Our band of adventures. We've made it through a few gates and technically we are hiking on the wrong side of the river, but eventually the trail crosses to this side and I didn't want to be bothered to switch shoes for the river crossing. We managed to get everyone including the camera and tripod into this photo!
We have to walk quite a ways down the valley before we start any significant climbing, but what is really amazing is that we walked in and out via this valley and didn't manage to take a single picture of the cows! This side of the river is private property and there is a huge herd of cows. Many of the cows have crossed to the other side as well, but this side had a bigger concentration. Walking through that many cows made Dawg more than a little nervous. He gave them a wide berth. I grew up in cow pastures so it didn't seem like too big of a deal as long as we avoided startling them. However, it did give me pause when we came across the bull. He was standing in a creek right where we needed to cross. I approached slowly and he slowly walked out of the way, all the while giving me the stink eye. We got past the bulk of them without Dawg peeing his pants. Perhaps the "cattle-dog" needs more experience around cattle!
Once past most of the cows we stopped for lunch. Dawg disappeared out of sight for a bit which is very unusual. He was free from his pack and having a look around. I guess he figured we originally wanted a black and brown dog and was trying to help us realize that dream. Dawg had found an enormous cow pie. Fresh, runny and managed to cover every part of his body in it. When he returned he was completely covered, including his head. He had completely changed his color and smelled to high heaven. I said "Dude, we sleep in the same tent with you!"
Fortunately, we are hiking along a river. So I took Mr. Stinky Pants down to the river's edge. I found a deep pool and started throwing sticks in where the bank was vertical and nearly 2 feet down to the water. This caused Mr. Stinky pants to dive in and completely submerge. I repeated the process until he was mostly clean. I then took him to a beach area and scrubbed up a few remaining problem areas.