Madonna Mountain

Kris dropped Heather and I off at the bottom of Madonna mountain today for a hike while he ran errands in San Luis Obispo (SLO).

For those of you who don’t live on the Central Coast of California, Madonna mountain is actually a large hill (though its real name is Cerro San Luis or San Luis Mountain and is one of the ‘Nine Sisters’ along the coast) situated between Los Osos and San Luis Obispo.

Heather and I were going to hike the Lemon Grove trail around the mountain and then meet Kris at the pet boutique downtown. It was Heather’s birthday the day before (I had forgotten!) and I wanted to get her a special treat.

When we pulled into the parking lot at the trail head it was packed. Lot’s of dogs, hikers and mountain bikers. But the mountain was big enough for all of us. We only passed a few other people on the trail. The trail (actually all the trails on the mountain) was hilly!! I climbed a lot!

But I had an advantage. I put Heather’s backpack on her and put both our water bottles and my tube of sun block in it. So I was hiking light and she was weighted down. Which brought our paces closer together. She was pretty slow at some points.

After a particularly steep climb we stopped and I gave her some water. She actually drank it! Surprise surprise.

Once we got around the mountain and joined the main trail back to the parking lot we ran into a lot of other dogs on the way up.

One couple had a little fluffy dog and I thought, ‘This is an awful big hill for that little dog to climb.” But I doubt its owners were going to hike the whole thing. I stopped and asked if our dogs could say ‘Hello’. The lady asked, “Is he a nice dog?”

What a stupid question! No. My dog is mean and I just wanted to stop and let her eat your little dog for a snack after her long hike!!! Duh!

“No, SHE is very friendly!”

“What bred is she,” the dumb lady asked.

I said, “The shelter said she’s a chow/border collie cross.”

“Oooh,” she said as if she was trying hard to be polite, “What a lucky find at a shelter.”

This lady’s energy was bothering me and now I was suspicious that she’s a dog snob and wouldn’t think to get her fussy little dog from a shelter.

So I said, “Oh they have all kinds of WONDERFUL dogs at the shelters. You’d be surprised at what you can find.”

She just smiled wanly and I said, “Well have a good day.” And I started back down the hill as the bitch continued up. (The lady I mean. Not the dog. The dog seemed sweet.)

When Heather and I got to the bottom we jumped on the trail that led to downtown SLO. We stopped so I could see if Heather needed another drink. It had been a long time since our last water break and I knew I was parched. But in true Heather fashion she wasn’t interested at all.

We walked into town and met Daddy who had finished his errands and was enjoying a couple beers at one of our favorite pubs. Then we took Heather to the boutique and picked out a new (girly) collar and a birthday bone. She met lots of nice people and I think she was happy to be back on flat land!

Long story short, we ran two more quick errands on the way out of town and spent the rest of the day quiet together at home. (By the way, when Heather got home she ran to her water bowl and drank it dry!! Go figure!)