Boulder River Rampage

It was one of those days I just wasn't going to be messed with. Most people know this is not usually the case, because I really suck at laying down the law. But this day I was sick of nobody taking me seriously... this day I was a force to be reckoned with. (My friend Debbie always gets that saying mixed up, so when she's mad she'll boldly announce, "I am NOT a force to be reckoned with!!"; which of course gets her giggles instead of the holy fear she is looking for)

As you could have guessed, it was my kids that got me into this mood; but it was poor Kayden (a friend of my oldest daughter) who got caught in the wake of my fury. I was determined to get a hike in, because I had been denied the last few weeks. I was leaving at 1:30 pm, and that was that. I invited Kayden to come along, and I let her know the deadline. She called at 1:30 to let me know she was on her way. I told her I was sorry, but on the way was not good enough, because we were leaving. I still feel a little bad about it; but I'll confess it felt a little good too. I've always tried to suppress my inner bitch, but I'm finding sometimes she's really great to have around. She just needs to be controlled is all.

Summer and two of her friends were coming, and now that I had an extra seat I decided last minute to take my other bitch along--my dog, Lexi. I don't usually take her hiking with me, because just like my inner bitch; she is not easily restrained. But she really needed the exercise, and if there was ever a day I felt up to showing her who the alpha was, it was today.

Cute bridge alert!

It took us a little over an hour to get to the trailhead, with Lexi whining and acting crazy most the way. This is a really popular hike, and it was a nice Saturday, so I wasn't surprised to find cars lined up for probably a quarter mile. There were a ton of little kids, and little dogs...just what Lexi wants to dominate. That, combined with Summer and her friends running ahead of us, made Lexi even crazier than usual. I honestly wanted to choke that dog for the first 3 miles, and I promised myself this was the last time I was ever taking her with me.

The girls wanted to go down to the water at the first falls, but there was no way I could take Lexi down there with all those people. When we got to the second falls, we had it to ourselves, so we headed down and got some good pictures.

After that, I made the girls go a little farther on the trail, until my odometer said 3.5 miles. (to make a nice even 7 miles for the day) Heading back, I finally felt like I had Lexi under control--my "calm, assertive" self was kicking in, and it felt good. I told the girls to go on ahead, and that we would meet at the first falls that we skipped on the way up.

3.5 miles...we get to go back now!

When I got to the falls, I saw a few people down at the water (but not too many) and I figured the girls were already down there as well. As I headed down, I took Lexi off leash because it was just so much easier to scramble over the rocks that way. When I got to the water, I found no girls. This made no sense to me. How could they not be down here? I yelled for them (screamed is more like it) and looked everywhere--even asked the other people. No girls. My calm assertive self was going out the window fast, and my hysterically panicked self was coming on full force. I headed back up to the trail, even though I was sure they couldn't be up there, and then Lexi took off. This of course added to my hysteria. I was on the verge of tears, yelling for the girls and the dog, heading down the trail, when they finally came into view. 

I greeted them with a very welcoming "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!" They seemed shocked--they explained they simply didn't notice the falls and kept going. (which was exactly my point...how could you possibly not notice the falls?)  Though, I had to admit it made a lot more sense than a triple kidnapping--why do our minds always go to the worst case scenario? Summer said when Lexi came running to them with no leash, they figured I had fallen off the cliff. Love makes us worry...and even though I had to apologize for getting so angry, the other girls assured me their parents would have showed them just as much loving rage. 

I also had to apologize to Lexi for being so impatient with her; I mean, she did sort of end up saving the day when she got the girls to turn around and find me. And so, I think hiking lesson #31 could be either literal or metaphorical: Don't be afraid to take your bitch along, because you never know when you may need her.