hiking with Trigger

Saturday I took Trigger on a big, long walk... to make up for the sad lack of walks all week.  We walked from my house - to the top of the Y - and back (we take the alpine trail).

It was perfect weather... cool, humid, overcast.  It had rained the night before so the world felt clean - and smelled good.  (I wish they really could bottle that odor... fresh rain, wet dirt, sage brush and a few wild blooms... ah, heaven).  The clouds were hanging low and misty on the mountains.

And between the rain the night before and the forecast of more rain, the trail was pretty much dead, even on a Saturday morning.  There were only a handful of people out and the only dog we met was Trigger's doppelganger.  (Same color, size, features, temperament...  it was almost disturbing.  I wish I'd taken a picture, but I was too busy talking with the owner - her dog is a rat terrier, beagle, austrailian shepard mix... maybe its Trigger's mix too).  I did get some pictures of trees, though.  They're inspiration pictures for paintings.

Here we are at the top...

 Trigger says "thank you, mom!"