Hiking With Humans

My name is Bose. At least that is what my dad always calls me, so it must be my name. When he is angry with me, he will yell, “Bose!” But, when he barks at Lana, he doesn’t say “Bose,” so it must be my name.

I have fur all over me. Some of it is white and some black. But, my dad doesn’t have any hair, except a small patch on the top of his head. He does have a lot of coats though – red, yellow, green, blue. He’s wearing red now.

Today we left the house and hopped into the square box with wheels, which took us to a mountain where we went for a walk. This walk was longer than our normal walks. I can’t read the signs, so I’m not sure where we went, but we were gone for days and days.

Lana came with us too. She is just a little pup who’s always snotty and tries to boss me around. I am better in the mountains than she is, though. She can’t get up the big rocks and is even scared of the stairs. Shoot, she can’t even carry her own pack.

I’m always telling her to have her dad buy her a backpack, but I don’t think she likes heavy things, so she doesn’t want one.

Packs are heavy, and it is tough trying not to think about all the delicious food stuffed in there. And sometimes you get stuck between rocks and can’t move. It’s tough sometimes, but I do get complimented by the old men and women we meet on the trail. We’ll stop, dad will bark something at them, and they will always smile and say to me, “What a good boy!”

Besides my dad, Lana and me, there are two other people with us on this trip. One is Lana’s dad, and the other someone they call “Senior,” I think. All three of them haul big packs on their backs – a lot bigger than mine. The packs are filled with dishes, little houses to sleep in, coats and this terrible looking food they all eat.

It is already the third day of our trip. There is nothing but rocks now, and we put up our three small houses on a really high place. We have stayed in many different areas, but this is the most rugged. Halfway through our set-up, it starts to get dark.

Dad finally turns to Senior and says, “Let’s stay at the open space we passed a while back,” so we head back. It was becoming dark, and I was a little nervous during the walk back, but now I am OK.

Dad and I stay in the same shelter, and Lana and her dad sleep together in theirs. Senior has his own bright red one, but I wonder if he is lonely there? We all get together in Lana’s place and have dinner. It is a tight fit, but everyone has fun. Lana and I are pretty tired so, before we know it, we are asleep.

It starts to rain In the middle of the night as dad and I sleep in our little shelter. Dad whispers, “As long as it’s not a thunderstorm, we’re fine, but it’s still a little scary, eh?” Come morning, though, the sun shines through and there are clouds all around us. It is beautiful. Lana wags her tail as she comes out of her little house, a big smile on her face. We all eat together and have a drink of water. Dad and his friends also drink some stinky brown stuff.

We pack up and hit the trail. Today’s hike is a tough one. Dad holds me close as we come down from some high places and sometimes he lowers me by a rope. Lana is so scared she cannot come down, so her dad picks her up and brings her with him.

They say mountain priests used to walk along this path in white robes. These priests seemed to like doing things the hard way. Halfway down, we saw a rock with a sword stuck in it. I guess they really were here.

It starts to get dark again, so it looks like we’ll end today’s walk soon. But, suddenly someone steps out of a big shelter, gets angry, and yells, “No dogs allowed. You cannot take them any farther up, because there’s no trail for them to walk. Keep your dogs back.”

Dad barks back that we were planning to turn back anyway. But we’d already come this far. I wonder why those folks get so angry over dogs. I am on a leash, and he picks up after me. I do not even chase after the birds and deer, and I always stick with him on the trails.

Sure, I sometimes have to stop to go to the bathroom, but so does he. He just shrugs and says, “Well, there’s always something with some people.” Some folks just do not like dogs. Maybe some bad dogs ruined it for the rest of us.

Tomorrow is the last day of our long walk. It will be nice to go home, but I sure hope I get a chance to go on another hike with Lana and everybody.