Face to Face

Charlie begged me to go as I tossed on my coveralls. I knew I should wear snowshoes but...

I knew Charlie should stay home
but...

I'm not always smart, see? I thought I would just take a short hike and walk in my tracks from last week. Charlie would be fine. Really he would. I pointed at him with a mittened hand. "I am not carrying you! So don't ask. You can do this right?"

He gave me that adorable look that I cannot refuse. 

Of course!

We made it to the creek bank and just as we were going to drop down about 20 feet into the creek, Charlie started to shake like a leaf and he tried to climb my coveralls. I reached down and scooped him up. 

I looked over to the fenceline that marks the end of my land and the start of Gary's land. Both ponds and the tiny falls were frozen solid. I wanted to climb down there and take a look.

Around the huge roots of the old cottonwood tree and rocks came a large coyote. He/she stood and stared at me. 
Well now. I knew it was breeding season and I know coyotes will grab a dog in their territory. They are much more aggressive towards dogs during their mating season. 

In the blink of an eye the 'yote turned and disappeared upstream. Of course, it made sense. The snow is less deep along the creek the frozen water makes for a great trail.

I fired a warning shot with my pistol and saw the 'yote bound eastward and up through the woods.

I set Charlie down and he had none of it. Nope. He was going to climb up my leg no matter what. 

Coyotes and Gunshots! Are You Kidding Me?

"Charlie, you chose to come along. I told you that you would be snow swimming." 

I watched for a bit and then we dropped into the creek. I hobbled along with a long dog clutched in my arms and trudged through the snow. I berated myself a bit in not wearing snowshoes and bringing Charlie. However the poor guy hadn't gone on a walk for nearly a week. 

I put him down again so he could follow my tracks over the ice and snow while I negotiated some tricky footing.

"No Charlie, you said you'd be good. Oh poor Charlie, you are shaking!"

Well, at least this time he wasn't off and running trying to find every smell and dig out any suspect voles under the snow. He was a cling-on. 

Our hike was extremely slow with me picking him up whenever the footing was good. 

I sat for a bit on a boulder and pulled dog treats out of my pocket. Poor fella was still pretty nervous. Dog treats always make things better. 

We made the trek to the other end of the creek and headed up the forest trail. I kept carrying Charlie and plunging through the deep snow. Each step reminded me of why I should have put on my snowshoes and why I should have left my dog at home.

"Cardio work out Charlie!" I said as we climbed the steep hill. "This is a good one!" It was hard. 

We got to the meadow and Charlie found a well trodden deer trail. He raced ahead while I admired the wispy clouds in the sky.

We approached the house and Charlie raced like the dickens to the porch and sat at the door until I arrived. I cracked open the door. Charlie sped through without a backward glance leapt onto the couch, and promptly laid down with a sigh.

Dismissed, human.