Reflections on Week 1

Friday we made it to Edison WA wrapping up week 1 of 25 of our journey. By my estimates we logged about 55-60 and given the week we had, I’m pleased with our progress.  
The Launch

Our sendoff Saturday the 10th at the Peace Arch Park was great. Folks from five states were there including two of our PUPS (Chris & Hope & Lori & thanks to Valerie for helping plan and coordinate), Erick with TAGG, and Sarah Charney the veterinarian oncologist from Boundary Bay Specialty Hospital in Vancouver.  
Iliopsoas 
Unless you’re an extreme backpacker you’re prob unfamiliar with this anatomical reference. It puts the G in grind and the work in twerk.  It’s a subset of pelvic muscles that are quite possibly impossibly capable of being trained.  But after a few days with a fifty plus pound pack they hurt.  
But for me, the term is also a metaphor for what the onset of a massive undertaking is like. There are things that just can’t be planned for or anticipated. Like Hudson throwing up in our tent.

Yep, just two nights into it, I had drifted off into the good sleep only to be abruptly awakened to the sound of retching.  Hudson had vomited earlier that Mother’s Day morning and I didn’t give it much thought since he occasionally has a heave and a hurl and seemed fine from then on.  But after five more times in the tent Sunday night, I made the decision to pull him from the road for a few days rest.  

Google v Reality

Planning our route from Memphis is a whole lot different than getting up here and scouting out the terrain.  I had planned on a more direct path but road conditions sometimes dictate otherwise.  
To be sure, the options are kinda limited since I-5 is the only direct highway from border to border so I anticipated zigging and zagging until we got to Southern Oregon at which point we’ll pick up 1/101 the rest of the way.  But I’ve made the decision to stick the shoreline as much as possible because they be mountains up here.  Speaking of….
Chuckanut
Only in my world would our first great technical challenge be a mountain named Chuckanut.  
And though it did try to toss us a few times, its native name means long beach and even on the occasionally treacherous stretches, we bore witness to some of the most stunning bay side vistas.  As well, the mountainside is lined with cascading waterfalls pictured nearby.  

It’s also home to Larrabee State Park, a destination point for anyone travelling in this area.  We took a days rest there and the beach on Sammish Bay was so totally alluring.

The whole area, including our time in Bellingham WA, now known to me as the City of Backpacks, reminded me of the Sirens of Shenandoah in the shadow of the Blue Ridge mountain back on our first walk.  I didn’t want to leave.

The people I met here are all so beautiful eclipsed only by the presence of their surroundings.  From the Bellwether Hotel to Boulevard Park to the Interurban Trail we picked up for a bit, this is a special place in the universe and I’m surprised I’ve been tempted so early on in the walk.  Indeed, Erick my walking companion for a few days remarked many times that this is a place he’d like to relocate to.  But the journey must continue…

Testing the Mettle

The first week is always unkinking – adjusting weight load, routes, and all sorts of last minute adjustments physically and spiritually.  It’s a curious truism one which I can only suspect because god’s just making sure you’re serious.

We were picked up Friday and transported to Seattle for the Petapalooza and it was great to spend time with Buddy and Ja-Cee, our PUPS up here in the area and their kiddos – Fonto & Sabrina.

In a few hours, we’ll be back on the road…. Until next time here are a couple of other pics to tide you over…

T Minus 4

Murphy’s Rain
Back when Murphy was undergoing his second round of radiation at CSU, I witnessed a rainbow from a sunshower and wrote about the Japanese expression ‘Mono no aware’ in a blog in 2010.  Down south we call that phenomenon the Devil’s Rain a phrase I renamed as to describe the hopefulness I felt beneath my tears.    
As Hudson, Indiana and I drove through the Cascades Tuesday morning and approached the Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 to Seattle, I was welcomed once again by Murphy’s Rain (top left photo).  That’s all I needed.  
The Drive 
After a tiresome 2,800 mile 40 hour drive, the Fuzzybutts and I made it from Memphis yesterday to make final preparations and get a lil R&R&Romping prior to our launch from the Canadian Border.  That’s a pic of lil’ Nana committing the cardinal sin of trespassing on Hudzer’s Altar.  Yeh, you can tell how well that went by his expression.  
Peace Arch Park
One of the first tasks on my list once we got there was scoping out the park where we’re having our launch this Saturday, high noon.  Never been this far north and west before and the only border crossing I’ve ever made on land was from Brownsville TX to Matamoros Mexico.  
There it’s all chaos with rows and rows of sputtering cars, a smoggy haze, and the incessant rapping on the window by Chiclet peddlers.  
Here it’s, well, peaceful and I found the inscriptions on both sides inspiring. Facing Canada, it reads, ‘Children of a Common Mother’, and facing the US, ‘Brethren Dwelling in Unity’.  
Recon
Task 2 began at 5:30 AM as I went to scout our route on the first stretch of our trek:  The Border to Everett WA.  Driving up Interstate 5 yesterday I became a bit concerned about the road conditions we’d be confronted with but after reconning this morning, most of my fears have been allayed.  There are some tough spots sure; shoulderless backroads lined with water-filled trenches as well as long spanning narrow bridges but all doable and we’ve seen this many times before on our first 2 Dogs adventure.
However, there’s a 10 mile track on Route 11 that presents considerable risk to our safety. Pic nearby.  High reaching cliffs on the left and a 50-80 foot drop off on the right with little to no room for negotiation.
This has me slightly worried but two things are in our favor.  First, sunrise is 4:30 AM on the west coast this time of year and when driving this stretch this morning, it was relatively desolate so we’ll have a few hours to get through it before morning school and commute traffic gets underway.  Second, it is not only perilous to pedestrians but cars as well so if there we do encounter traffic, it will be slow moving.  
But there’s a saying on the road, as in life I suppose.  Don’t walk 10 miles until you walk the first.  Or maybe that’s my saying.  I recall meeting a Marine on the trail and I always liked his perspective as we shared our many challenges on our travels.  ‘Impossible is just a degree of difficulty.’  
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Yer Big Dog’s Notes 1:  For the next six months, this blog is my journal of our journey from Canada to Mexico and this is where it’ll be posted first and from the road.  I’ll have limited time and energy to proof, re-read, edit, or even re-think its content. 

YBD’s Notes 2:  In 2010, Seattle was our last stopping point on the lecture circuit after the Austin to Boston walk and it was right before Murphy was due for his second CT scan back at CSU where we would ultimately learn that not only did his first radiation fail but a new sarcoma had developed on his nasopharynx.  

It’s bittersweet to be back here again and I couldn’t help but find a subtle irony in that to return here, we had to cross through the Bitterroot Mountains and the flowers that they’re named for.  Nearby is a photo, not mine, as they were not in bloom yet. 

What I love about the Bitterroot is it’s stubbornness to survive even in the harshest of all conditions.  It can live up to a year without water…

The Journey Begins

“There is no greater glory than a good piece of wood in hand, the path underfoot, your companions at your side and the call of the wild leading you on…”

– Yer Big Dog


TAGG

 I wrote sometime ago about still being haunted by Highway 40 out of Baltimore on the first walk. For some it’s like the naked nightmare when you’re in public completely unclothed and exposed or others the one about missing the final exam and failing the semester even years past graduation.

Mine is losing my boys. 
It almost happened on that highway.  I’d been given collars to test out for a potential sponsor. Slim sleek with a few bells and whistles I outfitted Hudson and Murphy with them and hoped they’d work but at that critical point – they failed and slipped off within 50 feet of 4 lanes of traffic traveling 60 mph.  
I had like four heart attacks in the time it took me to secure them.
That wasn’t the first time nor the last they got loose and during the 2,300 mile walk and I always imagined, no I hoped for a better solution than microchips which is basically, ‘you lost you’re dog,well maybe he’ll turn up when someone finds him.’
TAGG offers that kind of hope to pet parents and that’s why we’re partnering with them on this walk.  
Not only does TAGG have GPS tracking if your dog gets lost but you can also monitor their daily activity and they’re the only company that does that.  And while we’re on the road, TAGG plans on having contests for the pups with the most points though expect some stiff competition from the fuzzybutts.  We’re averaging around 500 per day!
Also the folks there have a promo called TAGG it forward and if you purchase a pet tracker you’ll get 10% off and they’ll donate $25 towards our cause.  Sweet.  Just enter 2dogs in the promo code.
Now that the sites are live, you can track the fuzzybutts as they walk the west coast on the awesome micro site TAGG has built for us at www.2dogsagainstcancer.com.  This is my first time using an iPad and I haven’t figured out yet how to hyperlink.  
Thanks to the folks at TAGG & for loaning us one of their teammates Erick who flew up for our launch to walk with us for a few days.  More on that later…  

T Minus Ten

Ten days from now we’ll set off from Vancouver on our second mission; a six month, 1,700 mile trek to San Diego.  Since my first such – Austin to Boston, I’ve come to learn that there are three points to every journey: to, from, and for. 

And those points you can’t find on a map as they are neither finite nor geographical in nature.   

——–

Recently I was going through the archives from our first walk that are housed in a storage facility in Memphis to recycle gear and supplies that were donated back then and I came across a box of 2012 calendars.  The one of me carrying Murphy’s lifeless body the final few steps.  The one most didn’t want.  


They were water stained and moldy and my first thought was toss em. But I couldn’t stand the thought of them being in some landfill, dumped and disregarded so I took them out with us camping out last week at Shelby Forest to recycle them as kindling.  

It was a metaphorical moment for me as I watched the calendar burn and I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s one of the points of this walk.  

——–

I miss my Murphy and maybe that’s my to, from and for.  

THE RIPPLE: Easter 2008

Three weeks away from Vancouver launch, the final countdown begins and I can’t help but think of our first Easter on our first walk which was spent at Granger Lake outside of Taylor TX with a haunted bridge and two 12 year old psychic detectives. 
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Easter 2008.  Granger Park
The following excerpt is from a blog a wrote recounting that day…

“There is truth to the saying that a fire warms the soul of a traveler and Easter night, we were fortunate enough to find a site at Taylor Park and have our first campfire. It’s a small but pleasant place where we met some endearing characters including a pair of twelve year old paranormal detectives, Alice and Bella.

Hudson and Murphy took to them instantly and we joined them for some sightseeing. One of the most curious sights was Hoxie Bridge, cranky, completely out of place, and yet reputedly haunted by the headless ghost of a murdered convict who helped build it. 
Hudson peed on it.”
——–
I’ve Seen This Movie Before
Later that Easter Day after our spooky adventures, I made preparations for the following morning then sank into a long, lazy mid afternoon slumber.  My repose was abruptly interrupted however by a flurry of activity: vehicles slowly driving around the campground, searching eyes, whisperings, and accusatory glares. 
It was all a bit unnerving so I sought out the mother of Alice and Bella and asked about all the hubbub.  “Oh”, she remarked, “One of the families can’t find their eight…..” I could already hear the alarm bells clanging around in Yer Big Dog’s head, “…. year old son”.  
“Damn”, I shook my head, “I’ve seen this movie before and the drifter is always the first guy to get blamed.”
——–
The Journey Continues
With three weeks til launch I find myself filled with excitement with a small side of nerves for the upcoming walk.  But it feels good to take a few and reflect on the stories from the first that made our adventures warm and rich.  
Happy Easter…
——–
Yer Big Dog’s Notes 1:  They found the boy asleep under a tree not long after the search ensued and boy, was I relieved.  

YBD’s Notes 2:  Never found out what became of Alice and Bella but they should be 18 now and hopefully on their path to becoming psychic detectives…

YBD’s Notes 3:  As part of our final preparations, we’re tightening up phraseology and branding henceforth I’m doing away with ‘Walk 2’ and ‘West Coast Walk’ as we feel it just doesn’t convey the importance of this undertaking.  We’re going with ‘The Journey Continues’…. And so it does.  

In Memoriam

I like this Latin phrase because it means ‘Into Memory’.  Not ‘for the’ or ‘because of’…

It presupposes motion.

This is the reason I’ve bound Murphy’s and Malcolm’s ashes together for the necklace I’ll wear on Walk 2.  The Mobius Strip has been much on my mind and that’s the inspiration. 

The West Coast Walk will not only commemorate but commence with and memorialize our loved ones touched by cancer. Their story is this story.  Like the Austin to Boston Walk, I will wear a Memorial shirt though unlike it there will only be two shirts not six.  

According to Red, ‘When you make a $30 donation in honor of or in memory of a person or dog we will recognize your donation to them here on our Memorial Wall, add their name to the Memorial Shirt that Luke will wear on Walk 2.  We will also send you the 2 Million Dogs BLUE pack of Toki Poki Pet Trading Cards includes pets that have had or currently have cancer. The unique packaging includes a topper and heart-shaped confetti that are made of seeded paper. Use them to plant and grow wildflowers in honor or remembrance of someone touched by cancer.’

And if you make that donation by April 23rd, you’ll be on my first Memorial Shirt.  

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YBD’s Notes 1:  I want to thank all of those on my Memorial shirt in walk 1.  At the time of the final mile I think we had 500 or more.  We walked with angels.  

YBD’s Notes 2:  I’ve now got a Red and an Ed in my life and am awaiting a Fred or a Jed to complete the trifecta.  

Is This Thing On?

Over the course of the next three weeks I’ll be road testing some new technologies to incorporate and use to maximize interactivity with Walk 2: The West Coast.

This is our walk, all of our walk, and we’ll broadcast it to as many and as loudly we can…
CANCER.TOUCHES.EVERYONE.

WALK 2: Fluid Dynamics

Now that we’re out of the forest and training on the Memphis Greenline, our focus this week has shifted towards pacing.  So why is that important?  
With my average stride, I can walk 3.5 to 3.75 miles per hour bearing weight, a fairly fast pace for the fuzzybutts… almost a trot for them really.  But one of the rules of the road is one must walk their walk.  Which basically means, you must abide by nature’s design of you.  
So since I cannot quicken nor slow my pace for extended periods, nor they, me, most of our training comes down to figuring out how a Man-Pyr (that’s YBD), a French poet and existentialist (that’s Hudson), and a Moose (that’s, well, Moosey) reach a rhythm on the road.  
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The Problem is Pyrs

I always thought it was god’s greatest joke on me that I choose to go on great journeys with one the most notoriously “independent” breeds. That’s how wonderful rescues like the  National Great Pyrenees Rescue characterizes them anyway.  I have my own sobriquet for Pyrs, crasser and truer to my southern roots, and one that could and should equally apply to me, too.      
Such as it is, pacing is a partnership and that’s why it’s of paramount importance at this stage of training.  
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A Matter of Metrics
To attain our 25 week West Coast Walk, we must average a little over 12 miles per day. From our work last week and this, I now know that 6 miles per two hours is a comfortable pace for us.  That includes a 15-20 minute break halfway and a few ‘stop and sniffs’.  
But with a laggard and a leader… I’ll let you guess which is which… the science isn’t always that exact.  
A partnership presupposes many things, but what’s most important to its success is fluidity and I feel like Hudson-Indiana-Luke, our little Industrial Puppy Complex is making great strides towards…
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Yer Big Dog’s (YBD’s) Notes 1:  I am pleased with our progress and preparation over these past few weeks, although we’ve had a few hiccups throughout… More on that later.

YBD’s Notes 2:  This week is gear training and filming the Trailer.  

The Road

Is a curious thing.
It forgives and forgets

It punishes and at times,
Demands pay

Whether footsteps towards
Or footsteps away

No certainty
Not on any day

Those that step
Must accept

There are no manmade laws
Just the awe

Of living on The Road

——–

YBD’s Notes 1:  Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.  This poem was inspired by the Irish saying, ‘May the road rise to meet you.”.  

YBD’s Notes 2:  Bollocks.  

YBD’s Notes 3: The Road represents the path in life you take.  May YOU rise to meet The Road.    


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