My family thought it was a bit too early for a Sunday morning, but they got over it when they heard my idea. ‘Let's do a trail with Harley, and invite our friends that have the three wolf puppies that Harley loves so much.' As soon as we'd awoken our friends and shared the idea with them, we packed up lunches and wrapped on layers. Our friends were right on time and we loaded into our van and hit the road.
The wolf pups didn't take the car ride any better than Harley does, not being used to going. Harley's only now strong enough to participate in a family hike, although we still keep it shorter for him. The wolf pups are only five months old and it's difficult to travel with three wiley explorers without help, so they weren't used to traveling, either. But, everyone made it and was glad to get out at Connell Lake.
Frozen over but not quite solid, the lake's beauty made us all take a long gaze over its entire surface. The dogs all sniffed as much space as they could in the shortest amount of time, making me nervous of their stepping on the tempting span of white. Soft spots could be seen and the edge was only about three inches thick with water underneath. Not safe. With children and four young dogs, I knew it was bound to happen to one of them, and sure enough Han Cook, the black wolf pup broke through the ice near the shore. He just hopped back out but it made me call everyone away from the edge. The wilderness is wonderful, but no matter what the time of year, it's wise to use common sense for safety.
"It's always fun ‘till someone loses an eye..."
Parts of the trail had ice and snow, the latter of which was easier to walk on for both species of mammals traveling it that day. Four straight days of sunshine had all but melted the recent four-inch snowfall we'd had, and in the night it had re-frozen in slick packs across the trail. We came by very large dog-like prints - unusually large, that is - that consistently had blood from one foot. A dangerously constant dripping that soon soaked the foot, leaving an entire bloody print. The injury was apparently getting worse from walking on it, and we hoped it was a pet that would be take care of and not a wild animal going off to die somewhere.
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