(Not so wordless) Wednesday

Hazel and I had an awesome evening together last night. We dropped off the little human to her Daisy meeting and then hit the trails that just so happened to be very close to the host's home.

I was SOOO excited because I have never explored this side of the mountain. It's very cool finding new trails after living in this area for so many years. That's what I love about "my" mountain. It goes on and on for miles, through different communities and with countless trails. No run ever has to be the same!

We started out at 4:45 and it was still quite hot, so we had to take it easy for the first couple of miles. I HATE running in the sun and I don't want Hazel to overheat, so we took a couple of water and shade breaks.

When we finally reached the backside of the mountain, we were shielded from the sun and blessed with shade...yes!

As we were climbing to the highest point, I saw a group of people and a dog coming down, so Hazel and I did our best to move over to give them room. Out of the blue I heard, "is that Hazel??!" I was dumbfounded as I looked into the eyes of a stranger and replied, "yeeeeessss....and how do you know her?" Turns out she and her daughter got very attached to Hazel when she was at the county shelter. They were volunteers who used to shower her with love, and spoke of pictures that they still have of them cuddling with her. That made my day and warmed my heart so much!!!

Our county shelter is SUCH a cold place..it's a concrete hell hole and with such a high euthanasia rate, an incredibly, incredibly hard place to volunteer. I have so much respect for these volunteers who give their heart and soul to these precious beings, never knowing if they will ever see them again. Because it's not a "rescue", you never hear adoption updates, or have the ability to see the animals in their new life. (The lucky ones who make it out alive that is). I could see the joy on their faces, and don't know who was more grateful-them, or me. It's nice to know someone cared about Hazel before she was rescued. The "pound" is such a scary place-to know she wasn't always alone makes her stay there a little easier for me to bear.

Our peacful,love filled run became a little more hurried at the end. Because I had never been on this trail, I had no idea how long it was. We were so close to the summit that I did not want to turn back without making it to the top. (and neither did Hazel!) We pushed ourselves upward. I had to pick up the little by 6pm and realized we only had twenty minutes to make it back down-yikes! We ran our butts off to get back in time which is easier to do when it's all downhill and then flat!

We made it on time to pick up our little-whew! We will definitely be back to this area, as we saw numerous other trails to explore!

Happy Wednesday!!