Saying Goodbye to Bandit

August 13, 2018 we said goodbye to our Evil Rat Dog, Bandit.  He succumbed to congestive heart failure at the age of 13. 

Bandit's philosophy of life was a very simple one, he was just happy to be here.  No matter what, he would always wag his tail to let you know he was a happy dog.  

Bandit began life in a puppy farm, he was a pretty boy and was destined to be a stud.  But that was not his nature so the owners of the farm scheduled him to be put down, we took him in. 

I brought him home in his carrier and when I reached in to pull him out he bit me. That's we I gave him the name Evil Rat Dog.  He was afraid. Barbara took over and over several days coaxed him out.  This is how we learned that he was a timid dog.  It took many years for us to help him get his self confidence built up, but eventually he became our fierce little guard dog.  No stranger was ever let in the house unless Bandit first let them know that he was watching them. 

 

Bandit didn't know how to play.  He would watch us play with Opie and Mocha and want to participate but never really understood.  He was about 8 when he jumped down off the couch during a play time and charged up to me, so I would play very gently with him.  It only lasted seconds, but he tried.

He loved his older sister Mocha, when she passed he was pretty heartbroken. He would follow her on all of the adventures.  It's hard to believe that this little dog could hike ten miles in a day over rough terrain. 

He always participated in every activity that we would do. 

He was just happy to be here. 

No matter what crazy adventure we went on.

He was always on guard.

He would put up with about anything except getting his nails trimmed.  The vet put a little red tag on his chart to let the techs know that when it came time for a nail trim you had to be extra careful, or suffer the consequences. He pretty much got over the biting thing, but he would let me know that he was concerned about something because he would grab my finger in his mouth and chomp down, not real hard, just enough to let me know he wasn't sure about whatever was going on.

Bandit lived an adventurous life and was loved.  He will be missed. He was our good natured little boogie bear. 



Led by Sheep

That is the name of the route in Zion National park that we climbed.  When we say we are rock climbers people envision a lithe young person with straining muscles hanging from a ceiling or on the face of some monstrous mountain.   That's kind of the NFL level of rock climbing.  We are more the junior high school version.  Or maybe I should say the old folks home version. 

The theory behind rock climbing is that you use equipment to protect yourself in the event of a fall.  Everyone falls.  You trip over a toy in the hallway, you have a few too many at the bar and fall off the stool, you ride your bicycle too fast around  corner.  As you age you learn to predict instances where you fall and ways to avoid falling, it hurts. 

I grew up in western Colorado.  We have big things to fall off of.  Houses were on hills and had stairs.  Boulders along creek sides where we fished.  Falling on rocks hurts. Ski hills that we raced down.  I learned at an early age it is not good to fall. 

Barbara grew up in flat Florida.  No stairs, no hills, sand to fall into.  As a result she has less fear of falling than I do.  This makes her a much braver rock climber than I am.  I am ok with this.  Actually quite proud of her achievements.  I feel no shame saying that she will be a better rock climber than I am. 

So as we find ourselves delayed in Kanab, UT we are looking around for things to occupy us while our truck is repaired.  Our Rock Climbing Guide book describes an adventure climb in Zion National Park.  It has 4 pitches (4 levels).  On the rock climbing scale of 5.3 to 5.15 it is a 5.5.  Translated to a scale of difficulty where 1 is not difficult and 10 is nearly impossible this one is a 2. Right up our alley.

It's just over a mile to hike to the start of the climb.  Part of that hike is over some sandstone rocks that are a challenge all by themselves.  Scary in it's steepness, double so because you free solo (climb without protection) about 200 feet up.  It's not terribly difficult, just scary.  Most 13 year olds would have a good time scampering up.  Most 60 year olds will take a very cautious 45 minutes to accomplish the same thing. 

Doesn't look to hard huh!  The next picture gives a little different perspective of the same area. 

Once we actually started the climb we felt much better. Roped up and in harness tied into fixed protection spots adds a great deal of comfort.  We may get hurt if we trip and fall, but we aren't going to die. 

Barbara takes the greatest risk.  She has to climb sections between the protection.  That scares me. 

After climbing a couple of pitches we take a little break and look around. 

The view is amazing. 

After we climbed the four pitches there was a little exposed scramble to get to the top.  There was lots of really loose rock that looked like it would tumble down easily. 

With a lot of adventure climbs there is a registry at the top.  It's fun to look and see who else has made the effort to climb to these heights. 

Barbara always gets really excited to get to the top. 

Me, I am just happy not to be hanging 400 feet up in the air on the side of a cliff. 

This is a test of the blog spot to see if it has changed enough to make it easy to edit.

I like skiing when the weather is really bad.  Wind blowing, colder than sin, can't see, but the snow is fresh and deep.

Paulina Peak

We had a day off so went adventuring to Paulina Peak south of Bend, OR.

What we didn't count on was the road still being snowed over. 

So we back tracked a bit and found a lava tube to explore.  These are lava magma flows that go through an area and develop a hard top, however the river of magma continues to flow through the tube hardening a shell on the outside of the flow. .When the magma goes away you have a tube left.  Most of them crumble over time, but a few have endured and they make very easy caving experiences

It's usually a very hike to get to the entrances. 

. So down we go. 

Photography is a cave is difficult.  Lighting issues. 

After the lava cave we went to another area that had a cinder cone.  This is an area where the magma came up and then flowed over an area.  

Years later you still have a wasteland looking area.  However you will notice trees starting to grow among the lava. 

Tumalo Falls

We had great expectations of a nice hike headed up to Tumalo  Falls SW of Bend, Or.   As we were driving up it began to snow.  We were under dressed and didn't make it too far before we decided to end the chilly hike.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument w/ Norah, Howie, and Toby

We took a day trip and met fellow Camphosts Norah and Howie at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  It was overcast and windy so we all wore jackets.  It was interesting to learn about the fossil beds and some of the finding that have been made.

Howie is awesome, he climbed the hill even though he only has one lung.

Steelhead Falls

Steelhead Falls is a little west or Terrebonne, OR  on the Deschutes River.  Short mile hike from the parking area to the falls, a beautiful canyon.