Twin Peaks Trail

 Bella and I hiked the Twin Peaks Trail with my oldest and dearest friend, Diane today. It was the most beautiful morning. She had some obligations for the afternoon so we met up at the trailhead at 9am, before the actual sunrise. It was beautiful and mystical on Eklutna Lake in the early dawn, with mist drifting over the water and alpenglow reflecting in the water. Bella had not yet met Diane's big German Shepherd so we didn't know how they would interact. Bella barked at Tobi at first, but they seemed to be doing OK unless Bella got too close. Then they would bark at each other. Bella gets along fine with other dogs if she is off her leash. So I let her off and she ran ahead in her usual way, leading us all up the trail. There were no other cars in the parking lot so I wasn't too worried about her running into strange dogs on the trail. When we got to the first bench overlook, we took the usual pictures. It was spectacular because the sun was just starting to come over the top of Bold Peak. While I was taking my picture, I suddenly heard the dogs barking. Bella had come back and gotten too close to Tobi, who immediately grabbed her. Diane and I both screamed and Tobi let go. Bella rolled a couple of times and I grabbed her to comfort her. She was shaking horribly. Then I noticed there was blood coming from her right eye. I was so horrified that I nearly fainted. The white of her eye was bright red, indicating it had been injured. Once she stopped shaking and I didn't see any other injuries, we ran all the way down the mile and a half to the car and I raced to the emergency vet clinic. I was relieved to find the blood was from her eyelid and the white of her eye was simply bruised causing a small broken blood vessel. Her cornea was not damaged. They did discover she had some pain to her neck, so she had to spend the next week on light duty with antibiotics to her eye. But she is fine and I'm mostly mad at myself for having her off leash. I certainly can't blame Diane because Tobi was on her leash. I did recommend that she muzzle Tobi when interacting in public because she could have caused more serious damage to other small dogs or even a child. I plan to keep Bella leashed if there is any chance of meeting other dogs, which is what I usually do. I'm so glad she's OK. I would be lost without her. The incident brought back memories of how I lost Baby to other dogs, in this same area. I may not want to hike there for a little while.