Blueberry Knoll Hike

 At least it wasn't raining. Hoping to hike up to Gold Cord Lake on the snow, I drove up to Hatcher Pass. Last week, Baby was delighted to walk on the snow. Not today though. We only walked a few feet before she declared that she was not going another inch. So we went back down and tried the Rae-Wallace Trail. Once again she made it clear she wanted no parts of it either. I gave up and drove down to the Gold Mint Trailhead, hoping the lack of snow would be more to her liking. It was dry and warm, but nope, she wanted no parts of that trail either. I really wanted to hike somewhere so on my way back home, I thought I'd see if she would be interested in the trails at the Government Peak area. Suddenly she was all excited and I could hardly hold onto her long enough to attach her leash. What I thought might be a 5 minute attempt at the Blueberry Knoll steep trail, turned into a fast moving slippery climb almost 2 miles up to the knoll itself.  It was so muddy and slippery that I frequently ended up with muddy knees as Baby pulled me off my feet in her exuberance. Apparently she prefers mud to snow, at least today anyway. It was 3 pm when we started up so I figured there was no chance we would actually reach the knoll. But we did slip and slide all the way up to the top. We got there by 4, which for me was pretty fast, especially in those conditions.  The trail is quite steep and is mostly composed of muddy hills and tree roots. It's a miracle I managed to avoid tripping over any of those. But the steep hills were more challenging as I slid down, gaining one step up and two steps down. I love the view up there. I was really worried about the trip back down. I have to keep Baby on her leash because I know she would race right back to the car and leave me there, wondering if she really made it to the car. I spent the whole trek down shouting SLOW DOWN to Baby, as she totally ignored my pleas. I was a muddy mess by the time we reached the car, but felt a sense of accomplishment that we got there by 5pm. 

I really wish my dog could explain why she loved that muddy trail and had no interest in the others that are usually her favorites.