Backpacking Trip with Mia

I had a few extra days to myself before heading back to school, so I decided to take a backpacking trip with Mia up around Mt. Hood. Mia has proven to be a spectacular trail dog. Our first day, she and I hiked 14.5 miles climbing 6500ft. elevation gain, and she barely broke a sweat. I didn’t even bother keeping her on leash. Mia stuck right behind me on the trail, occasionally taking the lead, but never straying more than 10ft. away. When other people approached us on the trail, she hugged even tighter beside me. One time, however, we came across an older couple sitting down beside the trail, and Mia plopped her paws up on the lady’s lap to say hi. The woman politely gave Mia a pat on the head, and we moved on. I told Mia, “You’ve got to be more careful around strangers. You never know, that innocent looking old lady could’ve been an ax murderer.” Mia didn’t seem convinced. Mia also tackled her first major creek crossing. I hopped across on some rocks. She whined, pacing back and forth for a while, then charged across. Mia isn't a big fan of water, but at least she’s learning not to be afraid of it. We camped beside hidden lake, where we took a quick spit bath in the creek and called it a night. Mia, of course, wanted to sleep directly on top of my sleeping bag with me. After pushing each other around long enough, she resorted to hunkering down beside my face in front of the door to keep watch. We peeled out early the next morning and were home before 10am. I wonder where we’ll go exploring next together.

At 9000ft. elevation, Mt. Hood looked quite amazing

Good thing Mia doesn't have allergies, nonstop sniffing up there

Mia's first major creek crossing

Trying to work out sleeping arrangements in the tent

Ahhhh, much better

Mia took first watch while I read some National Geographic