[GeoTom]

Someone forgot the dog treats today. Jasper was still able to beat me to the top though (he does have 4 legs to my 2). For years I have known about Teneriffe, Si's lonely neighbor, but had somehow never managed to hike up it. Since I chose not to believe the somewhat favorable weather forecasts, I decided to stay closer to home and get some mileage in. One other car at the trailhead with 2 women and a nice Golden retriever (aren't all golden's nice, though? ). We managed to boot up the road about 2 miles before I thought about putting on the snowshoes. I hiked another half mile or so thinking about putting the snowshoes on before I took action. There was a nice path already in place, so all I has to do was follow the prints in the snow. Soon (well, 3 hours and 15 minutes from the start) we ran out of mountain. While the last 400 feet to the summit were steep, the backside of the summit was even steeper. I tied Jasper to a tree down from the top, took some pictures, and headed back to him to eat my lunch. Unfortunately for him, I had left the bag of dog treats on the kitchen counter. The vet said he could stand to lose a couple pounds anyway After about 45 minutes on top, we decided to head down. Ran into a few people headed up, but not nearly as many as were on the Si and Little Si trails as those lots were packed as we drove by. Apparently the trip is 14 miles round trip with ~4,400 feet of cumulative gain. A few photos:

Tahoma with a cloud topping

Favorite dog, favorite mountain

I would climb that if I wasn't a dog...

Almost to the top

Rattlesnake Mountain

Cone

Summt gully

Jasper neutralizes the stick threat

Running

Entrenched

These and more photos from today on Flickr

[Bug]

Fabulous pine cone shot. Crop the top a bit and you have a perfect Christmas card. Bug

[Bryan K]

I like the summit gully and the cone shot too. Great day to get out!!!! I'm jealous!!

[goats gone wild]

"Running" gets my top vote...just look at Jasper's ears.

[Obi Tony Kenobi]

Seeing your dog's pictures makes me want more and more to get that dog I want! Great pictures!

[loper]

Nice Pictures Tom. A good day in the mountains. Oh, and by the way. I usually share my sandwhich with Chance. Just think of poor Jasper wasting away while you ate your sandwhich. The shame! L

[GeoTom]

loper- Unfortunately I had no sandwich. Instead, I had a thermos of French Onion soup. He did get a special dinner last night though

[loper]

Ah, I should have known. French Onion soup sounds very nice on a summit. L

[goats gone wild]

The beauty of dogs is they never hold a grudge. I bet all Jasper remembers is running, having fun, and the good dinner he ate.

[the Zachster]

Poor, poor doggie! Those pictures are so sad...as he stands looking out to the hills saying "Gosh, I wonder if there is some food out there..." And as he digs in the snow and attacks the stick " I know there's a treat in here somewhere, perhaps this stick will satisfy my hunger" Or, as he flies down the hill, ears flying in the wind saying "food, food, I need FOOOOOOOD!!! But then again, I think what he's REALLY saying is "Damn, I've got a great life out here with a great Dad who loves me and, gee, where are we going next!" Great report and pics!

[Sadie's Driver]

GT - No worries, even with plenty of food available, they are still a mercenary lot and will have that sad-dog, big brown-eyed look of hunger!

Lunch break at the Lake

Regardless, they have their priorities clearly in place!

Happy dog!

[loper]

Gee guys, Iwas just teasing! Jasper has one of the best dog's lifes I know of. Still great pictures and day in the mountains. L

[goats gone wild]

No worries mate, we knew you were just kidding around. We just like talking about our friends, the dogs. One of my favorite games is to take my dogs (5 of them at one time--but now have 3) and make them all sit in a row on a trail and show good manners before they get a treat. It's a challenge, let me tell you. And practically never successful. It's fun just to try though....just to see the look on their faces as they concentrate hard on sitting still. The goof balls always end up getting the treats anyway.

[GeoTom]

[Bryan K]

'Post hike nap' Very nice Makes me wish that I could get a dog. Cats don't make good hiking buddies