Roaring Winds, Obstruction Point, i think...... ;-)

Last post I ended with a "what's missing from this picture" question. Needless to say that the Cadillac below is not like the others that usually start off one of our trips. That's because Kiwi was not with me on this excursion. She recently developed conjuctivitis in her left eye. Pinkish colored with some discharge. I noticed the right eye started to get some color on Sunday, so Kiwi was admitted to the house of care and rest. I'm not sure how it happens, but we have the medicine and are following directions.With Kiwi on convalescent leave, I decided to visit the Olympic National Park, due to it having a no pets policy. (I prefer the policies of the ONF) Personal preferences and politics aside, the sound of roaring winds was the destination. Roaring Winds- Obstruction Point trail is the highest trail in the park, passing through alpine country of immense beauty and yielding awesome views.

On my way to Port Angeles, I had the opportunity to snap a few pictures of some nearby elk. Hard to see from the photo, but they had bedded down about 20-30 feet behind them. Circular area of ~20ft. There were five that I could see.It was another gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. High, light clouds with an expected low 80's for the thermometer. Perfect conditions for a high country hike.

After about a hundred mile drive and five pounds of collected dirt on the Ducati, the trailhead was in sight. Gear check, camera check, laces yep, and plenty of water. Oh man, forgot the gorp! (trail food) Oh well, not that big a deal. 8-9 hours without food will just make the it taste
better when you do get some, unless its from McD's. :-(

Here is a photo looking southish from the Hurrican Ridge visitor center. I hope to see experience some snow today.Got up pretty early so not many folks on the trail. The picture below shows the trail that I actually was supposed to be following. It goes to the Obstruction Point camp, I think. ROFL There goes my navigator license. :-O Well, I looked around and another trail headed off to some nearby peaks along a ridgeline. I wanted a challenge, so I set my own paws in that direction, enjoying the view very clearly.

About 45 minutes on the trail, we have the view of Badger valley with the center Olympics behind. Really pretty in person.This shot gives a prelude of what lies ahead. I had no map, so I set my sights on that far left peak. Video of destination and Badger Valley.And here are two more peaks along the ridge that have to be hiked to get where I was headed. And yes, the snow was close enough to enjoy.But is that all? Nope, looking down to the right was the green forest of Badger valley, while the left side held some small lakes that were shimmering their blue-green beauty from the shining sun. I think I saw Ariel. Hubba hubba

Some of the non-easy, fun, challenging, make you earn it, stuff that had to be crossed. :-)
I'm not sure if it's flint, shale, or whatnot, I just remember it looking like that floating stuff in the Death Star garbage grinder, when Han & Luke were rescuing Leia. :-O
Below you can see the destination getting closer. No rivers to play in, no shots of Kiwi, :-( just boots to trail hiking. Although I deviated from the trail several times to climb the peaks. Up down, up down. Have any aspirin? ;-) This video shows a 360 from roughly halfway to the goal.
One of the ridges was pretty dangerous. Barely see a path, lots of boulders, rocky and steep angles, added to the loose footing made for spiderman techniques. Kinda glad Kiwi was not here for the sole fact that if she had a tugged on the leash at the wrong time, ouch. It would take good teamwork to cross the rocky ridge.The goal is getting closer. From this shot below to the peak took about an hour. After crossing the ridge, I dropped a couple hundred feet and went a cross a bunch of scree. The kind where you slide a step backward for every one you take forward. Still, it was the safer route.After reaching the last peak, I left a note for Kiwi. It took her awhile, but she did teach me to write her name. ;-)Another one of the emerald beauties. Real captivating to watch the sun sparkle off the water. No one around, no signs of humans, an occasional hawk riding the currents. Very tranquil.Permission to gloat. :-)
Actually had a phone signal up on the peaks, although it was roaming signal. :-( Now its time to head back. The photo below shows the route I had taken coming up the last ridge. Can't really see it, can you? It was not easy.
Here is that sneaky, snakey, slippery trail of scree that had to be renegotiated.
Some photos on the way back. Canada can be seen in the last shot.


As I'm finishing this post, I'm happy to say that Kiwi is almost completely cured of her conjuctivitis. So she'll be ready for the next adventure of Kiwi, the Australian Cattle Dog. :-)

Mount Townsend 20 Aug 06

Regret the tardiness, but been busy. Where were we, ah yes, Mount Townsend for the weekend hike. Ok, it's a calm, warm day, but just gorgeous. So the furmeister and I get our gear together, with shoe-laces this time ;-), throw it in the BMW and leave the mundane world behind.
We arrive at the trail head, while listening to the "original MTV" music on Kiwi's Ipod. Fun times with good memories on a curving, mountain road to a real outdoorsy hike. So Kiwi starts off through the forest part of the trail as it starts to rise in elevation. Her majesty let me snap this photo, but wouldn't allow any paw-graphs.So Kiwi leads the expidition through the darkest regions of the Buckhorn Wilderness. Eventually we break out of the forest shade into the sunlight that is starting to warm the day for us. Here are some of the flowers we encounter as we start to pass the 4,500 foot level. Someday soon, Kiwi will teach me how to do a collage type thing with pictures so I can combine them for easier viewing pleasure. LOLThis little guy, below, was all by his lonesome, without any support from his fellow fauna friends. His tenacity for survival caught my spirit, so I decided to capture his glorious struggle for life and save it forever. Camera on, focus, click, image ok. Yes! One with nature feeling. Then Kiwi PEED on it!! Haha, gotcha, we left it as we found it, alone in its universal fight for primal existence.This is a sneak peak at the peak we were headed to, if we don't get to peaked. Two photos stiched together to make one. (if you look real hard when its magnified, you can see the thread) The ridgeline you see is the one will be hiking on. Yeah baby.Kiwi making sure I'm not lagging to far behind. Good thing she has me hold the other end of the leash. :-) Which is a great book!!
It was pretty dry on this hike, as there was no source of water for us the entire trip. But we carried, or Kiwi had me carry plenty of water. Two liter camelback and 64 ounces in separate containers. Funny thing, the water containers alway get lighter when we start to come back down the trail. Now just how does that happen? ;-)
This is Daisy. One of many furry companions Kiwi met this hike.Here we are nearing the ridgeline, notice how dry it looks. I recently bought some sun-glasses that are not black like most lens' are. There kind of brownish. On this hike they made everything appear as if I was looking thru a sepia filter. That didn't help on this "lack of water" hike.Yehaw, we're there! I danced a little jig at the great 360 degree view we had. Kiwi just wanted some more water. :-)
So I start taking pictures as we go at our own pace exploring the ridgeline. At the top, we were over 6,200 feet. Air was clear with no pollution, breeze was gentle but enough to help the direct rays from the sun. Man, it was super. Kiwi with North Pole a little ways behind her.
Yep, still snow on some of the Olympic Mountains. Gotta love the Olympic Peninsula for year round hike with Nature at its best.We were able to enjoy the day with many other hikers. This lady below is headed to Tonga in a few weeks to go diving with Humpbacks. I sorta mentioned that she was more than prepared with that big lump attached to her back, but would have to be careful when she was swimming with it. ROFLKiwi hamming it up. Beautiful sky, eh? And we could see Canada too, eh. Wished for a Molson, but the humpback going to Tonga didn't have one. :-(
Told you it was dry. I mean dry. As we enjoyed the 27 switchbacks on this 8 mile hike, Kiwi's paw action would stir trail dust that would rise up to about my haist and linger. Dry, as in Dingo dry. Oops did I say that? Do ACD's have Dingo in their heritage. I won't tell, unless I get on Oprah. LOLAnother trail loving pooch. Seems to be taking care of soldier Steve who might be enjoying some R&R from the dry Iraqi, deser, uh....nevermind. Who might be enjoying his time on Mount Townsend. :-) Video 1Kiwi is facing west here, which means that behind her is the Seattle side of the state. Of course it lies across the blue stuff, which is the Puget Sound. Carved out by prehistoric glaciers, Puget Sound is uh, big, deep, uh cold, and yeah big. Some big mountains nearby, plenty of water for those aquatic activities, great weather,....ah the Pacific Northwest. (wait, what was that Kiwi? Don't say that stuff, uh oh yeah, lots of communicable diseases here folk, cough, pollution all around, ow, mean people, stay away, stay far away. whew, thx Kiwi) This natural rock formation below is testament to the queer winds that can whirl around the tops of mountain peaks. Kiwi counted 4 or 5 along the ridge. Highly unnatural how these formations can occur.
And a pretty golden boy here.Convenient pocket camera with zoom lens allows us to enjoy the scenic beauty, even if it is at a distance. And has a nifty video feature also. Video 360This mellow fellow, who was sleeping when we first went by, was friendly enough to greet Kiwi. Looking at his packs, and knowing his real name, "Clutch Cargo" made me chuckle. That really is his name. :-)
A look back over the ridge trail. Did I mention it was dry?ANother sticthed pciture. thise neattle is shharp. ROFLDecent hike, roughly 7,500 feet of elevation on our paws, no running water, did I mention it was dry too? We get back to the car, err BMW and all I can find in the big bottle of pain relief is this..... sheesh.

Whoa, what's this? Is that a beautiful Boxer puppy? Why yes it is. At eight weeks old she is the latest addition to my friend's family. The quiet little female beauty is named Rocky. And damn, her teeth are sharp. I forgot all about that with Kiwi at nine months. LOLKiwi showing some of her good manners by not being aggressive around her water. She even shared some. Another flic.

Pop quiz. What is the one common thing in all the dog pictures? Go ahead scroll back and check. Any ideas? Waiting music....
Well? Ok I'll give you a hint. Kiwi. Look at her in all the pics and compare her to the other hiking hounds. It's called a leash! Kiwi and I rounded a small crook in the trail, came past a large christmas type tree and had a surprised greeting with another hiker and his leashless dog coming down the trail. First thing out of his mouth in a snotty tone was, "Is she friendly? Bastard. Get your own stuff in one sock before you start casting aspersions of indifference on others. I thought it but didn't say it. Kiwi was fine and the other dog was also. His tone and words just didn't set in my saddle too well. By the way all the other dogs off their leash were fine and their owners were laid back as well.

Home alone...... :-O

Well this little critter was that the last photo worthy subject Kiwi ran across during her walk this evening. I saw the lump in grass and since it seemed out of place, we investigated. Or rather I did. I kept Kiwi right next to me, but at arm's length. I really don't think she ever noticed it. I got really close but it never moved. Just saw its side heaving in and out with its labored breathing. Finally got a stick and smoothed the grass next to the little booger but he wouldn't move, nary a whisker. Finally saw the blood on his front paws. Didn't seem much, but maybe he was ran over or something and this was his post traumatic stress freeze. So we left him to survive or not.
Now this fellow below keeps saying hi to Kiwi every time we take this route. Her white knight is even chivalrous enough to escort her to the other side of the fence, shouting and praising Kiwi's beauty for all to hear. Thankfully this is only one lone knight and there are no other vying for Kiwi's affection along this stretch of her journey.
The shots below (Kiwi, right now, is playing with the door stop thingy, sproing, sprooinnggggg, bark, sproingg, whuff, sproing, too funny) are just for me to see what my camera can do. Canon 400 Powershot on normal, 3x zoom, and then 12x with digital zoom and an unsteady hand. Or it could have been the anticipation of the rum & coke after the walk. ;-)
Really like the small pocket camera. And this is just a pretty blue Northwest sky. So much better than when I worked in LA.Today, because of me being on call, in case the world needed saving or something, Kiwi and I stayed local. We went to local parks in different towns, Silverdale and Poulsbo. Or as the folk in Poulsbo call it, "the village".

First Poulsbo, with its small, quaint norwegian feel. Beautiful day, and what do you know, some festivity going on at the marina park. Small and homey, but Kiwi and I enjoyed ourselves none the less, as we mingled amongst all the others.Not the greatest pics, but still a good time.

Then we headed over to the "main" street. Definitely quaint and folksy but laid back and such wonderfuls smells emanating all over the place. Sluy's bakery, the chocolate store, barbeque from the beach. Kiwi was so mentally drooling that when I stopped to talk to some people, she started nibbling on some of the decorative floral displays. LOL So funny to look down and see a blue flower in her red ACD mouth. :-)
By the way, she got the lower floral displays. LOLAfter walking in Poulsbo, we drove over to the waterfront park in Silverdale. Man, another activity in progress. Our lucky local day.Turns out this weekend at the Silverdale marina there was some boat racing going on. Great sunny day, plently of friendly people and Kiwi minding her manners the whole time. Not even one piddle in public, whew. (listening to this as I blog, dating myself ROFL)

Look Mildred, its ona dem thar weener dogs and it has a rainbow leash. :-)
And even though this little boy is doing a poor John Travolta or asking Kiwi to look up, he did this several times. Never could understand what he wanted. Kiwi would just look at him like the old RCA icon, Nipper.See, it was a boating event. Why else would they try to sell little boats?(Remember this tune?) Heard some acceptable music coming from the PA system while Kiwi and I strolled along the park taking in the activities and shade when available.I almost forgot about this. :-) Well since the family is vacationing in Mexico, I had the whole place to myself, chores and all. Well it was time to do the dishes. Simple enough, no? Rinse off the big stuff, throw it in the dishwasher, add soap and git 'r done. Well three degrees and three more certificates doesn't mean your smart by any means. Yup, I put the WRONG "dish-washing" soap in the dishwasher. Man, that thing takes a long time when your manning the bucket and swab brigade. Kiwi even got in the act. Telling me what she thought of the incident. I'll leave it up to you to translate, because it makes my ears red. ROFL
Quickly, get away from the machine. Get far away. Ok, how about the dog park? Just look at those two faces. Only a mother could love those. LOL I keed, I keed. These fellas were two of four basset flavored pooches that day at the park. These guys were mello and good dog park citizens. One of them sniffed out the treats I had in my shirt pocket. Little bugger stayed with me at my feet the rest of the time he was there. He wasn't rude, no barking nor whining, but that sad puppy dog face followed me everywhere. :-) Plleeeaasssseeeeeeeee mister, can I have a treat?
The park has its own watering hole too. And even those pretty, polite little poop bags. Some big enough for Romo. LOL Romo is about 10 months. Glad I don't pay his food bill or pick up his turds. snickeringKiwi and the bassets, showing about a fourth of the "dog park"There's my girl.Oh yeah, almost forgot. Here is a video of Kiwi "herding" Jack. Jack was not hurt, Jack's dad is cool with this since no blood was drawn. But is this bad? Is Kiwi becoming a teenager and trying to establish herself? She has only done this once or twice. Can this be controlled? Is it part of an ACD lifestyle? Share your opinions please.