Our camping plans were spoiled by the threat of severe weather last weekend, so Charlie and I spent the weekend at home and did a few local hikes instead. The weather didn't turn out to be as severe as predicted, but the humidity was high.
I hate camping in humidity, so having to change our plans turned out to be a good thing:
Heat + Humidity + Bugs + Bug Spray = Sweaty, Unhappy Heather
Anyway, the humidity did end up affecting me on our Sunday hike. I was clipping along at a good pace, it was mid-morning before the temps got too hot and we were under a thick canopy of shade trees with a pretty strong breeze. And yet, after 30 minutes of hiking my head was spinning and my hands were shaking; I had to stop and sit down, eat my granola bars, drink my entire bottle of water and just plain rest.
I cut our hike short and headed back up the trail to the park where I found a section of shoreline (away from the swimming beach) where Charlie could play fetch in the water for awhile and expend her energy.
The water in this reservoir currently has an outbreak of blue-green algae, which is toxic to dogs, and I had been trying to keep Charlie away from it during our hike. Luckily this area in the weeds seemed to be clear water; I could see all the way down to the sand, so I figured it was a safe spot to swim.
Charlie agreed.
*VIDEO:
After a long time of stick throwing, she still didn't want to leave. I actually had to start walking back to the parking lot without her because she wouldn't come out of the water. Every now and then I'd turn back to make sure she was coming. There she would be, about 50 feet behind me, watching to see if I would turn back and let her swim some more.
And even though she put on this pouty show of wanting to stay, she immediately fell asleep on the front seat of the car on the way home. Silly girl.
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