and that his bark was indeed a bit intimidating to them. Rattled and slightly stressed about another dog encounter, Sasha, Atlas, and I made it to the summit without any more incidents but were met with very strong winds. As a result of feeling like our clothes were being ripped from our bodies and a very antsy Atlas, we didn’t stay long on the summit and began our trek down the mountain.
All was well for a while, Atlas was staying close and we were listening to some tunes to get us through the somewhat dull way down… until we came upon another dog. Luckily for us, this encounter didn’t result in Sasha on the ground but it did take the strength of both of us to keep him from causing a scene. Still, the alarm in the hikers’ and even the dog's eyes showed that they were a little apprehensive about believing me when I assured them that “he’s a really friendly dog, he just has a really loud bark” as I grabbed hold of his collar and dragged him past the group on the trail while Sasha kept him tight on his leash. Although it did make us laugh quite a bit at the reactions of the hikers and our own mental insanity for bringing him. Nevertheless, we survived! And we achieved our goal of tiring Atlas out! Yet as Sasha said, “the hike may have only taken a few hours, but I feel as though years have been taken from my life,” so thanks for that Atlas. After showering, we met up again in the afternoon and continued progress on our book! We completed a couple more pages of illustrations and also planned out our itinerary for tomorrow and Thursday. After today’s events, I’m hoping that Atlas is just as tired as I am right now, and I look forward to a relaxing art day tomorrow.
Today's Hours: 6.5 Total Hours: 48.5
All was well for a while, Atlas was staying close and we were listening to some tunes to get us through the somewhat dull way down… until we came upon another dog. Luckily for us, this encounter didn’t result in Sasha on the ground but it did take the strength of both of us to keep him from causing a scene. Still, the alarm in the hikers’ and even the dog's eyes showed that they were a little apprehensive about believing me when I assured them that “he’s a really friendly dog, he just has a really loud bark” as I grabbed hold of his collar and dragged him past the group on the trail while Sasha kept him tight on his leash. Although it did make us laugh quite a bit at the reactions of the hikers and our own mental insanity for bringing him. Nevertheless, we survived! And we achieved our goal of tiring Atlas out! Yet as Sasha said, “the hike may have only taken a few hours, but I feel as though years have been taken from my life,” so thanks for that Atlas. After showering, we met up again in the afternoon and continued progress on our book! We completed a couple more pages of illustrations and also planned out our itinerary for tomorrow and Thursday. After today’s events, I’m hoping that Atlas is just as tired as I am right now, and I look forward to a relaxing art day tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment