[Kimtah]

Dad wouldn't let me make my own account here, so I'm hijacking his. He'll never find out! I just got back from a 3-day trip with my mom and dad to a place called the Golden Lakes Loop. I guess they'd done this trip before with their fat stout dog Jasper, and decided to bring their new skinny svelte dog...ME! I had been out on a one night trip a couple weeks ago, but this time we'd be spending TWO nights out! It was a long drive from the house to the trailhead, but I slept through most of it. Once we started hiking, dad kept me on a tight leash. Apparently I like to chase little things like squirrels and chipmunks. I didn't mind the leash though, although dad is getting a bit heavy to pull. There were all kinds of things to smell along the trail, from flowers and trees to horse poop to pine cones and all kinds of rocks. I got to lead the way so I didn't have to eat their dust. These trails were pretty dry and dusty. It was kind of hot as we hiked up through the forest, but those big trees kept dad shaded. Along the way I saw some really big dogs, but mom called them horses. They scared me at first, but it turns out they're pretty nice. We hiked up over something called Horsehead Pass and down to a lake that wasn't nearly as hot as the name led me to believe. Boiling Lake? It wasn't cold, but it wasn't all that warm either. What a silly name. We set up the portable crate tent, and wandered around the lake for a bit. Mom and dad wore some funny looking things over their heads because of the bugs, but they didn't bug me. Get it? Haha! BOL! Dad remembered my dinner, and I even got to lick out some of their food bags. Yum. Mom and dad went to sleep after dark, but I stayed up for a while listening to the group of horses camped at the other end of the lake. The next morning we all woke up, and I even got to play a little before breakfast. Dad even said 'Happy Birthday' to me. I don't remember when I was really born, but the shelter I ended up in Texas listed August 5th as my birthday, so we'll go with that. It's been quite the year. Here's to many more! Then dad took down the tent and we started hiking again. The flowers over on this side didn't smell as great as earlier, but mom and dad seemed to like them better. Dad even kept stopping to take photographs. After a nice break by sign trail signs, we started up another steep part of trail called Angel's Staircase. I didn't see any angels (I'm not even sure what angels are) and the trail didn't look much like a staircase, but it was a good hike up. I would have made better time without dad's dead weight pulling me back though. At the pass there was another trail sign, and a bit of rocks above that dad said was a mountain. He had been up it before, but mom hadn't. We all headed up, but of course dad got us off the good path onto some big boulders. I was a little scared, but then we got back onto easier stuff for me. We got to the top and I didn't understand the big deal. There was no food on top and I barely found a rock big enough to give me shade. And we'd passed up the only snow patch down below! After a few minutes, we went back down and mom let me lay down on the snow for a while. Back on the trail we walked to the other side of the mountain where we saw anther big dog with funny looking things on it's head. Mom called this one a deer. I was glad to have dad on a leash so he didn't go chasing it. We took a break at the top of the hill looking down to another lake. This one was called Cooney Lake, and we were going to camp there for the night. Oh boy, another night in the tent! A girl could get used to this lifestyle. The trail down to Cooney Lake was steep, but there were switchbacks to make it easier for dad. He's pretty old, and needs all the help he can get. There were lots of really cool looking trees that dad tried to tell me would turn bright yellow in a couple weeks. He likes to pull my tail, so I'm not sure that I believed him, but mom said the same thing. We'll see what happens in a couple months. Once we got to the lake we found another nice spot to set up camp, and wandered around a bit. Then mom and dad had something called 'Happy Hour' where they made some drinks and napped a bit. Hey, I'm all for napping. Count me in. Dad even went for a swim in the lake. He looks even funnier in the water than he does on the land. We had dinner and desert again, and ended up crawling back into the tent to watch the bugs on the other side of the mesh. I tried my best to sleep through the night, but dad kept rolling over on my tail. Ouch! Finally he got the message and we made it through night without any more issues. Dad and I got up early again and went for a walk to the other side of the lake. It was fun until dad got mad at me for trying to pick up some old dried up horse poop. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it, dad! We got back to the tent to find mama in need of coffee. They both like their coffee. Dad packed up the tent again and we hiked, but this time it was mostly downhill. It even started to rain a little just before we got back to the car. I though we might spend another night out before coming home, but mom and dad decided to just come home instead. We drove a different way back this time though. I guess they wanted to show me more of my new home state, but I was so tired that I slept through most of it again. I can't wait to get out again soon! Oh yeah, mom and dad took some photos. Here are a few:

Still looking fresh at the trailhead

Here comes Dani

Kimtah checking in on mama

What's that sound?

Golden eyed girl

Watching from the bug-free tent

More paintbrush and mountains

Lupine near camp

Night-night

Boiling Lake morning

The Night King Queen of the Chelan-Sawtooths

Hikers enjoy the flowers

D & K enjoy the flowers

D and K on trail

Kimtah seemed bored

Flowers and mountains

Dani getting higher

Switchback/Cooney Peak above the high point of the trail

Gray, Courtney, Star and Oval in the distance

Summit view with Raven's Ridge, Bigelow, Cheops and Martin

Cooney Lake below us

Kimtah found some shade

Summit pose

Kimtah enjoyed a little snow

Dani admires the view, with a horsefly about to attack

Hiking down the switchbacks to Cooney Lake

Lupine, the lake and the mountain

The mini flying vampires were out in force

I guess she was comfortable

I went up that?

Dawn of a new day

Meadows

One last f@*&ing climb up before the car

[kiliki]

Cute dog! Was this on weekdays? Were people numbers pretty reasonable?

[Kimtah]

[MtnManic]

I love that loop. Would love to take my furry one, but furry one is a cat and at the rate she stops and sniffs, I'd be lucky to make one mile in a day.