The ups and downs, twists and turns, fortune and misfortune of a lengthy adventure always come back to Tolkien, don't they?
In The Lord of the Rings, he wrote, "'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'"
Last week, we were swept off our feet—and paws.
Our Sunday began in the rain and ended in sunshine before night fell. We were in Carmel Valley and hiking one of our favorite trails. We return to it yearly, and it offers a thousand feet of elevation gain on a 4.5-mile loop.
The scenery is stunning, and the tree tunnels and lace lichen make for an enchanted ramble.
I've been more cautious with Samwise this year. He does well with flat walking but tends to follow on the uphills, which is new for him.
While I know he's aging, something has left him since he romped on Thoreau's Great Beach on the Outer Cape with Emily…
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