Echo Bend Hike

I joined the Walkabouts hiking group today for a hike at the Eagle River Nature Center. I carpooled with Pam. I was happy to see that my friend, Alice also joined our hike. It was snowing so hard at my house and on my way down the road that I didn't feel safe driving into Eagle River, so I agreed to let Pam drive. The snow soon stopped so it would have been just fine. But I really had trouble getting down Wolverine Road due to such poor visibility, that by the time we met up, I'd had it! I had so much stuff to drag from my car to her car, that I managed to leave a couple of things behind. The oddest one was that, now on the Glenn Highway, I noticed Bella no longer had her harness on! I couldn't imagine how that could have happened since I had just walked her in the parking lot. But somehow she escaped from it. I wondered all day whether it was on the ground or still in my car. Fortunately, Pam had an extra very large collar for her dog and I was able to make it work for Bella. When we got to the Nature Center, I noticed I had left my micro spikes back in my car. It was solid ice everywhere and I knew I was doomed at that point When the Nature Center staff heard me telling Pam, they saved me by telling me that had a box of grippers and I could borrow some. That sure was a relief. 

Bella wore her big puffy snowsuit, which usually works great. But today she kept getting one foot out of it. I finally realized it was due to not having her harness on. I took the suit off and she was fine the whole 6.2 miles out and back. She was off her leash most of the way so she was fine even without a harness. But I did want her on the leash near the trailhead. She enjoyed running back and forth with Dahla, Pam's dog. Alice didn't bring her trekking poles, so I loaned her one of mine. The trail is mostly flat so one pole was all either of us really needed. But it was helpful with the whole trail being mostly glare ice. I was happily surprised that the huge snowstorm happening at my house never reached us. We had a cloudy day but no snow. It was beautiful even with no sun and fun visiting with the rest of the group. 

Back at my car, I found Bella's harness was still hooked into her car seat. That little escape artist had extricated herself from it while I was putting things in Pam's car. I love how that harness is labeled as escape proof! It's not.