Zuko vs. Cows

This past weekend we went on an epic hike out in the East Bay. Sunol Regional Wilderness is HUGE with stunning views and amazing hikes and very dog-friendly. It is also very hilly, hence the "epic" part of it. It was steep uphill, back down, back up, back down. After 2.5 hours the whole pack was beat.

Epic Views...and Epic climbs

Happy Zuko!

Still, little dude had a great time splashing through mud, climbing extra hills just for the sheer fun of it and was admired by many other hikers (and only asked once if he was a fox). Then he saw the cows.

"What the bark? What iz that??"

Zuko has never been that close to a cow before - and he was fascinated. There babies with the herd and while these were all females, there was one big black cow that looked like she would be happy to step on a little dog if he came any closer. Which he did. He'd inch forward little by little...until the big cow took a step toward him and he RAN the other way.

"Why u coming at me? - RUN!!"

Immediately after, as if to show who is REALLY the boss, he peed all over grass tufts in their field and then peed on a barbed wire fence. Take that!

"I WIN!"

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's humom

Zuko vs. Banana Slug

Apparently slugs are beneath the notice of a Shiba Inu.

Oh my gosh! A huge Banana Slug!

Zuko: "huh?" 

Zuko! That slug is gonna getcha! 

I tried to get Zuko to look at it, sniff it. Nothing. He sat and watched the woods for more dangerous things. After the slug's antennae touched Zuko's foot, the slug retreated a bit. Zuko was still looking around at the woods and looking at me like I was an idiot.  

The he stood up and before I could stop him, he stepped on the slug's head. THEN he noticed it for a second and trotted away.

"There are more dangerous things for me to hunt out here. Slugs are not important. Now where did that squirrel go?"

-- Posted by Zuko's mom. I regret that a slug was harmed in the making of this blog post.

Belmont Twin Pines: Adventure

Somehow even in a small city park, I can lose the trail. I am not really sure how I do this, but Zuko and I get lost  and / or end off the path when hiking all the time. Luckily the Shiba Inu is a mountain breed originally and Zuko loves climbing hills, rocks and whatever. Usually he's at the top waiting for my on my pathetic two-legs to catch up with his superiorness.

It was raining a bit in the Bay Area today so we went to Twin Pines in Belmont. It is less exposed and more covered, but very small. There is a creek area and this is where I lost the trail.

Let's go! 

We crossed the makeshift bridge and came up the other side - and there was no trail. Oops. We blundered through and found it again. We kept going - and what would be a hike with Zuko without finding some random oddity? We found ruins of a building at the end of the path.

These fall colors help me camouflage, right? Oh - and there are ruins here. 

We did manage to safely find our way back to the car. ;-)  But given our natural "tendencies" when hiking, our upcoming Yosemite trip should be very... um, interesting....

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's "the road less traveled" humom.