Today was a hell of an excursion! A couple friends of mine wanted to hike the 1st/2nd Flatiron up at Chautauqua, and I thought it was a reasonable enough hike to take Maple on. After all, the trail is only 2.7 miles (read further on that!). So the first step was meeting my friend's in Lakewood so we could carpool to Boulder. I'm in Aurora/Southeast Denver, and that drive was about 40 minutes for me. Maple has gravitated more to staying on my lap when we drive, and I think this has been the longest one we've done in one stretch. So we pick up my friends, along with coffee, and head out to Boulder with her first time with passengers.
The hike: I was finally getting to test out the backpack that looked like it was okay for hiking. I gotta say, I had a lot of hopes and expectations for this pack, and it did not hold up. I mean, sure, it looks nice. But it was a warm day and I think she was suffering in the bag because the ventilation was ... nah, I'll just say it, it was shitty. She very much enjoyed sticking her head out the top, though! I am trying to ignore the attention we (she) received, but it made me giddy. Back to the hike! She handled it pretty well, besides being hot. We often stopped because one of my friends is from out of state, so I took those opportunities to give her water. Our two-hour hike ended up being three with all the stops. Some of the highlights were she got to meet a new dog that totally was trying to nip at her, and she was completely oblivious, so yay? And we got a lot of shade at the top. I ended up rubbing water into her fur to help cool her down, but the shade and wind may have backfired on me. She also saw her first chipmunk at the top. Hunter instincts are there for sure. Wish it helped with the moths at home, ha ha.
Our descent was swift, but not swift enough. I think between the stress of bouncing around, the heat, and being overwhelmed, she pooped in the backpack. Pretty sure it was in the last quarter mile of the hike, too. I felt awful! This was not what I wanted, and I hope I didn't ruin it for her. On top of that, we didn't go home immediately. We stopped in Boulder for the best empanadas I have ever head, and I was prepared with a normal backpack that had better ventilation so she could join us. She was totally passed out while we ate, and was laying on the cooler floor of the car on the way back - except after I dropped off my friends, she decided to sleep on my lap.
Today was a great learning experience. Some things went right, some wrong, but I have a lot to learn, and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity!
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