Failure to launch

Hello Everyone, 

On the one hand, I get it. I'm a worrier too. You might not think so, given that my daily routine often involves barreling down a mountain and occasionally dodging bears. But those are risks I feel I can control. I worry a lot for those I care about precisely because I can't control those risks. For whatever his reasons, Arthur is also a worrier, only he worries about getting left behind, and being fed. But mostly, being left behind. 

And that is why I won't be doing the Seven Summits trail tomorrow.

At least, not all of it. I'm going to try to do the first bit, but my plan to leave Arthur with a dog sitting service fell apart about an hour into his meet and greet today. They called me while I was in the grocery store, and I could hear him barking in the background before they said anything. He was very stressed and not calming down. 

When I went to pick him up, the lady said he was in great physical shape, so you know, yay for trail running. But she said he couldn't stay there for the day. Just wasn't working out. She gave me the numbers to a couple of places in neighboring towns, but I figured he's not going to do any better there, so I just left it at that.

He's always had separation anxiety, perhaps due to his early life, or it could just be his make up. But for the last 6 months, he's not had to be alone for longer than it takes me to run into a store to grab a few things. And even with the dog walking service back home, he had Sophie there for comfort. Now, he's got only me, and he's certainly not home.

All of this leads me to breaking one of my rules for this trip. I'm going to get up early tomorrow. Before dawn, in fact, while it's still cool, and I'm going to head to the trails to get a few hours in before the sun starts baking.

I would be frustrated about my situation, but it's not like I haven't been able to ride a lot of great trails so far. And like I said, I'm a worrier too.

Wes

Photos 

The first is of Arthur fetching a stick from the Columbia river, with beautiful Trail, B.C. in the background. There's a video of him jumping off the dock on my Instagram feed, if interested. This was taken this morning, just before we went to see the sitter.

The second photo isn't showing up on my screen, but I think that is just because my connection is bad. If you see a second photo, it's of my location for the night. I'm staying at the only campground in Rossland, just outside of town. I was riding my bike around the outfield of a baseball diamond, working in new brake pads, and took this picture of the hills surrounding me.