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. LOL
This 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. ROFL
Kiwi 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. LOL
Another 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 1
Kiwi 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 360
This 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. ROFL
Decent 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. LOL
Kiwi 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.
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