Part 1: A Peaceful Hike
Today I took my Mother for a hike on one of the beautiful trails on the outskirts of our city. Her first day of retirement was today and we both wanted to set patterns of spending more time together and enjoying more hiking.
It started out perfect. The temperatures have been heading into the 50's and the rain of the last couple of days had let up. As the norm is on a trail so close to the city, we encountered several other hikers. A couple of nods, a few hellos, and if your hiking with my Mother you always wind up engaged in conversation with someone else at least once per hike.
Today it happened that we came across a smiling woman with the sweetest little dog. My mother and I are both animal lovers and my Mother couldn't help commenting on her dog. We soon uncovered that the dog was a shy little rescue very leery of anyone but family. We took note and tried not to make eye contact with her so she wouldn't be nervous. My Mom also has a shy rescue dog so I was afraid their conversation might go for eternity. They shared their stories and then I gently encouraged my mom to let the woman be on her way and we continued on as well.
While I'm out in the forest quite often, my Mother usually needs an invitation from me to take the time. She reminds me of a kid as we hike along. She seems to marvel at every other curiosity we come across. I'm the same way though so it works out just fine. We haven't had much of a winter yet and there are still lots of fungi hanging around. She was really enjoying hunting them down.
My mother and I don't spend too much one on one time together and our hikes are a way for us to take that time. No better place than in the forest to enjoy some peace and relaxation and reconnect.
Part 2: The complete and total DOUCHE BAG
Seeing that my Mom doesn't get out on the trail too often, I find myself teaching her some of the etiquettes of hiking along the way. The hike that we were going on was a loop trail. As we were walking up to the trail head a woman was about 30 paces in front of us. As my Mom took up behind her I reminded her that it would be courteous of us to take opposite route rather than be right behind our fellow hiker disturbing her peace with our conversation. For myself and pretty much every other hiker that I know, part of what we seek on a trail is the peace and serenity we find. Being courteous of one another can make the experience pleasant for all.
Engrossed in conversation we rounded one of the last bends of trail on our little hike. Suddenly out of no where we were startled by what sounded like an animal charging up full speed behind us. We both instantly turned to see what was going on. Just then a dog comes barreling through us and shooting off into the trees after some birds. I doubled back peeking around the bend to check for a human that this dog may belong with.
Mind you the trail we are on is a strictly leashed dogs only trail. While this is a rule, I still always encounter people on the trail that think it doesn't apply to them. For the most part they will call their dog to their side if they see another hiker in their vicinity.
As I looked back around the bend and made eye contact with the couple I was assuming they would do the same. The dog continued to race back and forth, shooting past my Mother and I as it terrorized the birds. While I am not normally a confrontational person I decided to ask them if they would please leash their dog. I was met with a piercing stare and told that his dog was "just fine", "he comes up here all the time". I told him that his dog was "not fine" and that it was being very disruptive to both of us as well as the surrounding environment.
At this point the couple are approaching us standing in the trail. As the man walks up to us he basically tries to shoulder check himself through my Mother and I. I was so upset by then I couldn't help but comment on his self centered reality. He laughed and kept walking. I was fuming. We were on a trail with a sheer drop on one side. While I always make my Mom take the inner side of the trail, either of us could've lost our footing with his maniac dog charging through. Before I could regain my footing both literally and figuratively, as we followed behind this pompous jerk, I noticed another no leash dog ahead. A giant doberman standing next to it's people.
At this point said douche bag starts shouting for his dog who is down racing through the ravine doing who knows what. The dog comes barreling back up and teases by the doberman. The doberman's owners fortunately by that time had their dog secured, but the "just fine" dog was circling and racing around playing the "you can't catch me" game with douche bag. The doberman seemed to be getting very agitated. On top of what had already gone on I was now worried that there would be some terrible dog fight that my poor Mother would have to witness.
After what seemed like forever douche bag finally grabs his dog, forces him to the ground and secures the leash to one of those claw type choke collars around the dogs neck. By now my Mom was traumatized and we were both in utter disbelief. How had our lovely little hike turned into such a very stressful disheartening experience.
I could write and entire commentary on why your dog should be leashed on a trail and it appears that I have now found the poster child for why as well.
As we walked to the car I was sad that the precious time I had just spent with my Mother had ended this way. I thought about the shy little leashed dog we had met and how traumatizing it would've been for her and her owner to come across douche bag. I don't feel like I want to go back to that trail. I feel like somehow my history of peaceful relaxation it gave me has been robbed. I often am alone on that trail and dread encountering that man again. Maybe I'll get over it, maybe I won't. Maybe next time I'll just bring a taser in case I come across that crazy off leash dog. Not for the dog though....for his douche bag "owner".