Smokey would be pissed!

Well, I decided last night after a particular hazy run to not go into the park today. The weather is great, clear in the upper 70s, but the smoke from wildfires has kept the whole area in a pretty hazy state. Yesterday seemed to be better, but I went for a run around 7pm and the smoke had gotten worse (probably shouldn't have been running).

So instead I went for a short hike on a trail I had not been on and checked out the sled dogs that the Park Service keep. It was fun, but the temperature seemed too hot for the dogs even, as many of them were napping hard or panting like crazy. They are beautiful dogs. I may become a walker for them and take a dog for a walk at least 3 times a week. For how lean and sleek these dogs are they weigh upwards of 80 or 90 pounds. Needless to say this is due to the exceptional amount of muscle mass they maintain from towing sleds around the park and the fact that they like to eat the pea gravel around the site :)

On the way home I saw a few very curious wild hares. They came pretty close, which was fine until I noticed that the last one was armed with eyes that shot lasers. So I got the heck out of there. I stopped at a little coffee shop and did some writing that had been on my mind and drank 3 cups of delicious coffee. With any luck I'll be able to get onto the last whitewater rafting trip of the day. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Hopefully next week the smoke from nearby wildfires (the rumor mill puts the number of wildfires at around 50!) will have cleared and the Park will provide some beautiful pics!