Mara returns to the Mountains

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, I have a most wonderful little story to share. I thought it needed a thread of its own, and I dared to post it under Earth's Living Things (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?128-Earth-s-Living-Things) — which seems a little grandiose! But I wanted this to be available for everyone to see.

For those who may be unaware of the history of injuries and problems besetting Mara, my dog, it's all chronicled in a members-only thread called Mara's travails (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?111548-Mara-s-travails). I'll summarize all that immediately below, because a prequel really is needed.

For longstanding members who know all about this already, skip ahead to the section below headed Mara returns to the Mountains.
:happy dog:

Mara's Travails

She's now 10 and a half years old, the equivalent of a 63-year old human. But in her younger years she was a Mountain Dog Supreme. She was fearless, agile, had extraordinary stamina, and accompanied me on all my mountain explorations, going as high as 15,000 ft in the local mountains.

First, back in 2019, she injured her eye. The vet did all he could, but couldn't save her eye. However, just one eye worked fine for her, and she never had any problems judging distances when leaping around on the rocks. It wasn't really a handicap.

Then, in 2020, she had two surgeries (having fallen out of the rear window of my 4x4 into traffic :facepalm:), and had platinum tendons grafted into both her hind legs. After that, we embarked on a rigorous rehab regime, where at first she could only walk 100 meters or so, but then 150 meters the next day, then 200, and so on. A few months later she was back in the mountains again as if nothing had happened.

And then, OMG, last year (2022) she lost her other eye. Once again, the vet tried his best but could do nothing. She was blind.

I fixed up my house with soft foam padding on every sharp-edged door and table leg, while she learned her way around using her nose (and memory) only. Pretty soon she wasn't bumping into things any more, but clearly her mountain days were over. She'd had a great active life, and was now retired. The transition was harder for me than for her, as I had to learn to be in the mountains all on my own. That was tough (it really was), but I adapted, and so did she.

I trained her to be happily at home on her own (in the garden, at first safely tied up, but later free to roam), for 4 hours, then 5, then 6, then all day — allowing me to venture out on longer and longer hikes, all by myself. She was quite happy. And every day I;d take her for what was now her only hike, a few hundred yards down a dirt road where there were never any vehicles, which opened out into a large open sloping field where she could run around quite safely. She navigated everything superbly, trotting along the dirt road like she was on tramlines. If she veered off course a little and bumped her nose into any vegetation, she'd just course-correct and continue.

Mara returns to the Mountains

She was doing so well that I began to dare to wonder if she could ever go into the higher mountains again, if I could just somehow find the optimum place which would be safe and had minimum obstacles. I carried the thought for months, and eventually scoped out a route where I was hopeful she just might be okay, even if just for maybe 5-10 minutes.

So yesterday, summoning all my courage, I asked some friends to come with Mara and myself, their presence an added safety factor in case anything suddenly went wrong. And my friend's teenage son had a drone, so he was excited about using it to make a video of the whole thing.

Well, we had a most wonderful, wonderful day. The video is below. We went miles, climbing a full 1000 ft, and all of Mara's doggie mountain memories came right back to her. We didn't encounter a single issue. Apart from the fun (and superb!) drone footage, my helpful friends were redundant. Now I know Mara and I can repeat this any time we want to.
:happy dog:

Do take a look at this video. If short on time, you can skip around and dip into the different part of it. It's all something quite astonishing. It's almost impossible to believe that Mara is 100% blind.

There are three sections to it. In the first we were just setting off. I was watching her really carefully, but there wasn't a single problem. It was all fairly easy ground, on mountain grass, thick in places but without a real hazard anywhere to be seen.

The second section kicks in at 1:51. This is now all very different. Now we're on a rocky path by a large waterfall, with steep drops not too far away. I never for a moment thought we'd ever get this far, but Mara was totally happy. Watch this with the same amazement I was feeling when we were there.

There's just one tiny section at 4:06 where I have to help her up a steep little rocky step — which of course she could not see. Then at 4:46 she finds a little pool of water in the stream which she immediately heads for and sits in — as she always used to, every time, in her earlier mountain days.

Then, at 4:56, we emerge into a large open grassy valley with a huge beautiful lake, surrounded by rocky mountains. It was a cloudy, gray day, but in the sunshine this is a magical, spectacular place to be. This is all at 13,500 ft, now way above the treeline. We went half a mile further than the end point of the video, and we could have gone further still, but by then I was so flabbergasted by the whole thing I wanted to make absolutely sure we quit when we were winning.

Here's the video. Be amazed. Remember, Mara is 100% blind. It's a large file (220 Mb, 7 minutes), so it may take a while to buffer and load. (It might be faster to download it and then play it on your device. A big screen is an asset. :) )

:heart:

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4 (https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4

[Pam]

Oh Bill, I will never be able to express my joy seeing her back in the mountains. I am so glad you had the courage to attempt it and am absolutely blown away at how well she is doing maximizing her other senses to compensate. You have your hiking buddy back!!! It is just amazing how well she is able to navigate and this is her first trip back!!!! This absolutely made my day to see the two of you together doing what you both love. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Give her a big hug for me. She is a very special girl and you have been the absolute best buddy she could ever have.

[Kryztian]

Thanks for sharing this with us Bill. So happy that your hiking companion is back with you, enjoying all the scents and sensations of nature again. And what beautiful hiking trails those are!

[angelfire]

What a wonderful recovery she has made to be able to accompany you again on mountain hikes. Am so happy for you both. :happy dog:

[pyrangello]

Way cool Bill and way cool for Mara, these are the experiences in our lives that make it so special being here. I'm so happy to see her doing this, they are truly amazing . Here's a pic of my last lab I had to say goodbye to last week, her name was Snoop, she couldn't walk with her hind legs anymore, she was 16. Her breathing was getting much heavier as well. It was time. ........ I would like to say she was about 1 when she showed up at my shop door one day, her and another dog. She had a 8 ft pony rope tied to her neck and I could see her ribs. I fed her and let her sleep in my office for a week, she never wagged her tail once. I decided to take her home to my other labs, it took her a month to go down the hallway of my house she was so traumatized from her past growing up wherever she did.. I ended giving her a home for the next 15 years, what a great pup she was. Thanks for the video :)

[grapevine]

I LOVED that Bill. My only criticism would be that it wasn't long enough! And yes, it's hard to believe that Mara's blind; she must have a sixth sense and also helped by the sound of your voice and feet/sticks on the walk. My palms got a little damp when she went too near the edge (bet yours did too), and I noticed her tail wagging a few times showing her enjoyment. The scenery itself was spectacular. Was it the same lake where the strange atmosphere was, as mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago?

[wondering]

Well, Bill, what a wonderful thing....thanks for sharing. So good you followed your hunch and took her out again....I'd love to know what she was thinking...✌️❤️😁

[Pam]

pyrangello, I am so sorry about your loss. The very strange thing is she looks like a female version of my boy, Booh that I lost almost a year ago. We would drive to locals where we we could hike and I always remember looking at him in the back of the car in my rear view mirror and thinking he was the most beautiful dog in the world. Believe it or not, I still cry every day about losing both my dogs within months of each other. I miss them and love them so much. She is a very beautiful girl. I like to think of them in a realm where they can wander, sniff and do all their dog things in a beautiful environment. Dogs have been my greatest joy and comfort in this world. They are so very special in so many ways. She had a good long life and I am sure she was deeply loved.

[Mercedes]

Thank you for posting this Bill, this is soooo goood to see!!! She looks so happy wagging her tail, enjoying the walk it's just wonderful to see her enjoying, smelling, feeling, thank you for this uplifting post. :heart::happy dog::heart:

[Mercedes]

Way cool Bill and way cool for Mara, these are the experiences in our lives that make it so special being here. I'm so happy to see her doing this, they are truly amazing . Here's a pic of my last lab I had to say goodbye to last week, her name was Snoop, she couldn't walk with her hind legs anymore, she was 16. Her breathing was getting much heavier as well. It was time. ........ I would like to say she was about 1 when she showed up at my shop door one day, her and another dog. She had a 8 ft pony rope tied to her neck and I could see her ribs. I fed her and let her sleep in my office for a week, she never wagged her tail once. I decided to take her home to my other labs, it took her a month to go down the hallway of my house she was so traumatized from her past growing up wherever she did.. I ended giving her a home for the next 15 years, what a great pup she was. Thanks for the video :)


Always good to read great stories like this, thank you on behalf of that beautiful puppy you rescued, they never stop being puppies. :heart:

[wondering]

Dear Pyrangello, Such a beautiful dog - Snoop's face is a joy to look at...you must miss her very much and she is so grateful. In some way we don't really understand she is talking about what a great experience she had with you and how very lucky she was.

[Arcturian108]

Bill,
I loved watching the video, and thought that maybe the trail had a human scent that she picked up on? What a joy to renew a custom that you thought was long over!

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Lovely Bill, thanks for sharing that. Mara's amazing. Dogs have a remarkable capacity for recovery, they really do. It requires a loving human hand to make it happen, but they can bounce back from almost anything. Dogs truly are gifts to humanity and they should be treasured as such. So pleased to hear you and Mara can once more enjoy hiking in the mountains together!

Although...that steep ledge. I'd have been to scared to let her off the leash!

:happy dog:

Slight pity the video had no audio though, would've loved to have listened to the sounds of that rugged, beautiful landscape. Looks much like Scotland!

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Here's a pic of my last lab I had to say goodbye to last week, her name was Snoop, she couldn't walk with her hind legs anymore, she was 16.

Very sorry to hear of your loss. But you did a wonderful thing taking her in, and giving her the life she deserved. And what a life. 16 years! :shooting star:

[pabranno]

Beautiful. This is beauty. There is beauty in life. Thank you for sharing that. Makes my heart so glad.

Pamela

[Mari]

This is beautiful. I can see she's finding trust in herself, her abilities - her hearing, smell, direction and sense of where she is. But most importantly, she trusts you. And after this 'initiation', you can begin to trust her.

Well Done!! :happy dog:

[onawah]

That was a wonderful surprise, to see Mara wagging her tail so happily, just trekking along and even showing you the way!
I hope there will be many more such adventures for Mara and you to come.
Thanks for sharing, Bill.

[Pam]

At risk of going off topic, I have been thinking about the way you raised Mara, Bill. I have spent my whole life with dogs, done huge amount of volunteer work with them and fostered dogs, till I found them a good home. I was thinking of the many strategies and the courage and compassion you have used in dealing with her health issues and or injuries. How graciously you have handled this.

I don't think I have ever known any dog person that had the skills and courage you have demonstrated with the way you carefully dealt with each issue. Always, to her benefit in the end. Always moving along with her at her pace to give her the maximum benefit and opportunity to be a dog. I personally, would have been weakened and made ineffective by my emotional responses, you did the opposite. You carefully and intuitively led her to maximize her life with the senses she has and look at the miracle of the whole dang thing.

No matter how hard it was on a personal level you did the best and well thought out plan to give her the best quality of life. You really have been a role model and example for me on a personal level with your dealings with her and the hardships you two have gone through. As I recall, and it is not any of my business, but I seem to recall that you have not always had dogs and yet you handled this in a most beautiful way.

I am even looking at this at a fractal level and have learned a lot from you in other areas of my life in the way you have dealt with her. The balance between emotionality, practicality and unconditional love. Your sharing this story has had a big effect on me at a number of levels.

You have inspired me to the point I feel like I could return to the fostering of dogs again, possibly with dogs that have physical conditions inspired by you patient, common sense approach. You restore my belief in the potential of humantity, which has been deeply challenged of late. What if each and every one of us took on a task like you have with Mara, what a different world this would be.

Ok, now I promise to step off the soap box...It is just so nice to feel the beauty of humanity paired with sentient beings. So dang uplifting.

[pyrangello]

Yeah thanks everyone , I've had to put down 6 dogs in 3 years, 3 in the last 6 months. Got a bit tough there. One was a chiuwawau ( inherited after mother in law passed )named gringo, he was 18 or 19 , he also too became blind his last year. But even at that, he would still go out with the other dogs and play with the other ones too. We never moved anything in the house so he knew his coordinates. Thats why watching this video with Mara was so special , they say dogs can smell 200 times more than us. You can only imagine what other senses Mara was using on this hike. Bill she's truly a special friend. Thanks so much for that video again.

[Icare]

Oh Bill, that's just wonderful. You can see Mara is enjoying herself and she feels safe with you. Thank you for sharing, this is so heart-warming! :happy dog:




And Pyrangello, I'm truly sorry for your loss. Losing a pet is like losing your best friend. I'm happy you gave your Snoop a loving home for 16 years. I have been told we get to see our pets again when we cross over and I like to believe that's true, so this was good-bye, but not farewell I trust. :heart2:

[shaberon]

I remember about the second eye, at which point I said I had a cat that was double-enucleated in about the same way, and since he basically did fine, I thought Mara the dog would come round.

Mine was just a loafing house cat and that was what he continued to do, nothing remarkable like this.

It is more common for cats since they get glaucoma rather easily.

If an animal is not in excruciating pain, then, yes, a second chance when they can't see or walk right or whatever their disability is, yes they probably can adapt and it is worth a try rather than putting them down. Vets are much better than people doctors! In some cases every day is a gift thanks to them.

[JackMcThorn]

My favourite stories are some of those that occur in the mountains. It is such a risky and unforgiving place even to those souls with experience. I have only lived near some hills a few times in my life but the allure of the mountains is quite strong. I am mostly drawn to the many stories, books, and movies, of savvy risk-takers and their adventures. Adventures that I might never engaged in even in my younger years had I lived near any truly impressive mountains. My forms of risk were quite a bit different [they involved motorcycles for about 29 years - otherwise I would consider myself a rather -low risk person] and I think to myself how truly lucky I was during all of that fun. Even these quick updates of the mountain life are still interesting and a pleasure to read. The draw of nature sure can be powerful; an aid to the mind and body. Cheers for you and Mara's good fortune and continued improvements in well-being to be able to explore such a thrilling location.

[Sadieblue]

Thank you Bill for sharing, what a beautiful place, and Mara did such a wonderful job in the mountains, I must say I held my breath a couple times, but she came through for you. She is such a beautiful dog.

[Islander12]

That is fantastic news Bill…Way to go Mara!

[Isserley]

Somehow, I expected such an outcome - that Mara fully adapts to the new situation... :muscle: She is doing really well walking the path, well done! :sun: ..and another thing, this is a wonderful, Shire-like place you live in Bill. It is a pleasure to even look at that nature, let alone live there :inlove:

[Heart to heart]

Bill
That story of Mara lifted my heart today. Thank you so much for sharing your walk into the mountains. I was with you all the way.
She is an example to us all!
May you have many more times together along the road less travelled
Wishing you both much joy❤️🙏❤️

[Ernie Nemeth]

So happy for you and Mara, Bill!

Incredible senses dogs have, to rely on smell and hearing to such a degree. Truly a marvel.

Congrats on her remarkable recovery.


That scenery is amazing. Made me yearn to see the mountains again.

[Tintin]

:heart:

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4 (https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4

Wow, wow, triple wow with, with an added wow on top ❤️ I'm just 03:40 something through this beautiful film and I'm genuinely moved. I'm just a little lost for words really ❤️ :bearhug: Bless. bless dear Mara, her mountain dog spirit; simply the loveliest thing I've seen for weeks. Thanks so much for sharing it with us :happy dog: (< in the absence of a happy Tintin emoji, this'll have to do)

Never give up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc). The most life affirming moments shared here :flower:

[Denise/Dizi]

OMG such beautiful footage of the first outing in a very long time together (Of great distance)... It must have done both of your hearts good to know that this part of your past, can now still continue... I can only imagine how happy both of you were as you walked up the trail together... Her knowing that you would still see her as a valid walking companion, and you, knowing she still wanted to go... And could!

Here is to many more years of trail hiking... With special companions!

Much Love to you both!!!!

[Johnnycomelately]

Heartwarming story and vid, Bill. May you and Mara have many more good such outings.

And heart warming comments, everybody else who has posted above. Lots of love here, and I add my own.

[jc71]

Best bit was when Mara sat down in the stream at the top of the waterfall :)

JC

[Harmony]

:star:This video was like a fabulous ending to a movie. There at the end Bill and Mara both looking up, their hard work and focused attention, with dedication and love, what a great achievement.:heart:

Like the best love stories, adventure movies and real life dramas, the ones where challenges and hardships were overcome, keeping your eye on the goodness and when all seems darkest, yet somehow all ends as it was meant to be. It's the journey that is what really matters. Just imagine how boring a movie depicting a couple that sit on a beach drinking cocktails for their whole lives would be, nothing learned and nothing gained for their long term forever journey.:bigsmile:


Please give your dear friends our thanks and love Bill for helping make this dream so wonderfully shareable with a real birds eye view. I think we are all so happy and proud of Mara and Bill:dog::grouphug:

[Jamie]

The video was wonderful, such beautiful scenery! :inlove:
What amazed me most is you say Mara is 100% blind, yet she led the way for 80% of the video.
Truly heart warming and amazing.

Mara is a lesson to us all. No matter what happens to you in life... don't waste your time focused upon the loss... just steadly move onwards.
Just Brilliant :clapping:

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, thank you so much for all your very wonderful comments... I'd not expected such a response! It was just a happy and delightful small thing that I thought might raise the spirits of a few readers who, like me, are sometimes discouraged by events elsewhere in the world.

I can't reply to everyone! But here are just a few footnotes I can add for those who may be interested.

Yes, she's 100% blind. But she has a kind of proximity detector: :) if she's on a flat surface, like a rocky trail or a dirt road, and then her nose hits a bit of vegetation, she knows that's the boundary and then course-corrects to get back on the tramlines again.

You may have seen that occasionally I also gently touch her (e.g.) on the left shoulder with my trekking pole. That's a sign to her that she needs to steer to the right, away from the touch of the pole. So if there's a potential hazard, I can easily reach out and guide her a little that way.

Yes, there'll have been all kinds of smells and scents on the trail that humans have no idea about. Not just humans on foot (who go there rarely), but llamas, alpacas, foxes, the occasional puma (yes, really: I see their scat sometimes) and every now and then a local on horseback.

Miller asked (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1573235&viewfull=1#post1573235) about the Haunted Lakes., which I've written about elsewhere. That large lake at the end of the video isn't haunted (not at all!), but the Haunted Lakes aren't far away. To get there, one repeats the rocky trail to the top of the waterfall, but then rather than heading straight on (north) to the large lake, one turns left (west) for several miles, going up and over a remote high ridge. We'll not be going there alone anytime soon. :):).

Many commented on the truly magical (Shire-like: yes!) beauty of the surroundings. (And yes, it's often much like Scotland.) I do know I'm very blessed here, and many of you will know that I venture into the high mountains all the time. I'll post a few photos of other places below — all high-resolution, squeezed to fit the page here and which may take a while to load, and best viewed on a big screen.

Some of the vistas take my breath away, especially when the sun is clear and bright, bringing our all the pastel colors. :heart: (I claim no credit for them: I have a simple, cheap little pocket camera, and it's all about the light.)

All this used to be the huge open playground that Mara freely ran around in every week, but (I think!) despite this remarkable breakthrough success, we're still limited in where we can safely go. I chose the hike I showed in our video because apart from the rocky trail near the waterfall, there were no hazards at all, like low spiky branches (dangerous for her eyes and face), tricky rocks to scramble over, and so on.

The vegetation you can see in the video was almost all soft, billowing alpine grasses which she would kind of wade through or scramble over with no problems at all. That whole open high valley (shown at the end of the video) is like that, with a whole bunch of other lakes up there as well, so there are many places we can go next time.

The weather is pretty gray at the moment (this is El Niño's fault, as it's meant to be high summer), but Thursday looks promising, the day after tomorrow. If it seems sunny, we'll head up there again, but probably alone (i.e. not with my friends who have the drone) and see if we can go a little further.

Some photos of other places I visited a few weeks ago — with no dog. (But, who knows if we might just possibly be able to return there together sometime. :fingers crossed: )

Enjoy: :heart:

https://projectavalon.net/Magic_Valley_panorama_15.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Magic_Valley_panorama_11.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Santurario_long_hike_panorama_16_July_2023.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Santuario_Lake_panorama.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

And here's even more. :flower: The long drone video in my first post stopped when we reached the open grassy valley and the large lake. But here's the continuation, where we carried on for another half mile or more. This was taken by my friend's little 10-year old daughter on her iPhone, so it's only a couple of feet above doggie-nose-level. :) (She's super-athletic, an international swimmer already, and she runs around in the mountains everywhere despite her age and tiny size)

https://projectavalon.net/Pema_filming_Mara_sm.jpg

This is a much smaller, shorter video, just 18 Mb and 48 seconds. The pyramid-shaped mountain in the distance is called Quitahuayco, the highest in the region at 15,000 ft. Mara and I have been up there many times before, and I hardly dare think we might be able to do it again. There'd actually be nothing hazardous to stop her except that of course it's quite a strenuous climb. (But where we managed to get to, we were half way there already.)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_2.mp4

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_2.mp4

[palehorse]

what a great view Bill, she seems to be doing pretty well.

[palehorse]

The video was wonderful, such beautiful scenery! :inlove:
What amazed me most is you say Mara is 100% blind, yet she led the way for 80% of the video. :ROFL:
Truly heart warming and amazing.

Mara is a lesson to us all. No matter what happens to you in life... don't waste your time focused upon the loss... just steadly move onwards.
Just Brilliant :clapping:

These are beautiful words Jambo. Thanks.

[Michel Leclerc]

Thanks Bill, thanks everyone.

Yes Onawah – “and even showing the way” – that is also what I thought.

At my vet‘s, in the waiting room there are plenty of semi-professional magazines about dogs and about cats. About two years ago, I found an article which, Pyrangello, rated a dog’s smell at an even quite large multiple of the 200 times our smell that you mentioned. Also it mentioned that with a dog the order of importance of the senses is quite different from ours: instead of (1) touch (2) sight (3) hearing (4) smell (5) taste which would be ours theirs is really (1) touch (2) smell (3) hearing (4) sight and (5) taste. (And then obviously, but not be found in a “scientific" magazine, the sixth sense would be even more important than (1) for both dogs and humans.

That set me thinking. When we walk our dog in a city he/she never stops smelling at hundreds of spots - if we are so wise as to allow it. In natural surroundings it is a non-stop activity. And then I remembered what John Lilly wrote about dolphins. How they seem to consider our experimental set-ups to study their “intelligence” as game environments for them in which they “play us”, steering our behaviour and measuring how good they are at it. So – what if..

An adult speaker of English who also reads and writes English masters about 50,000 words. 50,000 concepts we may say, to make it simple. But these concepts are based on our language, spoken through our vocal chords and related to visual representations of it. What we call intelligence is completely dependent on language. We carry around an encyclopaedia of sound and visual representations with which we juggle – which is called thinking. What if – a dog carried around an encyclopaedia of 50,000 olfactory representations of reality items, sets, aspects, [B]and thinks with it? Thinks with the smells like we think with specific sounds and images – relating them to each other in vast complexes of associations and... reasonings? What if a dog is really like a dolphin and plays games with us?

My dog Basile walking me is then, to him, a continuous refreshing of his library so to speak, updating his database, considering whether changes need to be made to his strategies and assumptions in dealing with the world, and me.

The dog coming to us for help does so on the sufficient ground (sufficient to him/her) that we can be counted on to share the same absolute priority and importance given to the 6th sense – and from this mutual recognition all the rest: the love given and taken, follows.

To get back to topic, when I watched your video, Bill (now I have understood that a drone can also be used to applaud and stimulate love instead of just curiosity) I was under the impression that Mara “just remembered” that road. She knew it and walked it and yes, lead the way. You gently prodded her from time to time with your walking stick.. well, looked at it from above (!), it looked like she was a guide dog for the blind and you were the blind human with an oddly coloured cane! The fact that I even had this association is a testimony to the intensity of your bond. Then there was the place where you had to help her up the small ledge. There was clearly a small request for a little help directed at you. But the impression I got was not one of “What do I do now?” but one of “Bill, I’m blind now, can you give me a hand?”

Maybe a little imagining things but I still think she is continuously reasoning on the basis of her encyclopaedia and so finds (almost) all answers. (Because I can see similar things with Basile – who is not (yet) blind.)

In one sentence: since I have come to consider that Basile is as intelligent as I am, I have noticed that he has started to treat me as more intelligent than I used to be.

One last thing. There is one thing I have learned from the video as I anticipate Basile’s approaching blindness – and you Bill, have certainly come to that conclusion as well. It might be wise to organise her walks on the basis of how well she knows them from experience, having walked them with you before. Or conversely, it might be a strategy not to to try and do entirely new tracks – unless of course no danger were involved – so that she herself would recognise them as “easy to the blind dog I happen to be now”.

After all, she can certainly “see” in Castaneda’s understanding of the word.

[Sérénité]

Oh Mara :heart:
What a beautiful thing to watch! Her little tail wagging as you guide her onto the right path is just priceless.
Our dogs truly are furry earth angels that come to bless our lives.
Thank-you for sharing such a beautiful and heartwarming journey 🤍

[Tyy1907]

God bless our companion animals ❤️

[Bill Ryan]

Folks. here's a hot-on-the-heels update that has astonished and delighted me almost as much as our breakthrough mountain hike I shared here the other day.
:happy dog:

We did it again yesterday, this time with no support team (therefore no drone!), and we were easily able to go even further up the high grassy valley. It was a really hot blue-sky day, so I planned the route to include plenty of water. :) We were on the move (or in the water!) for a full two and a half hours.

Here's a large, high-resolution panorama that shows what it was all like:

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.jpg

And here's a 2 minute video, a compilation of half a dozen short clips. This was all way beyond the rocky path by the waterfall that leads up to the broad valley, which we again negotiated with no problem at all.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.mp4 (64 Mb)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.mp4

And finally, some light relief — sort of! I've encountered puma scat many times (for non-English speakers, this is the scientific term for poop), but I've never seen a puma itself, or even a print. But yesterday our trail was covered in crystal clear puma tracks that looked very fresh indeed. It was probably just a few hours ahead of us (or maybe less!), and might even have been watching us all the time.

Look at the size of this giant cat's paw: :worried::bigsmile:

https://projectavalon.net/fresh_puma_print.jpg

Back to topic, I'm just so, so delighted and thankful — because now it's clear Mara and I can do this any time we want to from here on out. I agree with the suggestion that it's smart to pretty much repeat the same hike for a while, so that Mara becomes completely comfortable with it all. Though looking at the video, you can see (a) how comfortable and happy Mara is with the entire thing, and (b) that once again, it's truly hard to believe she's 100% blind. (But she is.)

I'll probably not continue to update this thread with endless videos and photos, or it'll start to get monotonous. However, if we get to go to anywhere remarkable, (or maybe meet the puma :P), I'll be sure to share the new experience.

:heart::heart2::heart:

[Icare]

Thank you, Bill, I love this. :heart2: I love how happy she is, sitting in the water , rolling around, wagging her tail, and how easily she follows the sound of your voice.

The puma trail and scat added a bit of adventure to it. :) Having said that, I do hope you will never have a direct encounter with a puma.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Lovely vid - Mara looks in her element.

But the puma. That's essentially a mountain lion -- not a creature you'd want to stumble across. Do you have adequate protection, just in case?

[Ernie Nemeth]

There was a point where Mara was in the stream and wanting to find a clear path up the bank. She stops still for a moment, and casts about, turning her head slowly from one side to the other. Then without hesitation she moves to her right a few steps and does indeed find the best path out of the water and up the bank. What is it she 'saw'? The wind a little louder where the vegetation parted to allow the clear path? Or was it the grasses she was listening for and where they were not rustling? Could it be some sort of difference in smell that showed her the way?

In any case, it is amazing to behold.

Please do post more when you feel the urge...any time, really

[Eva2]

Folks. here's a hot-on-the-heels update that has astonished and delighted me almost as much as our breakthrough mountain hike I shared here the other day.
:happy dog:

We did it again yesterday, this time with no support team (therefore no drone!), and we were easily able to go even further up the high grassy valley. It was a really hot blue-sky day, so I planned the route to include plenty of water. :) We were on the move (or in the water!) for a full two and a half hours.

Here's a large, high-resolution panorama that shows what it was all like:

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.jpg

And here's a 2 minute video, a compilation of half a dozen short clips. This was all way beyond the rocky path by the waterfall that leads up to the broad valley, which we again negotiated with no problem at all.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.mp4 (64 Mb)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_2.mp4

And finally, some light relief — sort of! I've encountered puma scat many times (for non-English speakers, this is the scientific term for poop), but I've never seen a puma itself, or even a print. But yesterday our trail was covered in crystal clear puma tracks that looked very fresh indeed. It was probably just a few hours ahead of us (or maybe less!), and might even have been watching us all the time.

Look at the size of this giant cat's paw: :worried::bigsmile:

https://projectavalon.net/fresh_puma_print.jpg

Back to topic, I'm just so, so delighted and thankful — because now it's clear Mara and I can do this any time we want to from here on out. I agree with the suggestion that it's smart to pretty much repeat the same hike for a while, so that Mara becomes completely comfortable with it all. Though looking at the video, you can see (a) how comfortable and happy Mara is with the entire thing, and (b) that once again, it's truly hard to believe she's 100% blind. (But she is.)

I'll probably not continue to update this thread with endless videos and photos, or it'll start to get monotonous. However, if we get to go to anywhere remarkable, (or maybe meet the puma :P), I'll be sure to share the new experience.

:heart::heart2::heart:

With all the daily, outrageous, negative news and events bombarding and dragging us down (at least for me), it is so refreshing and cathartic to read such a soul lifting, wonderful, post. Yay, for Mara adapting so well to her disability and still enjoying life to the fullest with her person. It really does warm the heart.

[pyrangello]

That's quite a cat print bill, better take a can of cat food with you in case that guy decides he wants something to eat,lol. Great pics, nice story, a big thumbs up for Mara, doesn't get any better than this.:)

[Dennis Leahy]

Thanks for posting the updates on Mara, Bill. It is truly uplifting to see her back in her element. She has been such an important being in your life (and you, in hers!)

Can she see light and dark? It sure seems like she can.

That BIG puma track should not be "ignored" (I know you're not ignoring it), and may be a strong sign to take a gun - quickly accessible, holstered, not in your pack - with you on your hikes. Certainly, a hunting puma would target Mara and not you. You'd maybe have 2 seconds, max, to fire a shot (warning, or deadly aimed.) I wouldn't want to face a puma with just a hiking pole to defend yourself, and a hiking pole won't save Mara from an attack. Compared to the extremely quick prey that this puma has been eating to get that big, you, and especially Mara, are easy prey, and the puma will immediately sense that.

You have been an amazing friend to Mara, and she is lucky to enjoy your company and love. To me, the big story isn't "Mara's travails", but rather Bill and Mara's friendship, your mutual love. It may be trivial in the big picture of what is going on in the world, but far from unimportant.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

If I knew there were things like Pumas running around out there (pointing vaguely at my front door), I don't think I would go outside! I've seen a number of hiking/cycling/walking videos where a dangerous animal appears out of nowhere. It's pretty damn scary.

One recently was of a coyote that appeared in front of a guy on a walking path. It was extremely aggressive (may have had pups nearby). He only saved himself by throwing rocks at it. Several more clips I've seen have involved bears. When I had a dog, I worried about crossing a farmer's field with cows in it (if one was a bull). Fortunately, in the UK, our wildlife isn't that wild!

The only time I've been truly fearful of 'nature' in the UK was on one occasion as a teenager hiking on Dartmoor with my brother-in-law in the dead of night. That was sketchy as hell, because in that neck of the woods there were spooky rumours of Black Dogs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(folklore)) on the prowl. If you know your folklore (and Britain's full of it), the semi-mythical Black Dogs inspired the famous Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles. Granted, these stories may be no more than a tale told around the fire in pubs, mostly by old timers over their pint, the ones with a gimlet eye, but when you're out on Dartmoor, miles from anywhere, in the pitch dark and howling wind...you can't help but wonder if, perhaps, that howling you hear is not the wind.

Bill, get a gun!

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/bad/mafia-mobster-smiley-emoticon.gif

[Pam]

If I knew there were things like Pumas running around out there (pointing vaguely at my front door), I don't think I would go outside! I've seen a number of hiking/cycling/walking videos where a dangerous animal appears out of nowhere. It's pretty damn scary.

One recently was of a coyote that appeared in front of a guy on a walking path. It was extremely aggressive (may have had pups nearby). He only saved himself by throwing rocks at it. Several more clips I've seen have involved bears. When I had a dog, I worried about crossing a farmer's field with cows in it (if one was a bull). Fortunately, in the UK, our wildlife isn't that wild!

The only time I've been truly fearful of 'nature' in the UK was on one occasion as a teenager hiking on Dartmoor with my brother-in-law in the dead of night. That was sketchy as hell, because in that neck of the woods there were spooky rumours of Black Dogs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_(folklore)) on the prowl. If you know your folklore (and Britain's full of it), the semi-mythical Black Dogs inspired the famous Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles. Granted, these stories may be no more than a tale told around the fire in pubs, mostly by old timers over their pint, the ones with a gimlet eye, but when you're out on Dartmoor, miles from anywhere, in the pitch dark and howling wind...you can't help but wonder if, perhaps, that howling you hear is not the wind.

Bill, get a gun!

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/bad/mafia-mobster-smiley-emoticon.gif

I love you and respect your wisdom, but this feeling of natural separation from the natural world is what I am questioning. Every sentient creature has its right to be a part of the entire scheme of things. The folly of humans is that somehow we deserve to avoid any of that.

The last foster dog I took in was a huge Siberan Husky. I mean huge. He had only been neutered a couple days before coming to live with me. I remember the day well. He was frollicking and feeling his dominance. I was working the property and he aggressively approached me. It was not about maliciousness, it was about establishing dominance and he was about to do that with me. He wished to be the Alpha in the household. I knew I didn't stand a chance against this magnificent beast. He was ready to jump me, and no doubt would have ripped me to pieces, if I had played the fearful weak prey role but I was sort of given inspiration outside myself to create a stance, a feeling of strength and surety. We stood , looking at other for probably 5 minutes. I sort of puffed out my stance and gave him direct eye contact. I projected strength and offered no movement. This of course is the antithesis of my real personality. At any rate, he lost interest in the dominance thing for the moment and I avioded an attack that might be quite normal in the dog world.

I don't believe in separation from the animal world. If I would have been mauled, well, it was on me. I chose what I did. Let's not separate ourselves from the natural world and the creatures that have manage to survive our holocaust against them. What right do we have to do that? I don't expect this post to be understood but it's all good. Still love you Mark, even though we have a disagreement on this level.

[Ravenlocke]

Hi Bill,
Thank you for this thread, that is really good news about Mara , she’s so enjoying this again and most likely even blind she can smell your scent in the places you take her since you been there many times. She looks so happy rolling in the grass and enjoying the water, I would be putting my feet in that water too.
Please do keep posting pics and videos from time to time, it’s so beautiful there..:flower:

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Let's not separate ourselves from the natural world and the creatures that have manage to survive our holocaust against them. What right do we have to do that? I don't expect this post to be understood but it's all good. Still love you Mark, even though we have a disagreement on this level.

Love you too Pam :heart2:.

I wouldn't ever want to hurt an animal -- or a human for that matter -- but sometimes that animal (or human) wants to and will hurt you. 'Nature' isn't all puppy dogs and butterflies, deadly threats exist too. There's a difference between a dog for example, domesticated in its DNA for many of thousands of years, and a wild cat like a puma. I'm not an expert on such matters, but it might be possible to stare down a puma and make it blink first, like you can do with a dog, but it's also quite possible you'd lose that contest. In that event, you might be dead before you get to blink again.

I think even coming from a higher, spiritual perspective, it would not be a sin to kill an animal (also a human) to protect and preserve your life. Self-preservation is hard-wired into us, it's perhaps our first, most basic instinct. To surrender our lives when it could be prevented -- I think that would be a sin. Yes, the puma has as just as much right to live as we do, so does a bear, a man-eating shark, or a rabid pit-bull. But if one of these animals was about to end our life, I believe it's our sovereign right, and I think our very obligation, to do everything we can to thwart it. Even if it means firing a gun.

[Bill Ryan]

Even if it means firing a gun.That's not gonna happen. :)

:focus:

[Bill Ryan]

Even if it means firing a gun.That's not gonna happen. :)

:focus:Actually, that might have seemed unintentionally a little curt (it was intended to be light-hearted :heart:), and so my sincere apologies (especially to Dennis) whose post (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1574028&viewfull=1#post1574028) was kind, thoughtful and full of rock-solid practical sense.

I've started a new thread, called Mountain Lions, Pumas, and other Big Cats (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121777-Mountain-Lions-Pumas-and-other-Big-Cats), where I've copied over several recent posts. It might be interesting to quite a few readers, and I'd encourage anyone to share personal anecdotes and even photos if they have them.

And if I ever see a puma, I'll share that too. :) I should add that in maybe 1000+ miles of high wilderness hiking in probably 100+ days since 2015, I've never seen a puma — just the scat (quite a few times) and last week was the first time I've ever seen tracks.

I've also searched on the net for any reported instances of puma attacks in Ecuador, and so far I've found none at all. I have a friend who speaks excellent English and who's a professional mountain guide, running the restaurant at the trailhead to the high grassy valley which Mara and I hiked to successfully twice now.

Next time I see him I'll certainly ask what he knows or has heard about. My guess is that he'll dismiss the danger. But I'll still ask him. :)

[wondering]

I appreciate your addendum, Bill. I was just going to ask whether "never gonna happen" referred to the likelihood of encountering a puma, or your choosing to use a gun to defend yourself and Mara. I like this answer much better!

[Bill Ryan]

I appreciate your addendum, Bill. I was just going to ask whether "never gonna happen" referred to the likelihood of encountering a puma, or your choosing to use a gun to defend yourself and Mara. I like this answer much better!



:heart:We might head out there again tomorrow, maybe not so far this time: I need to pace Mara's athletic mountain training quite well, as she's been in retirement for a full year. :) And I'd also meet my Ecuadorian mountain guide friend to ask him about pumas in the area.

For anyone who might be closely interested, here's a map. The area circled in red is the expansive, high grassy valley which we went to twice, all a super-easy and fun place for Mara to be. It's also where the puma might hang out, though apparently they travel VERY long distances and whatever left those large tracks might be 50 miles away by now, a dozen valleys distant.

The yellow dotted line shows the hike up to the waterfall (where the steep tricky rocky path is), and there'd certainly be no pumas in that initial section. The waterfall forms a natural boundary, the only entrance to the high valley, south of which it's quite close to a road and people.

So tomorrow we might simply head up to the waterfall again, and not much further. That's plenty enough for a 60+ year old dog (in human terms! :)) who's been doing comparatively little the last year since she lost her sight.
:happy dog:

https://projectavalon.net/Puma_territory_sm.gif

[wondering]

Does Mara get a treat packed for the hike for a rest period? And do you get a treat, too, midway? 🥰

[Bill Ryan]

Does Mara get a treat packed for the hike for a rest period? And do you get a treat, too, midway? 🥰That's so funny. Yes, on our last hike, encountering all the puma tracks, I had a whole bunch of fresh juicy chicken pieces in my backpack for Mara. I later wondered if carrying fresh juicy chicken pieces in my backpack in the heart of puma territory was such a bright idea. :ROFL:

On shortish hikes I usually take nothing for myself except a small plastic 12oz bottle of cold black coffee. (It works when you're thirsty and tired!) On really long hikes, I then (of course) take Ecuadorian chocolate, which is just the best. :)

[Tam]

You're making me feel paranoid, Bill! I take a knife, pepper spray, and taser when I take walks on my local trail.

Please do be careful, though! Seriously, pumas are no joke (I'm sure you know this). Bear spray works wonders, or at least something very loud.

Maybe it's a Texas thing, since there are so many dangerous animals actively out to get you (and cryptids, too!), but please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please PLEASE make sure to protect yourself and dear Mara as well.

There's always the possibility of a first case.

[Bill Ryan]

please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please


:heart:
A placeholder here. :) Mara had another great day, and for anyone who's interested I'll share some video and/or photos tomorrow. We went further north into the valley than I'd planned (it was just too gorgeous to turn back early!), and I saw the same XXL size cat paw prints again, but in a different place. The tracks I saw last week had been washed away by overnight rain. So he's still around, my strong guess would be during the night.

I met my friend Fabian, the mountain guide, who knows every inch of the area. He was interested and surprised at the tracks, but assured me that there was zero danger as pumas in Ecuador never go anywhere near humans. He told me that in 30 years in these mountains, guiding clients on remote hikes, taking them fishing and camping, going long distances on horseback, he's never once actually seen a puma.:cat:

[Bill Ryan]

A placeholder here. Mara had another great day, and for anyone who's interested I'll share some video and/or photos tomorrow. As promised. I truly understand that after a short while (maybe already!) all these videos will start to look exactly the same. I have zero expectation for anyone to view them! :)

But for those reading this rooting for Mara's full mountain rehab (which is surely complete now), here's another 2 minute video. Self-evidently I need a second person holding the camera, but despite the shaky cam you can get the idea of the lovely, wild and varied environment. And Mara is a real water baby, whether she can see or not. (She always has been.)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_3.mp4

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_in_the_Mountains_Day_3.mp4

And here's some light relief. :P Look at this, way in the distance on the skyline, taken with a telephoto:

https://projectavalon.net/puma_on_the_skyline.jpg

I wouldn't have been able to clearly see what I'd photographed until I got home, and it was a very long way off, so I watched it carefully with a tiny monocular telescope that lives in my pack. After 20 minutes of whatever it was not moving at all, I decided it was a puma-shaped rock. (And indeed it was. :thumbsup:)

(One's imagination can go all kinds of places sometimes :worried::ROFL:)

[Orph]

I truly understand that after a short while (maybe already!) all these videos will start to look exactly the same. I have zero expectation for anyone to view them! :) They may seem a bit redundant to you because you are actually up there in the mountains seeing all this for real. But for those of us that can't go hiking in the mountains, or have a pet, these pictures and videos are quite enjoyable.

[Vicus]

This could be a good companion for you and Mara:

Dogo Argentino
https://media.istockphoto.com/id/503731321/photo/man-and-dogo-argentino-walk-in-the-park.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=u0TGG0MfxQnHP5VRSI00HRvj7o3R7lME8ud_KL-eYAA=

The Dogo Argentino (plural Dogos Argentinos) is an Argentine breed of large dog of mastiff type. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Córdoba in central Argentina, primarily for dog-fighting, but also for hunting large game such as peccaries and pumas.[3]: 146 [4]: 340 [5]: 189 [6]: 140 [7][1] The foundation stock included a fighting dog of bulldog type, a Bull Terrier and a Mastín del Pirineo.[7]: 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogo_Argentino

https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image-film?page=9&phrase=dogo%20argentino

[wondering]

I wonder what Mara would think of having a companion? I remember that you considered that in the early days of her sight loss....is this something that you would consider, Bill? He looks like he could eat you out of house and home, as they say! 😁 It might be a wonderful thing....

[Mari]

This could be a good companion for you and Mara:

Dogo Argentino
https://media.istockphoto.com/id/503731321/photo/man-and-dogo-argentino-walk-in-the-park.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=u0TGG0MfxQnHP5VRSI00HRvj7o3R7lME8ud_KL-eYAA=

The Dogo Argentino (plural Dogos Argentinos) is an Argentine breed of large dog of mastiff type. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Córdoba in central Argentina, primarily for dog-fighting, but also for hunting large game such as peccaries and pumas.[3]: 146 [4]: 340 [5]: 189 [6]: 140 [7][1] The foundation stock included a fighting dog of bulldog type, a Bull Terrier and a Mastín del Pirineo.[7]: 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogo_Argentino

https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image-film?page=9&phrase=dogo%20argentino


I think its a wonderful idea! :bigsmile: Any compatible dog would do, ie, a mutt who Mara energetically resonates with. I can see an instant benefit here, in that, although you are doing a brilliant job in helping and guiding her, Bill, it only comes from a human perspective, even allowing how close you are to each other. A companion of her own species will, I feel, do the job far more thoroughly than you ever could, because doggy senses would be at play here - instant telepathy, superior smell, species trust, the first two that we as humans don't possess. Obviously you'd have to acclimatize the newcomer to the terrain, (and I'm pretty sure Mara would play a huge part in this)
At the end of the day Bill, I don't need to tell you that when Mara's time comes, you'll derive a huge amount of comfort from the newbie and a whole lot of new adventures :sun:

[Ravenlocke]

“And finally, some light relief — sort of! I've encountered puma scat many times (for non-English speakers, this is the scientific term for poop), but I've never seen a puma itself, or even a print. But yesterday our trail was covered in crystal clear puma tracks that looked very fresh indeed. It was probably just a few hours ahead of us (or maybe less!), and might even have been watching us all the time.

Look at the size of this giant cat's paw: ”


I just wanted to mention that when I first saw this when you first posted this, Bill, it made me remember Spirit (formerly named Diablo?). The big, black cat (panther), that spoke to that lady who is an animal communicator from Africa. I have to find that again on Avalon. I have to find his message again for some reason.:cat:

:flower:

[Mari]

“And finally, some light relief — sort of! I've encountered puma scat many times (for non-English speakers, this is the scientific term for poop), but I've never seen a puma itself, or even a print. But yesterday our trail was covered in crystal clear puma tracks that looked very fresh indeed. It was probably just a few hours ahead of us (or maybe less!), and might even have been watching us all the time.

Look at the size of this giant cat's paw: ”


I just wanted to mention that when I first saw this when you first posted this, Bill, it made me remember Spirit (formerly named Diablo?). The big, black cat (panther), that spoke to that lady who is an animal communicator from Africa. I have to find that again on Avalon. I have to find his message again for some reason.:cat:

:flower:


Here it is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvwHHMEDdT0


And there's a follow up:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlHcf6r4HNI

[Bill Ryan]

This could be a good companion for you and Mara:
Dogo Argentino
https://media.istockphoto.com/id/503731321/photo/man-and-dogo-argentino-walk-in-the-park.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=u0TGG0MfxQnHP5VRSI00HRvj7o3R7lME8ud_KL-eYAA=
Thanks for the suggestion! My simple life has enough in it with one dog, and there's really no room for two — without another human to assist. :heart::P There'd also be all kinds of risks: it might not work out well at all, Dog #2 would need to be a competent and confident mountain dog too, and it also all gets pretty expensive. But I do truly appreciate all the kind thoughts and helpful ideas.

:flower:

Meanwhile: another day today, and another adventure. This was our fourth day heading up into what I'm now calling Puma Valley. :cat: (Note to self: a larger smilie might be needed.)

We came across this murder scene: :worried:

https://projectavalon.net/scene_of_a_murder.jpg

...and shortly after, the trail of the suspect:

https://projectavalon.net/puma_print_3.jpg

I'm only a novice puma tracker, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't there on our last hike on Tuesday. It was so clear it was impossible to miss. (At this point I decided we should maybe best turn around and head back home. :))

On our return, we needed to negotiate the waterfall (again). There are actually two sections to it, and various ways to navigate it. The water level is quite low at the moment, and I'd NOT try this in the rainy season. (Though in years past, when Mara could see, this was never a problem no matter how strongly this waterfall was raging.)

A small 40 second drama here, when Mara got disoriented trying to find her way out of the waterfall pool. Moral of the story is that it's GOOD to have a calm, well-trained dog who understands what WAIT!! means.

(Mara and I trust each other implicitly, and I do know what she can and can't do, my expectations significantly upgraded after our recent returns to the mountains. I do promise you I'm not an abusive dog owner. :P)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_Day_4.mp4 (40 seconds, 20 Mb)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_Day_4.mp4

:happy dog:

[Bruce G Charlton]

"Mara got disoriented trying to find her way out of the waterfall pool"

Do you think this may have been due to her getting confused about using scent to navigate? In stories of escaping sleuth dogs, the method is always to go through running water.

(I believe it works for escaping witches too :p)

[wondering]

Mari, Wonderful update on Spirit - thank you so much.

[Bill Ryan]

"Mara got disoriented trying to find her way out of the waterfall pool"

Do you think this may have been due to her getting confused about using scent to navigate? In stories of escaping sleuth dogs, the method is always to go through running water.

Yes, that might have been a factor. It's extremely rare that Mara gets disoriented like that, even now. Since returning to the mountains, she somehow always knows precisely where a small stream or lake is, and the very best way in and out of it. But the flow of water there was really quite strong, and loud as well.

I only thought I'd share the clip because of the interesting tiny drama. I was right there inches away from her, and could have grabbed her collar at any time. On prior trips I'd had her on a lead while traversing the waterfall, but that makes it quite hard to hold the camera as well. :)

[Bill Ryan]

A tiny update. We went up to the Puma Valley again yesterday, for the 5th time now. Fiercely bright blue sky, strong icy wind, plenty of colorful new video, but looking just like all the other little movies I've shared. :P And each time we traverse the waterfall, Mara finds it easier and easier. She just loves every minute of it all, whatever we're doing.

This time there were no puma tracks. I knew what I was looking for, and I knew all the places to look, but there was nothing at all anywhere. That suggested three things to me:


I never imagined all this. :)
The earlier tracks were recent, real, and created separately over periods a few days apart.
The puma has probably now left the valley.
:happy dog:

[Ravenlocke]

A tiny update. We went up to the Puma Valley again yesterday, for the 5th time now. Fiercely bright blue sky, strong icy wind, plenty of colorful new video, but looking just like all the other little movies I've shared. :P And each time we traverse the waterfall, Mara finds it easier and easier. She just loves every minute of it all, whatever we're doing.

This time there were no puma tracks. I knew what I was looking for, and I knew all the places to look, but there was nothing at all anywhere. That suggested three things to me:


I never imagined all this. :)
The earlier tracks were recent, real, and created separately over periods a few days apart.
The puma has probably now left the valley.
:happy dog:


Just my naive musings but maybe that was her/it’s calling card, like I live here as well and can be quite close don’t forget that you share the space? Maybe it let you know that you and Mara are not a danger to her home. Maybe her calling card the print is so you know if you see it again that she’s close and respect her space till she’s done? Maybe she was curious and wanted a closer look having smelled your scent before since you live there. It just reminds me of what they say about sharks being in the water close to bathers even if bathers don’t see them because it’s their home, the water? :silent::blushing:
:flower:

[Bill Ryan]

"No more big hikes," said Bill.
“Your plight of blindness was unplanned.
Oh, Mara, Mara, can't you understand?"
But Mara shook her head.
"Say it again" she said,
"And slowly, please.
No rocks, no lakes, no quinoa trees?
No llamas and no deer to chase,
No return to that magical place?”
“Alas,” said Bill. "You must stay here."
And Mara shed a single tear.
"For always, Bill?" she whispered, "Will it be
That way evermore, for you and me?
Or will there come again some day
When the great green hills will call me back to play?"
Bill bowed his head:
"Some day… some day," he said.

:flower:

“I smelled a puma on the breeze,”
Said Mara. “Can you tell me, please,
Where was I? I could sense the trees,
The grass, the rocks, the lakes, the streams…
Was this just a wishful dream?”
“It was real,” Bill replied.
“You were right there by my side.
In the mountains, there with me
Though I knew you could not see.”

And Mara shed a happy tear.
“I never thought that I would hear
Such news. My life is blessed,
My blindness was a bitter stress,
And I believed we’d never go
Again to all those peaks we know.”

“Oh Bill,” she whispered, “Will this stay?
The hills will always let me play?”
Bill smiled, and then he raised his head.
“Yes, I promise.”

And it was said.

:heart:

[Michel Leclerc]

A little sad that I cannot push more than one “thank you” button.

[Debra]

This could be a good companion for you and Mara:
Dogo Argentino
https://media.istockphoto.com/id/503731321/photo/man-and-dogo-argentino-walk-in-the-park.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=u0TGG0MfxQnHP5VRSI00HRvj7o3R7lME8ud_KL-eYAA=
Thanks for the suggestion! My simple life has enough in it with one dog, and there's really no room for two — without another human to assist. :heart::P There'd also be all kinds of risks: it might not work out well at all, Dog #2 would need to be a competent and confident mountain dog too, and it also all gets pretty expensive. But I do truly appreciate all the kind thoughts and helpful ideas.

:flower:

Meanwhile: another day today, and another adventure. This was our fourth day heading up into what I'm now calling Puma Valley. :cat: (Note to self: a larger smilie might be needed.)

We came across this murder scene: :worried:

https://projectavalon.net/scene_of_a_murder.jpg

...and shortly after, the trail of the suspect:

https://projectavalon.net/puma_print_3.jpg

I'm only a novice puma tracker, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't there on our last hike on Tuesday. It was so clear it was impossible to miss. (At this point I decided we should maybe best turn around and head back home. :))

On our return, we needed to negotiate the waterfall (again). There are actually two sections to it, and various ways to navigate it. The water level is quite low at the moment, and I'd NOT try this in the rainy season. (Though in years past, when Mara could see, this was never a problem no matter how strongly this waterfall was raging.)

A small 40 second drama here, when Mara got disoriented trying to find her way out of the waterfall pool. Moral of the story is that it's GOOD to have a calm, well-trained dog who understands what WAIT!! means.

(Mara and I trust each other implicitly, and I do know what she can and can't do, my expectations significantly upgraded after our recent returns to the mountains. I do promise you I'm not an abusive dog owner. :P)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_Day_4.mp4 (40 seconds, 20 Mb)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains_Day_4.mp4

:happy dog:

You are doing a beautiful thing, Bill. I am watching with awe and respect. So beautiful to see Mara thoroughly enjoy her life with you in those mountains. Every time she drops herself into a stream, such a simple and blissful moment. I can hear her say: thank you, I love my life. It seems that she is developing another sight in taking it all in. What a rich and deserved life that you continue to facilitate with and for her.

I am sure that my boy Hughie who you took with you to the cairn is taking notes right now, saying all dogs deserve to go walking in the wild with their humans and to do it like the gods - no matter the circumstances.

So many adventures and memories to be made! With all of our loved ones. And especially our fur kin.

Thank you for bringing this home

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRV1WtZJPzAKu5yt09t9Y3Wh-xiCwd7D_KRvQ&usqp=CAU

My deepest respect.

[Bill Ryan]

You are doing a beautiful thing, Bill. I am watching with awe and respect. So beautiful to see Mara thoroughly enjoy her life with you in those mountains. Every time she drops herself into a stream, such a simple and blissful moment. I can hear her say: thank you, I love my life. It seems that she is developing another sight in taking it all in. What a rich and deserved life that you continue to facilitate with and for her.

I am sure that my boy Hughie who you took with you to the cairn is taking notes right now, saying all dogs deserve to go walking in the wild with their humans and to do it like the gods - no matter the circumstances.

So many adventures and memories to be made! With all of our loved ones. And especially our fur kin.

Thank you for bringing this home

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRV1WtZJPzAKu5yt09t9Y3Wh-xiCwd7D_KRvQ&usqp=CAU


My deepest respect.Dearest Deb, so lovely to hear from you. And of course, I remember little Hughie very very well. I still have his photo. :heart:

Our adventures have continued, now with the confidence that the puma has given up and retired to another valley. (No big pawprints for the last 3 trips. :fingers crossed::thumbsup:)

On Sunday we got further up this very high mountain than I'd ever dared think could be possible. Mara had absolutely no problem. She enjoyed herself from beginning to end, and wasn't even tired. No-one passing her on the trail would suspect for a moment that she couldn't see a thing. :)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_altitude_record_on_Quitahuayco_17_Sept_2023_sm.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_on_Quitahuayco_1_sm.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_on_Quitahuayco_2_sm.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_on_Quitahuayco_3_sm.jpg

I'd be pretty sure this is some kind of world altitude record for a blind dog. (Our high point was 4270m, or 14,009 ft. But it has to be possible that some dogs in tiny, remote Nepalese Himalayan villages who have lost their sight might live a little higher than that all the time.)

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're going to see if we can go higher still. It seemed clear that another 100-200 ft of altitude was absolutely doable, but I wanted to be sure we quit (i.e. turn around and head down) when we were winning. I'm 99% sure the summit is out of reach, but it does seems that 1% chance might just somehow be there.

Of course, I'd never force her. And I couldn't do that anyway. We have a great working arrangement: if she's ever feeling tired, she simply sits down. :ROFL:

[thepainterdoug]

wonderful pictures Bill Mara looks loving and loyal.
wow what a different terrain we live.

blessings / pd

[Parsi-X]

Bill Thank you!!!! .. Mara ....what a sweetheart... this is newsworthy of sharing.

[yiolas]

Thank-you for sharing your video with us Bill. I got a little emotional watching it, as it displayed the extraordinary bond that we can have with our beloved pets. It brought up memories of all the dogs and cats that have shared their lives with me throughout my 66 years on this earth plane. What a gift!!

[Pris]

.


"No more big hikes," said Bill.
“Your plight of blindness was unplanned.
Oh, Mara, Mara, can't you understand?"
But Mara shook her head.
"Say it again" she said,
"And slowly, please.
No rocks, no lakes, no quinoa trees?
No llamas and no deer to chase,
No return to that magical place?”
“Alas,” said Bill. "You must stay here."
And Mara shed a single tear.
"For always, Bill?" she whispered, "Will it be
That way evermore, for you and me?
Or will there come again some day
When the great green hills will call me back to play?"
Bill bowed his head:
"Some day… some day," he said.

:flower:

“I smelled a puma on the breeze,”
Said Mara. “Can you tell me, please,
Where was I? I could sense the trees,
The grass, the rocks, the lakes, the streams…
Was this just a wishful dream?”
“It was real,” Bill replied.
“You were right there by my side.
In the mountains, there with me
Though I knew you could not see.”

And Mara shed a happy tear.
“I never thought that I would hear
Such news. My life is blessed,
My blindness was a bitter stress,
And I believed we’d never go
Again to all those peaks we know.”

“Oh Bill,” she whispered, “Will this stay?
The hills will always let me play?”
Bill smiled, and then he raised his head.
“Yes, I promise.”

And it was said.

:heart:


So glad I stumbled over this thread today (I was waiting for an update in your OTHER thread lol)! I'm a month late to the party. What an incredible story and so uplifting, Bill. You and blindy Mara, together again in your adventures. Beautiful. I can see and feel the gentle, loving care and trust between you two. It's just like a fairytale.
Thanks for sharing! :dog:

[Bill Ryan]

Well, here's more. :)

I posted on Monday that the previous day we'd reached this dizzy height, farther than I'd ever imagined was possible.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_altitude_record_on_Quitahuayco_17_Sept_2023_sm.jpg

A couple of days ago, we went higher still. The photos below were taken at our earlier high point, just under the final pyramid of the 15,000 ft mountain. The white arrow shows where we climbed to this time, a good 200-300 ft higher. Mara was utterly happy, not in the tiniest bit tired or fazed. She even wanted to keep going higher still. It was all astonishingly easy.

Higher still would have meant leaving the steep grass and moving on to rocks and scree/talus, rather more challenging for even a highly enthusiastic and agile blind dog. But my earlier guess that we'd have maybe a very slim and unlikely 1% chance of ever reaching the top has now risen to 10%. I do actually think she might do it. It'd only be a steep and steady 30 minutes more to get there.

But of course, a dog has no mountaineering ambition (the 'ambition' is really my own, and I have to be careful not to project that all on her!), and she's as happy as can be wherever she is out there. Again, there was no forcing her at all, and we just happened to naturally reach that spot because I was again accompanying my friends.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_under_Quitahuayco_sm.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/Bill_and_Mara_under_Quitahuayco_sm.jpg

:heart:

[avid]

Appreciate your fantastic efforts to keep Mara safe, please, take no chances after all your wonderful work, she’s not a puppy, and enjoys within her abilities, you’ve given her a new lease of life, brilliant for Mara 🐕‍🦺 Take care both ❤️❤️

[thepainterdoug]

Bill I made this oil sketch for you. hope you like? I will send to you when dry.
painter doug

Mara/ oil on panel 8x10

[Icare]

Doug, that's just beautiful! :heart2:

[Pam]

Bill I made this oil sketch for you. hope you like? I will send to you when dry.
painter doug

Mara/ oil on panel 8x10

Dearest Doug, that is so very beautiful, I am deeply touched by this, she is our mascot and deserves such a beautiful tribute to her spirit!!! a celebration to her and all the other dogs who have given so freely and asked so little.

[Bill Ryan]

Bill I made this oil sketch for you. hope you like? I will send to you when dry.
painter doug

Mara/ oil on panel 8x10

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/attachment.php?attachmentid=51902&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1695509140Doug, that's just so great... what a very wonderful painting!!!

:heart::heart2::heart:

[Casey Claar]

Doug. So amazing. You are so surprising with your paintings. I echo what everyone else has said.

[Bill Ryan]

The puma has clearly given up and gone to another valley. :thumbsup: Here's a family of wild llamas on the skyline, which just wouldn't be there if there was a puma around. I've not seen llamas in the valley for a while, but here they are back again. You can see them right in the middle of the photo:

https://projectavalon.net/Llamas_on_the_skyline_sm.jpg

Enlarged: :)

https://projectavalon.net/Llamas_on_the_skyline_zoomed.jpg

And to celebrate, here's Mara way, WAY high up, her new record high point. (Much higher than the llamas!)

https://projectavalon.net/Quitahuayco_high_point_panorama_20_Sept_2023_sm.jpg

(High-resolution image here, fun to look at on a big screen)
https://projectavalon.net/Quitahuayco_high_point_panorama_20_Sept_2023.jpg

(https://projectavalon.net/Quitahuayco_high_point_panorama_20_Sept_2023.jpg):heart:
(https://projectavalon.net/Quitahuayco_high_point_panorama_20_Sept_2023.jpg)

[Harmony]

What a wonderful picture. Mara seems to be knowing and sensing everything around her and feeling very much at home again. The water flow and levels of the lakes running into each other and all the wild flowers bring life and movement to that moment in "time":sunrise::shooting star::llama::dog:

[Bill Ryan]

Hello, Everyone ...a trivial fun update. Mara and I going to the Puma Valley (but now with no puma, for sure :thumbsup:) has now become a regular thing. Since our first careful, tentative trip there (accompanied by the drone to capture the occasion (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1573226&viewfull=1#post1573226)), we've been back there 25 times.

But I thought this might be interesting to share: a little video, just over a minute long, which I took for a friend a couple days ago because we were exchanging stories about dogs getting muddy. (In Mara's case, VERY. :ROFL:)

It's all unremarkable, except that of course Mara is blind. Looking at the video, no-one might believe that she can't see a thing. You can see how happy and confident she is: she deftly avoids all the big tufts of alpine grass, knowing exactly where they all are. She also knows exactly where I am, doesn't bump into me, and heads directly down to the little lake for a muddy swim which she always loves.

The audio is on, and you can hear that I don't call her at all. I'm just standing there silently with the camera.

Every now and then she stops and looks around, as if to get her bearings on some kind of radar. But she's using other senses than her eyes. (Smell? Hearing? Something else? Who knows. But it all works perfectly for her.)
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_mud.mp4 (30 Mb)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_mud.mp4

[pyrangello]

She's one happy dog in a happy home. Really enjoyable to see this bill. Its funny the wetter and dirtier these pups get the more happy they are.

[Matthew]

Thanks for the update! I have a question for you Bill if I may?: I remember you had a method for checking her blindness. Do you recheck the state of her blindness as time goes on? I'm glad she's happy! Makes my day to see your videos of her in the mountains.

[Bill Ryan]

Thanks for the update! I have a question for you Bill if I may?: I remember you had a method for checking her blindness. Do you recheck the state of her blindness as time goes on?Ha. Yes, I do check every now and then — because sometimes it's just so hard to believe. :)

She doesn't notice, react, or flinch at all if I suddenly quickly wave my hand very close to her face, as if to (nearly!) hit her. She has no idea my hand is there, moving very close to her eyes.

The vet does this too, and tells me it's a simple, surefire test. He's also placed her in a dark room and flashed bright lights at her eyes, and there's no reaction whatsoever. She has no idea that's happening.

In the vet's surgery, where she gets a little nervous and excited and it's also an unfamiliar environment, I have to have her on a short lead or else she just clumsily crashes into all the walls and doors.

She seems to do exceptionally well with her navigation when she's happy and relaxed, like when she's at home here in the house (she never bumps into anything, as she has her detailed internal cognitive map) — or in the mountains, where she's equally at home and seems to know and understand everything that's around her.

:flower:

[Bill Ryan]

Hello, Everyone: Every year Mara and I hold true to three traditional hike days — Christmas, New Year, and my birthday — which we make sure we never miss, come hell or high water.

Today, we encountered the high water. :ROFL:

We set out to the Puma Valley, a hike which Mara knows extremely well and always loves. To get there, we have to negotiate a little rocky waterfall, which Mara is now very used to. She knows exactly when she's there, and she always flops down to swim in the little pool and have a cool drink before we continue.

But this morning, after several days of heavy rain, it was like this: :worried:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024.mp4

NO WAY were we going to cross that today. :)

So that was our high point. I enjoyed my traditional tiny cake! And Mara, bless her, was rather glad to get away from the deafening noise of the water, which was as loud as it sounds on the video. :flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_1_lg.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_2_lg.jpg

[Pris]

.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_1_lg.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_2_lg.jpg


Is Mara touching your leg? For heaven's sake.

You both look incredibly happy! :heart:


Cheers!

[Harmony]

Mara is such a dear dog and staying close with all the noise of the water fall. The weather looked marvellous after the welcome rain.


Your back pack, Bill, has wonderful padding, I should keep my eye out for a pack like that, maybe something smaller though, it looks so comfortable to wear. Wonderful photos :stars:

[Bill Ryan]

Is Mara touching your leg? For heaven's sake.



Mara is such a dear dog and staying close with all the noise of the waterfall.Yes, Mara was a little frightened. :flower: She wasn't on a lead (we trust each other totally), but was staying very close to me all the time.

She's100% blind and can't see a thing. But she's a highly experienced mountain dog, and sensed the danger that the situation in that spot had completely changed.

Usually, she wades across that section very easily, picking her way across the dry rocks all on her own, always stopping to cool herself in one of the little shallow pools. Here's a little video from one of our previous trips there: :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill?Mara_crossing_the_waterfall_22_Nov_2023.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_crossing_the_waterfall_22_Nov_2023.mp4

But yesterday, here's where we were, sitting (safely!) maybe 10-15 feet from the edge of the cascade which had swollen dramatically.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_3.jpg

Like Mara, I have a good sense of what's safe and what's not. :) So now the rainy season has started, I'm thinking we may have to abandon the Puma Valley completely for a while and go exploring elsewhere. But there are MANY other places Mara will be able to handle perfectly well now.
:happy dog:
~~~~

This is all very trivial! :P But it was just a fun New Year's post, and maybe for some readers here this is all an interesting minor diversion from the many more serious issues that do surround us all.

:heart::grouphug::heart:

[grapevine]

:thumbsup:You both look very YOUNG Bill and so I'm minded to ask what you typically eat in a day, apart from a little cake now and then :silent: Walking and fresh air obviously agrees with you both.

[Bill Ryan]

:thumbsup:You both look very YOUNG Bill and so I'm minded to ask what you typically eat in a day, apart from a little cake now and then :silent: Walking and fresh air obviously agrees with you both.Ha. Well, we both FEEL young! :)

Mara eats almost nothing but chicken pieces, and even if I give her something else, chicken is what she always wants. She's a 100% high-protein dog. :muscle: I never, ever, ever, give her commercial dog food. (Dogs in the wild don't eat cereal.)

Like Mara, I eat a lot of protein (and a lot of fat, very deliberately), and my carbs are almost only ever rice cakes and sweet potatoes. I have occasional rich mixed salads, and lots of nuts. I add chia seeds to everything. Two cups of coffee a day in the morning, raw milk, kefir, NO wheat or sugar (not even chocolate any more), not much fruit (but orange juice and V8 veggie juice occasionally), zero alcohol. Lots of different supplements, but taken quite sparingly, spread out just one each every 2 or 3 days.

And tiny cakes three times a year. :P

I'm in good shape, thankful to have no health problems at all, knees, muscles and joints are all working fine, and I still don't wear glasses. :thumbsup: (I do wear specialised high mountain UV glasses almost all the time when hiking now, routine protection ever since I badly burned my eyes in an off-the-scale UV day a few years ago.) I make sure I'm in the mountains 2-3 times a week — and having a happy, active mountain dog really helps to keep that up.
:happy dog:

[thepainterdoug]

Bill, all good to hear and Happy new Year. Hey, Im trying to write music and you keep sending painting subject matter !lol

Great pics!! You, the waterfall and Mara.

[Pris]

.



Is Mara touching your leg? For heaven's sake.



Mara is such a dear dog and staying close with all the noise of the waterfall.Yes, Mara was a little frightened. :flower: She wasn't on a lead (we trust each other totally), but was staying very close to me all the time.

She's100% blind and can't see a thing. But she's a highly experienced mountain dog, and sensed the danger that the situation in that spot had completely changed.

Usually, she wades across that section very easily, picking her way across the dry rocks all on her own, always stopping to cool herself in one of the little shallow pools. Here's a little video from one of our previous trips there: :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill?Mara_crossing_the_waterfall_22_Nov_2023.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_crossing_the_waterfall_22_Nov_2023.mp4

But yesterday, here's where we were, sitting (safely!) maybe 10-15 feet from the edge of the cascade which had swollen dramatically.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Waterfall_in_Flood_1_Jan_2024_3.jpg

Like Mara, I have a good sense of what's safe and what's not. :) So now the rainy season has started, I'm thinking we may have to abandon the Puma Valley completely for a while and go exploring elsewhere. But there are MANY other places Mara will be able to handle perfectly well now.
:happy dog:
~~~~

This is all very trivial! :P But it was just a fun New Year's post, and maybe for some readers here this is all an interesting minor diversion from the many more serious issues that do surround us all.

:heart::grouphug::heart:


Absolutely heartwarming, Bill. Not trivial for me at all haha! This is spiritually enriching in ways I can't describe. As I watch your story unfold in real time, I find it similar to the story of "Puff, the Magic Dragon"... but with a twist. Your story has a 'happy ending'!:sunrise::dog:



Ha. Well, we both FEEL young! :)

...

I'm in good shape, thankful to have no health problems at all....

...

I make sure I'm in the mountains 2-3 times a week — and having a happy, active mountain dog really helps to keep that up.
:happy dog:

[wondering]

The words,"happy, active mountain dog", are wonderful to hear. Who'd have thought that many months ago?! Such a joy.

[Bill Ryan]

The words,"happy, active mountain dog", are wonderful to hear. Who'd have thought that many months ago?! Such a joy.:heart:

Nothing new or specially interesting today, except that the waterfall torrent has now returned to normal levels and so we were able to cross it (both ways!) with no trouble. The first image below is just a photo, and the second a 40 second video showing how very easily Mara now copes with it all. :muscle:
(Please ignore the fuzzy blob on the video, just some water on the lens)

The only reason I'm posting this is because I'm beginning to realize that quite a lot of people really do quite enjoy checking into this very trivial but very good-news thread! :)
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_at_the_waterfall_6_Jan_2024_sm.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_at_the_waterfall_6_Jan_2024.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_at_the_waterfall_6_Jan_2024.mp4

[bojancan]

Dogs have given us their absolute all... we know, that we are centre of their universe.... I think, we are also the focus of their love and faith... also trust!
They serve us everyday in return for all scraps we are dealing in life.... it's the best deal, man has ever made!!!

Wishing you well, Bill and Mara!

[Pam]

Bill, This is not trivial in the least. There is so much goodness and wonder in this. The companionship,trust and friendship of you and Mara is beyond inspiring. This is the beauty that I live for these days. This is unconditional love manifest in the world in a beautiful love story. This is the story is the stuff that keeps me going these days. Please don't ever feel that little stories are not huge in sending out and showing us and reminding us that love and kindness along with loyalty still exist in this world. All of the traits that were honored in times past still exist today.

This is one of those stories.

[Pam]

:thumbsup:You both look very YOUNG Bill and so I'm minded to ask what you typically eat in a day, apart from a little cake now and then :silent: Walking and fresh air obviously agrees with you both.Ha. Well, we both FEEL young! :)

Mara eats almost nothing but chicken pieces, and even if I give her something else, chicken is what she always wants. She's a 100% high-protein dog. :muscle: I never, ever, ever, give her commercial dog food. (Dogs in the wild don't eat cereal.)

Like Mara, I eat a lot of protein (and a lot of fat, very deliberately), and my carbs are almost only ever rice cakes and sweet potatoes. I have occasional rich mixed salads, and lots of nuts. I add chia seeds to everything. Two cups of coffee a day in the morning, raw milk, kefir, NO wheat or sugar (not even chocolate any more), not much fruit (but orange juice and V8 veggie juice occasionally), zero alcohol. Lots of different supplements, but taken quite sparingly, spread out just one each every 2 or 3 days.

And tiny cakes three times a year. :P

I'm in good shape, thankful to have no health problems at all, knees, muscles and joints are all working fine, and I still don't wear glasses. :thumbsup: (I do wear specialised high mountain UV glasses almost all the time when hiking now, routine protection ever since I badly burned my eyes in an off-the-scale UV day a few years ago.) I make sure I'm in the mountains 2-3 times a week — and having a happy, active mountain dog really helps to keep that up.
:happy dog:

I know this is a bit late in responding. You are doing the right thing with what you feed her. I don't want to go off topic but we need to be very discerning with our animal friends about what we are feeding them and what medicines they are given. Particularly in the US, they are modifying the vaccines and have increased the amounts that are given. A huge number of dogs are dying expectantly from some rare respiratory illness in my area. I believe it correlates with the "new and improved" medications.

In the US, veterinary medicine has drastically changed to mimic the type of profit driven model used for humans and we have all seen how well that is working out. Feeding your animal friends natural food if you can and using discernment is important. I also am aware that food has become very expensive in some areas so that is an extra challenge. Generally feeding a dog real food can mean feeding them less so there is that. And of course there is huge nourishment in the total bone, not to mention the benefit of chewing. Sorry if this is off topic but I was so pleased to see your wisdom with how you care for her. A great example. Look at how her life continues at high quality even with the challenges.

[Bill Ryan]

Something most remarkable happened last night, and I have to share it here. :) NOT a Mara High Mountain Adventure per se, but something that astonished me even more than usual.

Yesterday evening, long after sunset and in the rain, I went off into town to meet my friend Gilberto and his family to collect them from the bus station and take them back to their house. They'd been in Brazil for several months (see the Wonder Girl Pema (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--) thread), and had a mountain of luggage. There was no room for Mara at all, so she had to stay at home.

I knew she'd never stray, so she's not tied up at all, and I'd improvised a simple plastic-sheet fence round the grass to help make sure she didn't get tangled up in the thick undergrowth or escape into the field where she might get lost. She's always happy outside, and if I'm not there and it's raining she has a little kennel to shelter in. It's never been a problem to leave her home alone.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara's_fence_2_vsm.jpg

So I met Gilberto & Co as planned, and bought them all the way to their house, which is some distance away and at the top of a long hill.

Then 20 minutes after we'd got there, while we were still unloading the truck with all the luggage, Mara suddenly arrived to join us.

She was soaking wet, but super-happy to see all her friends who she'd missed for months. (Particularly little Pema, who loves Mara to pieces. :heart:)

How she found us is truly hard to understand. She knows the sound of my truck, and is always waiting to meet me when I return home from anywhere on my own. But this time she must have heard my truck way off in the distance and realized I was going somewhere else instead.

So she somehow escaped through the plastic fence, navigated her way across the field (which is quite rough and uneven, with a bunch of cows and sheep and several fences there too), found her way to the dirt road leading to Gilberto's house, and then made her way, all the way along it, all on her own. It must have taken her a good half hour to do all that.

And, as I always have to remind myself and everyone else(!), she's 100% blind and can't see a thing. 12 hours later, morning here now, I'm still amazed.

It's hard to properly describe quite what she somehow managed to do. Here's a map.
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_journey.gif

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Awesome story.

I've heard many a tale of animals crossing great distances to reunite with an owner. Does a plausible theory exist for how they do it? Not visually, by landmarks, I think Mara proves that. And smell's not in the equation either, as you travelled by vehicle. It must be an energy thing. Something to do with being locked into our energy, and zeroing on it.

Although that doesn't explain our cat. A quick story. We moved house years ago, back in the early seventies, and the cat we had at the time came with us. It's wasn't that far away from our old place, about two miles. Mum made the mistake of not keeping the cat indoors in our new house for a period of time, enough to settle in, and he got out, and he did not come back. He disappeared for a couple of days in fact. Finally we received word. Our previous neighbours called. The cat was at our old house, sitting at the front door waiting to be let in. :cat: Apparently he didn't get the memo we'd moved (or had just refused to read it).

How did he find his way back, across fields, through woods, up this road and down another -- places he didn't know and had never been before? Animals are quite amazing when you think about it.

[Bill Ryan]

A little more. :)

First, here's the map again with just the initial part of her journey highlighted in the much smaller blue square near my house.

Second, here's a composite photo of that. That was just the start of what she did, blind, on her own, in the rain.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_journey_1.gif

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_journey.jpg

[Pam]

That is absolutely amazing. It sends shivers down my spine. I agree with Mark. You and Mara have such a close energetic connection that she can hone into that. It also seems to be be proof that dogs seem to have almost a second set of eyes. I remember my dogs clearly seeing things that were not in my visable field. Viscerally barking at those things. I don't know exactly what they are experiencing but they are gifted beyond our sensory range.

That, and the fact that she seemed to know that you were going to get her friends and she wanted to be a part of the celebration. Bless her heart. She is fearless in her loyalty for you. She is one heck of a dog. I love the fact that you respect her dog instincts. So many times people unknowingly try to humanize dogs. You have respected her being as a dog and in my biased opinion, dogs are some of the greatest creatures that have walked the earth and Maya leads the pack, blind and all. What a magnificent story. I will be thinking about this for days. I am so glad she did not meet with any surprises, but her sheer will to join you allowed her safe passage. She is a true dog hero.

I forgot to add my little story about a cat, Mark reminded me of this. I lived in a house and had taken in a stray cat as an adult. She chose to be outside. After a year or so I moved over a mile away.

I noticed the cat was gone, after searching I went back to the house she had lived at with me and sure enough, she was there. I brought her back to her new home and she repeatedly left and returned to the other house. That house meant some sort of stability to her. Since I took her in as an adult,and she was partly feral apparently she felt more loyalty to the house then to me. Fortunately, the new tenants of that residence took care of her. She would have been miserable if I locked her in my new residence so I valued the quality of her life over the perceived safety of me not allowing her what she clearly wanted. Animals can be very determined.

[Pris]

.

I knew she'd never stray...

Indeed! :) She directly and purposefully followed you. Wow. I think you may be right about her super-dog hearing and the sound of your truck. Lovely experience for you, great story... though also concerning, Mara being blindy-dog and all. And, apparently, you've got big cats running around out there and such so yeah...




I forgot to add my little story about a cat, Mark reminded me of this. I lived in a house and had taken in a stray cat as an adult. She chose to be outside. After a year or so I moved over a mile away.

I noticed the cat was gone, after searching I went back to the house she had lived at with me and sure enough, she was there. I brought her back to her new home and she repeatedly left and returned to the other house. That house meant some sort of stability to her. Since I took her in as an adult,and she was partly feral apparently she felt more loyalty to the house then to me. Fortunately, the new tenants of that residence took care of her. She would have been miserable if I locked her in my new residence so I valued the quality of her life over the perceived safety of me not allowing her what she clearly wanted. Animals can be very determined.

Aww.... :( She felt more 'loyalty' to the house than to you? How very sad. Well, it certainly would be sad for me. Just goes to show that when we feel we have a certain connection with an animal, it may not be as reciprocal as we think.

[arwen]

Incredible. Mara is definitely Super Dog, and she LOVES Bill. Heart-warming! :heart::flower:

[Ewan]

Something most remarkable happened last night, and I have to share it here. :) NOT a Mara High Mountain Adventure per se, but something that astonished me even more than usual.

Yesterday evening, long after sunset and in the rain, I went off into town to meet my friend Gilberto and his family to collect them from the bus station and take them back to their house. They'd been in Brazil for several months (see the Wonder Girl Pema (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--) thread), and had a mountain of luggage. There was no room for Mara at all, so she had to stay at home.

I knew she'd never stray, so she's not tied up at all, and I'd improvised a simple plastic-sheet fence round the grass to help make sure she didn't get tangled up in the thick undergrowth or escape into the field where she might get lost. She's always happy outside, and if I'm not there and it's raining she has a little kennel to shelter in. It's never been a problem to leave her home alone.

https://projectavalon.net/Mara's_fence_2_vsm.jpg

So I met Gilberto & Co as planned, and bought them all the way to their house, which is some distance away and at the top of a long hill.

Then 20 minutes after we'd got there, while we were still unloading the truck with all the luggage, Mara suddenly arrived to join us.

She was soaking wet, but super-happy to see all her friends who she'd missed for months. (Particularly little Pema, who loves Mara to pieces. :heart:)

How she found us is truly hard to understand. She knows the sound of my truck, and is always waiting to meet me when I return home from anywhere on my own. But this time she must have heard my truck way off in the distance and realized I was going somewhere else instead.

So she somehow escaped through the plastic fence, navigated her way across the field (which is quite rough and uneven, with a bunch of cows and sheep and several fences there too), found her way to the dirt road leading to Gilberto's house, and then made her way, all the way along it, all on her own. It must have taken her a good half hour to do all that.

And, as I always have to remind myself and everyone else(!), she's 100% blind and can't see a thing. 12 hours later, morning here now, I'm still amazed.

It's hard to properly describe quite what she somehow managed to do. Here's a map.
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_journey.gif

One question Bill, had you walked with Mara to Gilberto's property before this happened?

For me it is not unusual at all, unless the answer to the above question is a negative and then it really is astonishing.

I had a collie once that I didn't need to verbalise an instruction to, she would react with my thought and I would 100% swear on that.

9QsPWitQovM

aA5wAm2c01w

And if left in any doubt at to animals psyschic abilities, just watch a few videos featuring Anna Breytenbach.

gvwHHMEDdT0

Apologies for clogging up your thread with videos but I think it is very important information that everyone needs to understand. Only humans have lost touch with nature and reality!

[Bill Ryan]

One question Bill, had you walked with Mara to Gilberto's property before this happened? No! :ROFL: This is the first time she's EVER gone all the way from my house to his, including when she could see just fine.

We've been up to his house many times, of course, but I always drive her part way to where Gilberto's dirt road starts (very near the camera viewpoint). We've never even been in that field at all since she went blind. There's a little river to cross with very vertical banks (easy for a dog to fall into but hard to get out of), several tricky fences, often lots of animals, and a steep slope (with another fence at the top of it) at the very end.

Here's what it all looks like from where we always park up to walk the rest of the way. My house is behind the trees to the right of center. Last night Mara made her own way from the house to exactly where I took the photo from, and it's only from that spot that she knows the way to Gilberto's place. The more I think about it, the more astonished I am at the entire thing. :)

https://projectavalon.net/Morning_mist_panorama_11_May_2020.jpg

(That's a genuine unedited photo I took one beautiful early morning back in 2020, but nothing's changed since then :))

[Denise/Dizi]

:heart2:

WOW... How amazing! And that area is stunningly beautiful!

[Bill Ryan]

Another fun report, this time back in the mountains themselves. Yesterday we equaled our blind-dog world altitude record, reaching this "small" peak here, marked by the white arrow.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_28_Jan_2024_sm.jpg
(larger image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_28_Jan_2024.jpg)

But it's taken with a telephoto from a mile away, the "small" rocky peak is 14,000 ft above sea level, and to the bottom of the photo and slightly to the left of center you can see a tiny figure in pale blue, which is young supergirl Pema (see this thread! (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--)) on her mountain running training.

It's higher, farther, and harder to get to than it looks, and behind it is the giant pyramid-shaped Quitahuayco, the tallest peak in the area and 1,000 ft higher still. Our last altitude record was on the steep slope of Quitahuayco itself, almost immediately behind the white arrow at pretty much the same altitude. So all in all, we were quite pleased with ourselves. :muscle:

A couple of panorama photos taken at our high point:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_panorama_28_Jan 2024_1_sm.jpg
(much larger image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_panorama_28_Jan_2024_1.jpg)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_panorama_28_Jan 2024_2_sm.jpg
(much larger image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_panorama_28_Jan_2024_2.jpg)

Mara is VERY confident now. She regularly leads the way on the trail, not just padding along behind me. Here, on the way down, Mara sensed water (it was a hot day, and there was a beautiful tiny cool lake waiting for her to swim in), and so she headed straight for it all on on her own: :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_heads_for_the_small_lake.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_heads_for_the_small_lake.mp4

Further along the return trail still, this short little video shows again how she happily leads the way most of the time.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_leads_the_way.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_leads_the_way.mp4

The hike was a full 4 hours, so it was quite a long, strenuous day for her. But this morning she showed no signs of any ill-effects, and wasn't even tired. :) She's 11 years old now (in her mid-60s in human terms), and there's every reason to believe she can keep all this up for really quite a long time yet.
:happy dog:

[Casey Claar]

She makes your heart smile, doesn't she? As I watch, I almost feel right out there on the path with her.

[Bill Ryan]

Another minor achievement yesterday. :happy dog: We broke our blind-dog world altitude record again — not by much (maybe by another 150-200 ft), but where we reached was quite hard to get to, over some pretty rough steep ground.

Here's how happy she was. The backdrop is deceptive: it's all a steep slope, another 600-700 ft to the summit of Quitahuayco, all veiled in the mist.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_on_Quitahuayco_3_Feb_2024.jpg

Looking the other way down over the Puma Valley, this is how far we'd climbed:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_panorama_3_Feb_2024.jpg

And here's another way of showing where we were.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_high_point_3_Feb_2024_sm.jpg

Mara was absolutely none the worse for this new fun adventure, though she did sleep quite well last night. :)

:heart:

[jaybee]

.


Mara behaves as if she can still see..... I wonder if her blindness has increased activation her 3rd eye and now she can use it like an actual eye... like a scanner.... using it with her sense of smell...

I did wonder as you two are so close whether she could even see through her Pack Leader's (your) eye's sometimes - but this wouldn't apply all the times when she leads the way or, for example, goes to the water -

what a marvel she is - bless her heart.... :heart:

[Bill Ryan]

A very tiny update here, truly trivial in the biggest scheme of things, but followers of Mara's exploits might find this interesting. (And funny!)

When we go to the Puma Valley, we always stop at this tiny lake, which Mara loves. (I posted this earlier (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1585271&viewfull=1#post1585271), so it's not a new video. :))

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_mud.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_mud.mp4

She happily wades around in the water (and the mud), rolls in the grass, and then on the way back has a good bath in the waterfall which we have to cross each way, there and back. So the mud is never a problem, and she's totally used to this fun sequence.

Three days before the last high point that we reached, reported (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1598909&viewfull=1#post1598909) a couple of posts above this one (very high in the Puma Valley, on the slopes of Quitahuayco), we'd gone on a different hike just to see how Mara would manage it.|

It was quite arduous, with big rocks, steep climbs, tricky drops, and low tree branches. And on the way back Mara, who was very hot and thirsty, dived into a BIG BIG lake for a swim — where she got totally stuck in the deep mud. :ROFL:

In retrospect it was very funny, but at the time I was concerned as she was having great difficulty getting out of it. I was standing by to rescue her if needed, so I never took a photo. In the end, she struggled out on her own, looking like a CGI Hollywood swamp monster. :) She rolled around on the grass to get some of the mud off her, but here was no waterfall to wash it all off. The back seat of my old jeep has plastic seats, so the pile of mud she left there wasn't a problem.

When she got home, she didn't seem hungry, and just slept quite a lot the next couple of days. I figured she was just a little tired. THEN, the day after that, we went to the Puma Valley for our high-altitude adventure which I reported (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1598909&viewfull=1#post1598909) in my last post above. She was totally happy with the entire thing, and so was I.

But here's the update. :heart:

After THAT, she still wasn't eating, and was sleeping even more. After another couple of days I realized that she wasn't merely tired, but something else was wrong. Yesterday, at last, I took her to the vet.

And behold, she had a doggie fever (quite a high one), and was immediately given antibiotics. They did their thing immediately, and she's much better already. :muscle:

Then I realized what had happened. It was the DEEP MUD in the different, big lake. She'd got an infection from THAT. She's not used to that lake, or that particular brand of mud, while in the smaller Puma Valley lake which she always swims in, if there are any nasty bacteria there, (a) she's immune to them, and (b) she always washes all the mud off anyway in the waterfall on the way back.

So the mystery is solved. :sun: Little Pema (my friend's superstar-athlete cutiepie little girl, who adores Mara, was upset that Mara might be dying). :flower: But now all is explained. My takeaways from all this are:


Beware of unfamiliar lakes with deep mud.
Always clean the mud off if there's no waterfall bath at hand. :)

Some UK readers may remember James Herriott, Britain's most famous vet, who was a wonderfully wise man, a radio personality, a terrific storyteller, and a best-selling author. This was the perfect title of one of his many books:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/If_only_they_could_talk.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

A rather dramatic one-minute video from our hike today up to the waterfall that guards the entrance to the Puma Valley, rather like something out of Lord of the Rings. :) (Traversing it is the only possible way to get there.) Usually we can wade across the shallow water easily, but today it was raging and violent after very heavy rain, the most elemental (and scary!) I've ever seen it.

I was expecting Mara to be frightened of the deafening noise and reluctant to go anywhere even close, and it was obvious it was quite impassable. But to my surprise, she headed straight into the heavy water and was even straining at her lead. I had to pull her back quite strongly (and also take good care of myself!), as it was really pretty dangerous — as you can see.

:flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_waterfall_21_Feb_2024.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_waterfall_21_Feb_2024.mp4

[Casey Claar]

Holy moly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Ryan]

Holy moly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Holy Moly indeed! :ROFL:

For anyone who's seen the video above (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1601647&viewfull=1#post1601647) and thought exactly the same thing, below is what it's usually like. I'm always watchful, but Mara wades across it with ease and clambers up the ricks just fine every time now with no help needed from myself. What she was thinking in her doggie brain yesterday, I have no idea. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/The_waterfall_at_normall_level.jpg

[Harmony]

Maybe she was thinking, "I sure want to go across the stream and I know my Daddy will save me if anything happens":dog:

[Casey Claar]

Holy moly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Holy Moly indeed! :ROFL:

What she was thinking in her doggie brain yesterday, I have no idea. :)



This was exactly the silent thought that permeated my words up there. lol

She was even so adamant about going across.

Wow wow.

[wondering]

I think she was saying, "god, I love this"...

[grapevine]

There's a programme on TV called The Dog House, which matches and rehomes dogs in Cambridgeshire, UK. Tonight a couple were looking for a pal for their dog who went blind a year ago and they found the perfect addition to their family. It was wonderful to see them running around together and I wondered if you'd ever considered getting a sighted doggie friend for Mara, or whether she has any doggie friends?

[Bill Ryan]

No extra-special hiking adventure here — just a very nice photo taken this morning, a high-resolution panorama that might deserve to be seen on a giant screen. :) :heart:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_panorama_28_Feb_2024.jpg

~~~


I wondered if you'd ever considered getting a sighted doggie friend for Mara, or whether she has any doggie friends?I've thought about it! But introducing another dog is a complicated risk (and an expensive one! :P). Mara is the very happy and active master of her life at the moment — even though she can't see :flower: — and I'd be concerned about the danger that it might kind of destabilise her quite a lot.

[TEOTWAIKI]

A while back, I was dog sitting two dogs at the same time for friends; one of the dogs was blind.
I took them to the beach and tied the leashes together and let them run.
Having a seeing-eye dog really helped the blind dog; gave her more confidence.
The leashes allowed her a lot of freedom but kept her away from dangerous areas.
I was amazed how well it worked and how much both dogs enjoyed romping together.
When I showed the video to the owners they were amazed...

[AnitaT]

Mara returns to the Mountains

:heart:

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4 (https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4



Wow!

Mara is beauiful and smart!

She wanted to lead you up!


She is a blessing!


And you live in a very beautiful place.

[Bill Ryan]

A special day today. :Party: Last week I discovered a beautiful valley I'd never been to before, and from there I thought I could see a possible way (for a blind dog!) up to the summit of a very high mountain at the end of the valley.

So today we set out to see if we could do it, and Mara had no trouble at all. This isn't quite the highest Mara has been since she lost her sight (our high point on the slopes of Quitahuayco is maybe 100 ft higher), but this is a real mountain and this is the very top of it. :)

The photo is super-high resolution, but I've left it that way because if you zoom in you can see Doug's wonderful oil painting of Mara (see his post here (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1578510#post1578510)) which I framed and then (carefully!) brought with me today for the special occasion of Mara's first climb to the actual summit of a mountain since she lost her sight. :heart:
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_on_the_summit_8_March_2024.jpg

[thepainterdoug]

Bill this is wonderful and fascinating to me. Somehow Im up there with you two as well ! what inspired you to bring the painting?
do you bring the painting often on your walks?
and Mara blind, and yet through my sight i created her painting.

did you by chance see the news blog I sent out on my musical Hypnotta? I made an analogy to climbing Mt Everest, in the undertaking of writing and creating the show
and now I made it to the summit!!

mountains on our minds!
thanks for this hi res pic!! i love it/ pd

[Michel Leclerc]

Doug, you know that Mara is very proud of her telepathic powers having induced her beloved Master to take your painting with him to the top so that she could beam to you from the photograph how much she liked your painting of her, don’t you?

Bill, is that a small stupa you have assembled there?

I love the photograph.

[wondering]

What a wonderful photo for so many reasons...so much to see and to reflect upon.

[Bill Ryan]

Bill this is wonderful and fascinating to me. Somehow Im up there with you two as well ! what inspired you to bring the painting?
do you bring the painting often on your walks?
and Mara blind, and yet through my sight i created her painting.

did you by chance see the news blog I sent out on my musical Hypnotta? I made an analogy to climbing Mt Everest, in the undertaking of writing and creating the show
and now I made it to the summit!!

mountains on our minds!
thanks for this hi res pic!! i love it/ pdDoug, many thanks again — I took your painting with me just that one time to celebrate Mara climbing to her very first mountain summit since she lost her sight. I'd promised you a photo a little while ago, so this seemed like the perfect time and place.

And yes, I very much enjoyed reading your excellent blog post (https://www.hypnotta.com/post/writing-a-musical-like-climbing-a-mountain) (comparing writing a musical to climbing Everest :))... do please bump your thread My New Musical HYPNOTTA, sharing for the first time here on Avalon (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?112944-My-New-Musical-HYPNOTTA-sharing-for-the-first-time-here-on-Avalon) with that! Many members would be delighted to read it. :highfive:



Bill, is that a small stupa you have assembled there?

The Scots call them cairns (= piles of stones), and mountaineers the world over traditionally mark mountain summits with them. You can see a host of fun images here (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=0302d0aa8eaed1b9&q=mountain+cairn&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLqdy9o-2EAxW4SjABHZsuBgwQ0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=969&bih=499&dpr=2.61).

Yesterday, we repeated most of that same hike but this time went to the summit of the mountain visible behind Mara above, half a mile away and just a few feet higher.

Here are some more high-res photos. When we got to the very top of the thing, which was quite a battle against the strong wind, the weather had turned wild and gray. The third photo below kinda shows that.

Astonishingly — again! — Mara had little trouble with it all. She couldn't possibly know that she'd reached the top of anything, but she loved every minute of it. She's spent so much of her life in the mountains that she really does have it in her blood, whether she can see anything or not. :muscle:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_summit_panorama_1_8 March_2024.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_summit_panorama_3_8 March_2024.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_summit_panorama_10_March_2024.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_10_March_2024.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, a remarkable thing happened today. Mara and I climbed to the summit of Quitahuayco, the highest mountain in the area, just touching 15,000 ft. It was entirely unplanned.

Those of you following this thread may recall seeing a few photos of us quite high on the slopes of this huge pyramid-shaped mountain that overlooks and dominates the Puma Valley. I'd always secretly wondered if we might possibly ever make it to the very top (as we used to several years ago before she lost her sight), but it seemed way too much to imagine it could be a realistic possibility ever again. The last part is rocky, loose and fairly strenuous, and it's a long hike to get there. And Mara is an 11-year old dog who absolutely loves the mountains but just can't see a thing any more.

But today, Mara had a ton of energy, and she was leading the way towards the mountain for quite a long time. Eventually, I dared to believe that we might actually be able to make it to the top, though the plan for the day was just to paddle around in the lakes and take it very easy. I watched her carefully, but she was just having fun all the way.

So here are the photos. :sun:

The first shows the mountain itself, on a sunny day last September. (You can see Mara in the foreground)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_under_Quitahuayco_17_Sept_2023.jpg

And here we are on the summit, on an equally sunny day way back in October 2018. This was when she still had both eyes, and before she'd had surgery to place platinum tendons in both her hind legs. (See the Mara's travails (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?111548-Mara-s-travails) thread for that entire long dfficult saga.)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_on_Quitahuayco_22_Oct_2018.jpg

Here we are today, half way up the steepening slope, maybe 600 ft from the top. This was at pretty much the last of the vegetation, just below where it got very loose and rocky. It was as high as we've ever been since she lost her sight. We were in good shape, but at this point the summit still seemed like a distant, most unlikely possibility.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_2_April_2024_sm.jpg
(High-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_2_April_2024.jpg)

And — here we are today on the very top. It got very cloudy and cold, and soon after we arrived it started to rain, but we were all just 100% fine. :muscle:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_2_April_2024_sm.jpg
(High-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_2_April_2024.jpg)

The significant thing about this whole extraordinary day is that now there may be little stopping us from doing pretty much anything we always used to — as long as I keep watching her carefully (as I always do!) to make sure she's still totally enjoying herself every minute of the hike.
:happy dog:

[Harmony]

That is so amazing to see and contemplate, those kind of events that happen without expectation, unfold for us to marvel at. A journey of Bill and Mara, so inspiring and beautiful.:happy dog:

[Chip]

Bless you and Mara
You two have made a great team and I’m sure I can speak for everyone else here on Avalon when I give thanks to Mara for taking care of you so well.
I often think I take care of my Dog “Charlie” until after a while it gets easy to discern that it’s entirely the opposite.
🙏

[Violet3]

Both of you looking very cool and collected. :dog:

[Kryztian]

Bill, you have had some great stories of meeting incredible people, but your Mara stories top them all. She is an incredible being having a canine experience, and a marvelous one at that! One has to wonder where she is going to lead you next? :sun:

[Bruce G Charlton]

Bill, Well done both of you! I'm guessing the two of you didn't climb the whole 15,000 ft and back as an unplanned excursion in daylight? Which perhaps suggests you live at a pretty high altitude already?

[Bill Ryan]

Bill, Well done both of you! I'm guessing the two of you didn't climb the whole 15,000 ft and back as an unplanned excursion in daylight? Which perhaps suggests you live at a pretty high altitude already?Yes, we live at 9,000 ft (which means we're well-acclimatised to thin air) and the trailhead started at 12,770 ft. So we didn't start at sea level! :)

What's amazing to me, and continues to be every day, is how astonishingly she's adapted to not being able to see a thing. There's another thread here, called Bill's searches for the Wawa Grande (Ecuador's Bigfoot) (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?93672-Bill-s-searches-for-the-Wawa-Grande--Ecuador-s-Bigfoot-) (the title isn't a joke!) featuring all our adventures in the local mountains, some of them long, arduous and interesting. There are more photos there than I can count. :)

So she's been a mountain dog all her life, and just loves it up there. She's always joyfully happy in that environment. When she lost her one remaining good eye, I posted a video of her running about in a very safe-and-easy local grassy field, saying, "Look, she can still run around a little, she's not confined to the house yet."

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_running_in_the_big_field_2.mp4
https://projectavalon.net/Mara_running_in_the_big_field_2.mp4

And I wrote a poem (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?p=1540172#post1540172) about how the hills would call her back to play... but alas, not till her next lifetime. :flower:

~~~
"No more big hikes," said Bill.
“Your plight of blindness was unplanned.
Oh, Mara, Mara, can't you understand?"
But Mara shook her head.
"Say it again" she said,
"And slowly, please.
No rocks, no lakes, no quinoa trees?
No llamas and no deer to chase,
All that gone, without a trace?”
“No more mountains,” Bill replied.
And Mara sighed.
"For always, Bill?" she whispered, "Will it be
Like that for evermore, for you and me?
Or will there come again a day
When the great green hills will call me back to play?"
Bill bowed his head:
"Some day… some day," he said.
~~~

Then, I started to dare to wonder if she could actually return to the mountains (at least in the foothills), choosing just the right place and taking great care, also enlisting the help of my friends (who have a drone and duly recorded the event). That produced the video that started this thread. (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1573226&viewfull=1#post1573226)

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4
https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4

That seemed like something truly miraculous, and (bless the Avalon members! :heart:) that post was thanked 114 times. Following what seemed like a most extraordinary success, we began to repeat that route fairly regularly (in what I called the Puma Valley, as I'd seen very large cat prints (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1573984&viewfull=1#post1573984) there, prompting a discussion about whether I should carry a gun!), each time going incrementally a little further and higher.

It gradually became crystal clear that being blind was no impediment to her at all. I came up with this new poem (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1576810&viewfull=1#post1576810), to complement my first one:

~~~
“I smelled a puma on the breeze,”
Said Mara. “Can you tell me, please,
Where was I? I could sense the trees,
The grass, the rocks, the lakes, the streams…
Was this just a wishful dream?”
“It was real,” Bill replied.
“You were right there by my side.
In the mountains, there with me
Though I knew you could not see.”

And Mara shed a happy tear.
“I never thought that I would hear
Such news. My life is blessed,
My blindness was a bitter stress,
And I believed we’d never go
Again to all those peaks we know.”

“Oh Bill,” she whispered, “Will this stay?
The hills will always let me play?”
Bill smiled, and then he raised his head.
“Yes, I promise.”

And it was said.

:heart:

And now, after reaching the top of Quitahuayco yesterday, it's clear again that there are MANY MORE things we can start to do, including revisiting the locations of some of our earlier adventures in more distant valleys.

If anyone had told me, when I was so delighted to see Mara able to run about in the local field for all of 20 happy seconds, that just over a year later together we'd reach the 15,000 ft summit of a genuinely challenging mountain on a long 4 hour hike, there's NO WAY I would have EVER EVER believed them.

:)

[avid]

:happy dog: Wonderful Bill, your bond with Mara is amazing, long may it last :happy dog:

[Pam]

Bill this is wonderful and fascinating to me. Somehow Im up there with you two as well ! what inspired you to bring the painting?
do you bring the painting often on your walks?
and Mara blind, and yet through my sight i created her painting.

did you by chance see the news blog I sent out on my musical Hypnotta? I made an analogy to climbing Mt Everest, in the undertaking of writing and creating the show
and now I made it to the summit!!

mountains on our minds!
thanks for this hi res pic!! i love it/ pd

I think that this must be the greatest honor ever done a painting!!!!!

[kudzy]

I’m so delighted that your trusty companion can do these difficult hikes with you. Between Mara the wonder dog and Pema the supergirl you sure do keep excellent company.

Just curious, did you get Mara as a puppy and train her yourself? I got my first dog just under three months ago. She’s a five month old mix breed from the rescue. We’ve already done many short hikes around here and I’m training her to run alongside me on the mountain bike, on the leash! I’m also training her to walk behind me on the leash attached to my backpack so I can use two hands on the trekking poles. Don’t worry she gets plenty of time off leash as well.

Happy Trails, I’m very happy for you two!

[wondering]

Bill, I've thought several times that the high rocky terrain looks like it would be very hard on her paws...is that an issue at all?

[Pam]

I’m so delighted that your trusty companion can do these difficult hikes with you. Between Mara the wonder dog and Pema the supergirl you sure do keep excellent company.

Just curious, did you get Mara as a puppy and train her yourself? I got my first dog just under three months ago. She’s a five month old mix breed from the rescue. We’ve already done many short hikes around here and I’m training her to run alongside me on the mountain bike, on the leash! I’m also training her to walk behind me on the leash attached to my backpack so I can use two hands on the trekking poles. Don’t worry she gets plenty of time off leash as well.

Happy Trails, I’m very happy for you two!

kudzy, I am so happy for you!! I am so glad you are working with her as a youngster in all sorts of situations so that she can go everywhere with you and is really well socialized. I am also happy you are doing the off leash stuff as well. The running with your bike is a great way to really give her a workout. Walking on a leash is fine but if that is all a dog does it's not a really great workout. You are doing exceptionally well for your first dog. All that work with her will pay off.

[Ravenlocke]

Thanks for sharing the photos, stories and touching poems, Bill. Both you and Mara look great and she looks really content to be with you on your excursions in the mountains. Keep on tracking and sharing with us, its great!👋👋👋❤️

[kudzy]

Thanks so much Pam, I really appreciate your reply.

Like I said this is my first dog/puppy, so the learning curve has been very steep. I've read four Cesar Millan books and two books by the Monks of New Skete. Cesar really emphasizes the importance of walking a dog on a leash to build a strong relationship, establish yourself as the pack leader and to exercise their brains not just their bodies. Plus I like to hike and backpack and many places require dogs be on a leash. And I want to be respectful of non-dog people's fears and concerns.

I've REALLY been enjoying working with her. I've always loved dogs but patiently waited until my life was free enough to devote the time that they so deserve and need.

Bill's adventures with Mara have been an inspiration. The dog/human relationship is very unique and special. I feel blessed to have her in my life.

Happy Tails! :happy dog:

[Pam]

Thanks so much Pam, I really appreciate your reply.

Like I said this is my first dog/puppy, so the learning curve has been very steep. I've read four Cesar Millan books and two books by the Monks of New Skete. Cesar really emphasizes the importance of walking a dog on a leash to build a strong relationship, establish yourself as the pack leader and to exercise their brains not just their bodies. Plus I like to hike and backpack and many places require dogs be on a leash. And I want to be respectful of non-dog people's fears and concerns.

I've REALLY been enjoying working with her. I've always loved dogs but patiently waited until my life was free enough to devote the time that they so deserve and need.

Bill's adventures with Mara have been an inspiration. The dog/human relationship is very unique and special. I feel blessed to have her in my life.

Happy Tails! :happy dog:

One of the greatest blessings I have ever received in my life is the precious time I had with my dogs. I will always treasure those moments and I can't help but get excited when I find other dog lovers and particularly people like you and Bill, both of you first time dog companions. You guys are just really, really amazing. I shudder to think of things I could have done better with my pups. Never intentional things, just hindsight. You are making an amazing start.
I always loved Cezar, and actually I am a fan of "Dog daddy". He is not for everyone, but he works with rescue pups that have severe behavioral issues from never receiving training or were abused and he shines with that kind of dog.He is very helpful for dog fostering which I have been doing. Obviously not an issue with your pup. Cezar is great with all kinds of dog behaviors.

[Bill Ryan]

Bill, I've thought several times that the high rocky terrain looks like it would be very hard on her paws...is that an issue at all?She seems totally unfazed by all the loose, sharp-edged rocks. She's never once had a cut on her paws, and her pads seem very leathery. Here's an 18-second video of her (and me!) descending from the summit of Quitahuayco. See how she feels her way down very carefully and safely — with her tail wagging all the time. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_descending_from_Quitahuayco_summit_2_April_2024.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_descending_from_Quitahuayco_summit_2_April_2024.mp4

[Bill Ryan]

An exciting, fun day out yesterday. Mara and I made it to the summit of Quitahuayco (15,000 ft) for the second time — going even further, way down the other side to have a cold swim (her, not me!) in what is the highest lake in the area, and then looping round the side of the mountain to return to the way we'd come. It was an arduous 4 hour hike, and Mara had zero trouble with any of it, enjoying the entire thing just as much as I did.

There'd been some rain the previous few days, so there was quite a bit of soft mud in the Puma Valley. And look at this... the last of these three photos seems to suggest there were two pumas, not just one. :worried::)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_1_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_1.jpg)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_2_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_2.jpg)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_3_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Puma_tracks_4_May_2024_3.jpg)

Here we are, happy on the summit...

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_4_May_2024_2_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_4_May_2024_2.jpg)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_4_May_2024_1_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Quitahuayco_summit_4_May_2024_1.jpg)

And here's Mara on the way down the rocky slope to the high lake on the other side, just as steep as it looks.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_Quitahuayco_lake_sm.jpg
(High res image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_Quitahuayco_lake.jpg)

As I've said before (many times now!), if someone had told me a year ago Mara would be doing things like this, there's NO WAY I would EVER EVER have believed them.
:heart: :happy dog::heart:

[HopSan]

What's amazing to me, and continues to be every day, is how astonishingly she's adapted to not being able to see a thing.

It gradually became crystal clear that being blind was no impediment to her at all.

:)

My family had two sweet dogs, and because of their uttermost charming stupidity, I soon understood that vision is very little to them. Perhaps tertiary help. Their spatial world is of smell, hearing... Eyes, too bad, who cares! Let's run!

[Bill Ryan]

Another hike yesterday, and another summit. Not quite as high as Quitahuayco last week, but nearly.
:happy dog:
I wore my hat this time, and never took my mountain glasses off. Even though it was mostly cloudy, at 14,000 ft almost on the equator just after the biggest solar storm in 20 years, the UV levels were crazy-high and way off the charts. (The sun felt like it was biting my skin with sharp teeth when I rolled up my sleeves for a moment and the sun was out. :worried::sun:)

Here we are on the way up:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_on_the_high_ridge_14_May_2024_sm.jpg
(Large image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_on_the_high_ridge_14_May_2024.jpg)

And here's Mara on the summit, just beyond the peak you can see behind us above. (Do zoom in to the hi-res image for the detail if you have a moment. :flower:)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_on_the_high_ridge_14_May_2024_sm.jpg
(Large image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_on_the_high_ridge_14_May_2024.jpg)

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, just under a year ago (20 August 2023, the first post (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1573226&viewfull=1#post1573226) on this thread), I dared to see if Mara might just possibly be able to somehow venture out in the mountains again without mishap, injury or stress. She passed the test with flying colors, and the event was captured (https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4) by my young friend Noam with his drone. Everyone, self included, was astonished. :heart:

A couple of days ago (30 June), Noam and I went out again, Mara now a happy, able, agile veteran of blind-doggie mountain hiking. She's adapted supremely well, and loves every minute of it. So here's the second drone video of Mara in the Mountains, a few weeks short of the anniversary.

It's just under a couple of minutes, quite a large, high-quality video that might take a while to load or buffer. If anyone can't play it, do please let me know and I'll see if I can reduce the file size a little.
:flower::happy dog: :flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_30_June_2024.mp4 (350 Mb)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_30_June_2024.mp4

[RunningDeer]

Wow, Bill! Amazing how Mara keeps up with your pace without assistance. You’d never guess she was impaired.

Lots of happy tail wagging. :happy dog:

BTW: Both on the post and the additional link played fine for me. I made a back-up (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1620633&viewfull=1#post1620633) copy because Diane (wondering) couldn't see it. I'll remove if you prefer.

:heart:

[wondering]

I'm sorry to say that it won't play for me....🙁

[thepainterdoug]

Bill Its a beautiful video, very refreshing for me to see. Just great!!

pd

[RunningDeer]

I'm sorry to say that it won't play for me....🙁
Diane, can you see this copy?

ennpwK5fCJc

[Orph]

Thanks RunningDeer. The video works perfectly. :highfive:

[wondering]

Yes, got it! Thanks! Who would ever have guessed Mara would prevail!

[Sue (Ayt)]

Isn't it amazing how animals can compensate for lost senses? Wow - It is like their other senses, including intuitive senses, develop to compensate.
Mara is a great example of this!

[Anna70]

Oh WOW, I'm so happy to see sweet Mara doing so incredibly well! :heart::heart::heart:

[Bill Ryan]

More light relief, in case any might be needed. :bearhug:

The other day, we hiked up to a high valley which is quite remote: no trails, no people... just wild llamas. :)

First, here's Mara happily wading around in the high lake we discovered there:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/high_lake_panorama_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/high_lake_panorama.jpg)

And after that, we encountered quite a large herd of llamas, all on high alert and watching us carefully:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1.jpg)

At full telephoto:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_2_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_2.jpg)

And here's the funny part. :) Mara could clearly sense them, even at quite a distance, but of course she couldn't see them and was sniffing around everywhere. (You can see them in the photo just to the upper right of center.) Here she is, looking for them in totally the wrong direction. :heart:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_llamas_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_llama.jpg)

[Harmony]

How wonderful the llamas have a place to drink even though the mountainsides look drier than usual. The water is clear and Mara looks so at home just wading around in the lake. There are two water birds a little to the right on the bank behind Mara, it's a wonderul place and seems so peaceful. :happy dog::sunrise:

[Kryztian]

And after that, we encountered quite a large herd of llamas, all on high alert and watching us carefully:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1.jpg)



I love the llamas! :llama::llama::llama:

I guess the wild ones are extremely shy of people. Are the other places you might see more tame ones in Ecuador? Do people keep them as pets?

Are the any vicunas up there?

[Bill Ryan]

And after that, we encountered quite a large herd of llamas, all on high alert and watching us carefully:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_1.jpg)



I love the llamas! :llama::llama::llama:

I guess the wild ones are extremely shy of people.

Yes, they're really shy, and it's unusual to be able to get very close. Mara and I hiked up to the exact same remote high valley just this morning, and to my immense delight we encountered what was surely at least some of the same herd of llamas again, in almost the same spot, just a few hundred yards away from where they were last time.

It was very hot and dry, and I'm guessing that they want to be as high up as possible (to stay cool!) while also staying quite close to the highest water around. (In the next couple of days I'll post a few more photos. :))


Are the other places you might see more tame ones in Ecuador? Do people keep them as pets?

Not as pets, but a few mountain farmers so seem to keep one or two. (But I don't know what for!)


Are the any vicunas up there?

Great question. These are vicunas: :heart:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicu%C3%B1a
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/a-history-of-the-ecuadorian-vicuna

https://communities.springernature.com/cdn-cgi/image/metadata=copyright,fit=scale-down,format=auto,quality=95/https://images.zapnito.com/uploads/ed628548bab37c10b2cc17c99f1e21e0/807d0328-30eb-49d8-8849-029c7ce0c62a.jpeg

In theory (as best I know), there may very well be vicunas up there too. The environment would be ideal for them, as it is for alpacas which I also see sometimes. But my best answer is that I've never got close enough to what look from the distance to be llamas to be able to know for sure!

[Bill Ryan]

More llamas, specially for Kryztian: :)

But this time only two, clearly a couple. :heart: And also this time, Mara sensed them clearly, even though they were a couple of hundreds yards away. You can make them out in the distance in the center of the photo.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_senses_two llamas_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_senses_two llamas.jpg)

And quite a nice telephoto shot:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/two_llamas_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/two_llamas.jpg)[/I]

[Wookie]

When i was just a little Wookie my family was living in Peru. On a trip from Lima to Pulcallpa we made a pit stop atop the Andes. I was quite startled by a llama poking its head up as I relieved myself off the side of a moutain. At least it didnt spit on me :)

[Kryztian]

More llamas, specially for Kryztian: :)


Thank you Bill and Mara for thinking of me when you spotted the llamas! :llama: :llama: :llama:

[Bill Ryan]

More llamas, specially for Kryztian: :)


Thank you Bill and Mara for thinking of me when you spotted the llamas!
:llama::llama::llama:And some more, which we saw yesterday. This time Mara heard them (they make a noise a little like bleating sheep), but they were quite some way away. At first I thought they may have been alpacas, because this small herd was all white. In the first photo you can just see them in the distance, little white specks to the right of the image just below the shadow line, which Mara is 'looking' at. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_hears_the_white_llamas_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_hears_the_white_llamas.jpg)

And here they are, at full telephoto:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/white_llamas_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/white_llamas.jpg)

[Bill Ryan]

No llamas today. :) But we had a bit of an adventure.

After a record 147 days of drought, it rained heavily last night. (Yay!) The morning dawned dry but overcast, and we headed for the mountains anyway. We were 10 minutes past the high waterfall — which had been a tiny trickle for weeks, but today was an exciting but passable raging torrent — when the cloudy skies opened and we were hit by a violent hailstorm, something pretty rare and which Mara had never encountered in all her life.

With my head down, and thinking it surely couldn't last long, I continued up the valley (the 'Puma valley', as I've named it) — and then suddenly realized Mara was no longer behind me. I stopped and called her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

For the next hour, with the hail now turning to heavy icy rain, I hiked all over the valley, which is safe but has a lot of complex features, shouting her name continually. She was just nowhere. This had never happened before.

I knew that my friends, with their two trail-running children Noam and Pema, were somewhere high on the mountain, having set out a couple of hours earlier. Thankfully, I met them coming down, as soaking wet and freezing cold as I now was. They were immediately very concerned and so we split up to search up, down, and along every side valley where Mara might possibly have gone.

It was Pema (the 11-year old superstar athlete) who found her, shivering in the long grass a full mile from where I'd last seen her, half way down towards the road. She'd somehow made her own way back across the raging waterfall, blind, wet, cold, frightened and lost, knowing somewhere in her doggy brain that if she kept on going down she should be safe and that somehow this would take her home.

Pema, on her own and with no lead or string available, held on to her collar firmly and led her gently back to our vehicles.

All ended well. The entire thing was my fault, of course, as in the sudden heavy hailstorm I should never have kept my eyes off her. This is the only photo I have (a very wet one!), showing my friends with Mara warming themselves by the fire in the small restaurant back at the trailhead. Little Pema, the hero of the story, is at the very back, second from the right. :heart:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_is_safe.jpg

[wondering]

Bless her, she must have been so relieved when Pema showed up and then she was joined by everyone...such a happy ending.

[RunningDeer]

Mara, the super dog. :happy dog:

https://i.imgur.com/tEk1DeQ.png

:heart:

[Bill Ryan]

Mara, the super dog. :happy dog:

https://i.imgur.com/tEk1DeQ.png

:heart:A wonderful image! :heart:

We went back there today, but to the opposite side of the main valley where we had an easy hike just for an hour. Mara was quite unaffected by her adventure, and was totally happy the entire time. :)

From there, I took this photo, so I could show what Mara the super dog had done, all on her own, wet, cold, lost and 100% blind. (The dotted line ends at the point where she was found by Pema.)

Her path down out of the high 'Puma Valley' was the only safe route (despite the swollen waterfall), the same way we always reach the valley and then return home again. Somehow she'd remembered the whole safe way back down towards the road and had navigated it all alone despite not being able to see a thing.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home_sm.jpg
(high resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home.jpg)
:happy dog:

[RunningDeer]

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home_sm.jpg
(high resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home.jpg)
:happy dog:




Bill, I’m in awe of your and Mara’s stamina. https://i.imgur.com/3x9om0z.gif

https://i.imgur.com/8hbfXVO.gif
A book could be written on “The Adventures of Mara and her Life Long Friend Bill”.

:heart:

[Bill Ryan]

I posted this video at the very start of this thread. That was the first time Mara had returned to the mountains. My friends and I were watching her very carefully all the way, and the video was taken with my friend's drone.

What Mara did three days ago was reverse all this entirely on her own. It's worth taking a quick look at that again. The exciting part starts at 1:51, the only way to get to and from the high Puma Valley.

(I'm not sure if I could have done this blindfold as a relatively intelligent human, even if I'd been on my hands and knees taking all day to be sure not to fall over the cliffs by the waterfall. :))

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4

https://projectavalon.net/Mara_returns_to_the_Mountains.mp4

[grapevine]

You must be very fit Bill; that's quite a pace you're both keeping up and at high altitude too. . . :thumbsup:

[Bill Ryan]

More llamas today. :heart: This time, they were close enough that Mara absolutely knew they were there.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_sees_the_llamas_sm.jpg
(high resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_sees_the_llamas.jpg)

And here's the money shot. (Spot which one is the super-cutie! :))

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_up_close_sm.jpg
(high resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_up_close.jpg)

[wondering]

They are so, so beautiful.

[Ravenlocke]

They have cute , long eyelashes😍

[Bill Ryan]

Llamas again, but this time a VERY long way off.

You can just see them here, tiny figures on the center skyline. Mara is low down, in a dip and almost hidden, in the center foreground. (Of course, she had no idea they were up there. :bearhug:) It's actually a high resolution image, so you can zoom right in to see them better.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_on_the_skyline.jpg

And here they are at full telephoto — watching us carefully, as they always do. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_on_the_skyline_zoom.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

And this new llama encounter (yet another one!) was a bunch of fun.

First, here's a nice photo of Mara. But to the right of center, in the distance, you can see a family of llamas grazing, who hadn't yet noticed us. (The gray thing in the exact center is just a large rock)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/first_sight_of_the_llamas_again_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/first_sight_of_the_llamas_again.jpg)

But soon after, the llamas sent one of them over to check us out. (Llama families often have a designated large male 'lookout'.). As he came nearer, Mara sensed he was there.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_senses_the_llamas_again_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_senses_the_llamas_again.jpg)

What happened next was very interesting. The whole family didn't gradually retreat into the distance as they usually do, but this time they came right up close towards us, recognizing us from the last time, all very curious from less than 20 feet away. (I'm hardly a llama expert, but it seems clear to me they have the same kind of intelligence as horses, far greater than sheep or cows.)

You can now see these were the same ones we met just the other day. There's the blonde super-cutie with the long eyelashes, and the brown-coated one on the left with the chocolate-and-vanilla nose.

:):heart:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_up_close_again_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/llamas_up_close_again.jpg)

[Kryztian]

What happened next was very interesting. The whole family didn't gradually retreat into the distance as they usually do, but this time they came right up close towards us, recognizing us from the last time, all very curious from less than 20 feet away. (I'm hardly a llama expert, but it seems clear to me they have the same kind of intelligence as horses, far greater than sheep or cows.)



Since they recognize you, you could always try becoming better friends and leaving them some treats?


Llamas are herbivores. They eat grass, hay and other grains. Some llamas enjoy treats like fresh vegetables and fruits, such as broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples – cut into small bites.

:llama:

[Bruce G Charlton]

Very interesting! As I'm sure you are aware, llamas (usually male) are used (e.g. in the USA) to protect flocks of sheep against attacks by stray dogs and similar predators. It seems the llamas do this quite instinctively. There are some videos on TY of llamas driving off dogs, and people, who get too close.

So I am a little surprised that these wild llamas are so relaxed about you and Mara! Maybe because there did not seem to be any "lambs" (apparently called cria)? Or are these wild ones not aggressive in defence?

Note: I am pretty deeply afraid of llamas - i.e. I used to have nightmares about them - probably due to being spat at in Bristol Zoo when I was young!

[Bill Ryan]

Some more light relief. :)

As I've shared on some other threads, the record 150-day drought is over at last and the long-awaited 6-month rainy season is in full swing. For a couple of weeks it's been endlessly gray, wet and cloudy, but the other day we had a welcome blue-sky morning.

However, this is the waterfall we have to cross to reach the high Puma Valley. There was a lot of water, but we could still do it. (No puma prints for a while, so maybe I should rename it the Llama Valley?)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/waterfall_panorama_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/waterfall_panorama.jpg)

With Mara's lead and my poles in one hand, and my little camera in the other, this not-very-good video shows Mara (who for any new readers here is 100% blind) crossing the waterfall with ease. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_crossing_the_waterfall.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_crossing_the_waterfall.mp4

And sure enough, the llama family was waiting for us — the very same ones we've seen several times now.

:heart:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/the_same_llamas_again_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/the_same_llamas_again.jpg)

[RunningDeer]

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_crossing_the_waterfall.mp4

That's a way-cool trust system you and Mara have worked out.

[Casey Claar]

Goodness, that was terrifying. lol Whew!

[Bill Ryan]

Goodness, that was terrifying. lol Whew!We did again this morning, this time Mara going solo with no lead. I was 100% completely certain she could do it — and indeed, she negotiated it all perfectly. But it was all quite exciting. :)

(For anyone with slightly raised eyebrows here, she and I have done this many dozens of times, and I was always close enough to grab hold of her if needed. I know exactly what she can and can't do, and she astonishes me all the time. She always loves the water, has phenomenal senses, awareness and instincts, and isn't fazed at all by the noise, the rocks or the heavy current.)

First, on our way up to the Puma Valley...

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_26_Jan_2025_1.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_26_Jan_2025_1.mp4

... and then coming back an hour and a half later. :thumbsup:
:happy dog:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_26_Jan_2025_2.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_26_Jan_2025_2.mp4

[Casey Claar]

That is just unbelievable, EVERY time I see it. How does she know where to step even in water ?????

[Kryztian]

We did again this morning, this time Mara going solo with no lead. I was 100% completely certain she could do it — and indeed, she negotiated it all perfectly. But it was all quite exciting. :)


Bill you have had some interesting stories about meeting people with psychic superabilities, but I think Mara tops them all. In spite of her total blindness, she negotiates the world so gracefully well. Are you sure she isn't an alien? :alien: You said you bought her from some people in a passing vehicle - are you sure that vehicle wasn't a spaceship? :ufo: Perhaps they were bringing her to you from another realm far higher than the Andes? :sun:

[Bill Ryan]

We did again this morning, this time Mara going solo with no lead. I was 100% completely certain she could do it — and indeed, she negotiated it all perfectly. But it was all quite exciting. :)


Bill you have had some interesting stories about meeting people with psychic superabilities, but I think Mara tops them all. In spite of her total blindness, she negotiates the world so gracefully well. Are you sure she isn't an alien? :alien: You said you bought her from some people in a passing vehicle - are you sure that vehicle wasn't a spaceship? :ufo: Perhaps they were bringing her to you from another realm far higher than the Andes? :sun:Made me laugh!

Her senses really are superhuman, and maybe even supercanine. :) I've been thinking of making a little video of how perfectly she navigates all the little obstacles that we regularly encounter in the mountains: sudden steps up and down, holes in the ground, little streams that she knows are there and take a careful long stride to cross, steep rocky climbs up and down, trees that she always knows are there and sidesteps, dangerous steep drops that she stays well clear of, and more.

Six weeks ago, I posted (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1645307&viewfull=1#post1645307) about one most remarkable incident where I lost her in a sudden violent hailstorm, the first time that has ever happened. We were several hundred yards way higher on the other side of the very same waterfall in the videos above.

Mara, unable to find me in the hailstorm, made her way all on her own back down across the waterfall and then another half a mile way down towards the trailhead where my young friend Pema found her shivering in the long grass, very cold but otherwise just fine.

Somehow she knew that this was the way home and back to safety, though she was alone, I was nowhere around, and the journey she followed downhill was really very complex.

The amazing thing about her waterfall crossings are that I can't possibly imagine that her sense of smell would be any help at all, nor her hearing as the turbulent water is just as loud as in the videos. Yet she still knows how to make her safe way across, both ways.

I really do think that most other dogs, even able to see perfectly, would be very frightened. :)

And yes, she really is 100% blind. She has no physical eyes at all, and the vet tells me that her optic nerves are dead. And though she navigates her way around my house and the surrounding fields exactly as if she can see, sometimes when she's excited (like when I'm about to feed her her breakfast!) she loses her orientation and crashes into things, the only time she ever does so. (I have soft sheets of foam padding in place round the doors and table legs just in case.)

She has her own little fridge full of goodies in the storeroom adjacent to the house, which is where I feed her from. The fridge is maybe 6 feet from the open door.

She stands in the doorway, waiting — and 'looks' straight into my eyes. It's uncanny. She knows exactly where my eyes are.

And then when I silently throw her a chicken piece, over her head and out the door into the grass, she follows it in the air, 'watching' it closely, exactly like a baseball fielder tracking a ball to catch. She has some kind of inner 'radar', nothing at all to do with optical sight, that just works perfectly for her almost all the time.

[Bill Ryan]

Her senses really are superhuman, and maybe even supercanine. :) I've been thinking of making a little video of how perfectly she navigates all the little obstacles that we regularly encounter in the mountains: sudden steps up and down, holes in the ground, little streams that she knows are there and take a careful long stride to cross, steep rocky climbs up and down, trees that she always knows are there and sidesteps, dangerous steep drops that she stays well clear of, and more.A fun example of exactly this. It's not a good photo (it was as gray as it looks!), but you can get the idea.

If you squint at the picture (or better still, click on the high-res version and zoom in), you can see 6 ducks on the lake.

Mara is 'looking' at them too. She knew they were there. But they were gliding in the water 100% silently, making zero noise, and hadn't flown in and landed or anything like that. They were just very quietly there all the time.

But Mara knew. How she knew, I have no idea... it's hard to believe she could smell them, and they really were absolutely silent.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_ducks_sm.jpg
(high-resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_ducks.jpg

A similar thing happened a few weeks ago, when we were near the same lake and Mara very suddenly galloped off to the left as fast as she could.

I thought it had to be a llama, but there was nothing there that I could see. About 15 seconds later I spotted a pair of small hind legs kicking up as something ran through the long grass about 50 yards away.

As best I could tell, it was a rabbit — which we usually don't see as they're largely nocturnal. But somehow Mara knew that was there as well, and sprinted off immediately to try to catch it. This is the kind of thing that amazes me every day.
:happy dog:

[wondering]

it's a joy to think that her life is as full and rich as it ever was.

[Michel Leclerc]

(...)

Mara is 'looking' at them too. She knew they were there. But they were gliding in the water 100% silently, making zero noise, and hadn't flown in and landed or anything like that. They were just very quietly there all the time.

But Mara knew. How she knew, I have no idea... it's hard to believe she could smell them, and they really were absolutely silent.

(...)



A reduced version of Mara’s feats is mustered by my 15-year old Basile, practically blind since a year now. Reduced, because no mountains. Similar because navigating 2-D obstacles very well (also when running) and, indeed, looking me in the eyes.

What I think is that they have sonar. (Or rather, that we all have sonar.) It is activated when needed. I have noticed that Basile’s abilities get better over time. As if he were learning to work with his previously dormant instrument. (Or was it, really?)

After all, don’t blind people say that they sense obstacles?

[Bill Ryan]

Ecuador faces a severe crisis due to the winter, with 22 rivers overflowed and 32 on alert status. So far, the storm has left at least 14 dead and has caused landslides, as well as considerable damage to homes and infrastructure.
https://x.com/andresvillalval/status/1897336421134045519
Yes, these are accurate reports. After a record 150-day, almost-zero-rain drought last year, the winter rains are now far heavier than normal. (Not so much here at high altitudes where I am, though mountain hikes with my dog are often very wet adventures. :))
Here's one of those very wet adventures, which we enjoyed just a few hours ago. The waterfall leading up to the Llama Valley (which we always have to cross, the only way to get there) was swollen and raging, but I could see from the trailhead that it might just be possible. It was a nice sunny morning, so I took the chance. The little video shows our return journey, heading back home.

Mara was on an improvised long lead this time. but it never really helped her at all and probably just got in her way. (Note to self: far better would be one of these!)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/dog_harness.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_7_March_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_7_March_2025.mp4

[Casey Claar]

Just astounding. I am always on the edge of my seat when you two do this. Shall we do a round robyn (to collect) for the better harness? ( ??!!!!!! ).

[wondering]

She is truly fearless....I'd help out with the harness in a heartbeat if need be....like us all, she is not getting younger.

[Casey Claar]

She is truly fearless....I'd help out with the harness in a heartbeat if need be....like us all, she is not getting younger.

I found the exact harness in the photo up there : on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/rabbitgoo-Tactical-Military-Adjustable-31-5-41-3/dp/B0828PFJLY/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1WEB4Q4EPLQ2F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rVIuN3_-2ysOXZCTzZQlDG996wDmcxNO7rer7NsPvEQJXVynER_DjFyv59bAYbbOQc1ERDoCPsH7_sdGSF7U4tHQufMfiswuF9LeVexo4b1N nFFO9G996fublbxu_IY4LzfG9EdZcYWA_9aVbM09vaxEbEFUHxGvl0gNayJb9jyHK-87D-dyflwtTZtR6mmJSjZZc6iCKot6Nt7qABMY1mCfsFN4fL9v2N40fz92QRAk1N2HyHP1OkO8x3UEeYmcGjFQ6KBKKrUzKIDMZLAZnA p2xB_raqFsK07GviEZ6TwwJI85wKL_HcHxrLuaqBJk81Vpqwu3TPivNYw5nTpyEANvlAW0FQMMpi-osRpWGiJbOxgVHoSlOQ224b9r5dAkrJ9q0vufwZIscc3m2BTrjb1SDTIhKgQZ9z4wZ4Z-cvQRW6EbX9dPWwA7uk5Ofhku.rDAGaPKuBI7Yj9YsrK5bKz_AgkWLDTrcjGhRYUi3Htw&dib_tag=se&keywords=sturdy%2Bdog%2Bharness&qid=1741403573&sprefix=sturdy%2Bdog%2Bharness%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-9&th=1)

Does anyone know if Amazon ships to Ecuador?

[Bill Ryan]

She is truly fearless....I'd help out with the harness in a heartbeat if need be....like us all, she is not getting younger.

I found the exact harness in the photo up there : on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/rabbitgoo-Tactical-Military-Adjustable-31-5-41-3/dp/B0828PFJLY)
Thanks for the typically kind thought! :heart: Actually, that was simply the first image I found. She really needs something very simple and lightweight, like this, which she'd barely notice and I could just clip on her quickly and easily if ever needed. I'd be certain I can find this in Ecuador, probably very cheaply. :thumbsup:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/dog_harness_2.jpg

And yes, she's not getting any younger. :flower. Right now she's about the same human age as I am(!), and in another 2-3 years, which will quickly pass, she'll be in her late 70s or early 80s. She loves and lives for the mountains, but I'm mentally and emotionally well-prepared for the time when she might start to find all this rather more difficult.

[Bill Ryan]

No llamas today. :) But we had a bit of an adventure.

After a record 147 days of drought, it rained heavily last night. (Yay!) The morning dawned dry but overcast, and we headed for the mountains anyway. We were 10 minutes past the high waterfall — which had been a tiny trickle for weeks, but today was an exciting but passable raging torrent — when the cloudy skies opened and we were hit by a violent hailstorm, something pretty rare and which Mara had never encountered in all her life.

With my head down, and thinking it surely couldn't last long, I continued up the valley (the 'Puma valley', as I've named it) — and then suddenly realized Mara was no longer behind me. I stopped and called her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

For the next hour, with the hail now turning to heavy icy rain, I hiked all over the valley, which is safe but has a lot of complex features, shouting her name continually. She was just nowhere. This had never happened before.

I knew that my friends, with their two trail-running children Noam and Pema, were somewhere high on the mountain, having set out a couple of hours earlier. Thankfully, I met them coming down, as soaking wet and freezing cold as I now was. They were immediately very concerned and so we split up to search up, down, and along every side valley where Mara might possibly have gone.

It was Pema (the 11-year old superstar athlete) who found her, shivering in the long grass a full mile from where I'd last seen her, half way down towards the road. She'd somehow made her own way back across the raging waterfall, blind, wet, cold, frightened and lost, knowing somewhere in her doggy brain that if she kept on going down she should be safe and that somehow this would take her home.

Pema, on her own and with no lead or string available, held on to her collar firmly and led her gently back to our vehicles.

All ended well. The entire thing was my fault, of course, as in the sudden heavy hailstorm I should never have kept my eyes off her. This is the only photo I have (a very wet one!), showing my friends with Mara warming themselves by the fire in the small restaurant back at the trailhead. Little Pema, the hero of the story, is at the very back, second from the right. :heart:






Mara, the super dog. :happy dog:

https://i.imgur.com/tEk1DeQ.png

:heart:A wonderful image! :heart:

We went back there today, but to the opposite side of the main valley where we had an easy hike just for an hour. Mara was quite unaffected by her adventure, and was totally happy the entire time. :)

From there, I took this photo, so I could show what Mara the super dog had done, all on her own, wet, cold, lost and 100% blind. (The dotted line ends at the point where she was found by Pema.)

Her path down out of the high 'Puma Valley' was the only safe route (despite the swollen waterfall), the same way we always reach the valley and then return home again. Somehow she'd remembered the whole safe way back down towards the road and had navigated it all alone despite not being able to see a thing.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home_sm.jpg
(high resolution image: https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_route_home.jpg)
:happy dog:

~~~

I happened again yesterday :facepalm: — and this time Mara amazed me even more.

We'd gone even further up the Puma Valley. The weather was cloudy but dry with no wind, perfect for a hike. Everything was all fine and normal. The waterfall had a lot of water in it, but was safe enough to cross. It was just like in this video (https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_7_March_2025.mp4) which I posted a month ago, dramatic and loud but no real problem for Mara to navigate.

Then suddenly, just like last time. I realized Mara was no longer behind me. And unlike the last time I lost her, I immediately knew she must have once again gone back down the mountain all on her own.

So I high-tailed it all the way back down as fast as I could, calling her name. I couldn't see her anywhere, but I was sure she was somewhere way ahead of me as I descended.

I found her even further down the mountain than last time, a mere 200m from the trailhead. In the photo above, this time she was right down at the lower right corner.

She was completely happy, not in the slightest bit stressed. She was like, "Oh, there you are. Where have you been? I've been waiting for you a while." :ROFL:

Her journey was much longer than the previous time when it was all cold, wet and windy, and Pema had found her shivering in the long grass. She'd gone a whole mile and a half down a complicated route, with a bunch of tricky this-way-or-that-way decisions to make. That included crossing the swollen waterfall again on her own, and had done it all more quickly than I could easily believe.

A blind human could not have done that — unless they'd taken all day going slowly and carefully inch by inch on their hands and knees. I should make a video of that whole descent route and post it here speeded up about 10x times. It'd still be a couple of minutes long. :)
:happy dog:

[avid]

Don’t let her out of your sight!!!

[wondering]

Amazing. I wonder why she decided to go back down?? What's your thought? "well, I'm done for today, no need to tell the big guy, he'll figure it out". She clearly loves to just follow her own way, secure in her own decisions. Go Mara!!!

[Bill Ryan]

Amazing. I wonder why she decided to go back down?? What's your thought? "well, I'm done for today, no need to tell the big guy, he'll figure it out". She clearly loves to just follow her own way, secure in her own decisions. Go Mara!!!For anyone following Mara's adventures (and her extraordinary intelligence!), this video may be rather interesting. Yesterday (with Mara close by me, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind) I took a video of her whole solo journey, 100% blind and 100% on her own, down towards the trailhead from the heart of the Llama Valley. I walked quite quickly non-stop all the way, and it took us 21 minutes.

So I sped up the video 3x. Watch and be amazed :) If a blind human had tried to do this, it would have taken them all day carefully on their hands and knees, even if they'd been able to do it safely at all.

The sped-up video is still 7 minutes long, but you can easily skip through it. The timestamps are:

0:00 — 2:00 : In the heart of the Llama Valley. At 2:00 we cross the river that leads to the waterfall.
2:09 — 2:40 : Descending an inclined rocky path, with a steep drop-off first to the right and then to the left.
2:40 — 2:48 : Crossing the waterfall.
2:48 — 5:07 : Easily down a broad path, the one part of the trail that's impossible to get lost on.
5:07 — 5:08 : But here's the astonishing part. Here we have to take a sudden sharp left turn to reach the trailhead. It's easy to miss (even for a sighted human!) and it's marked by a pile of rocks. Anyone who accidentally goes straight on would descend far further and eventually reach the road in a difficult place which would be VERY dangerous even for a dog with good sight.
5:08 — 6:20 : Down a long grassy slope with no dangers. In places there's a rough trail.
6:20 — 6:21 : Another junction, down a steep muddy, rocky trail through a bunch of trees and bushes.
6:21 — 7:08 : We emerge on safe level ground, about 200m from the trailhead itself. This was where Mara was patiently waiting for me to arrive after she'd made this whole remarkable journey all on her own.

Mara's incredible solo journey
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_incredible_solo_journey.mp4
(1.25 Gb, so it may take a short wile to buffer and load))

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_incredible_solo_journey.mp4

[Orph]

To anyone viewing the above video with a little extra time on their hands, slow down the speed to .25, sit back and enjoy the scenery. It's worth it.
:happythumbsup:

[BMJ]

I think Maras nickname would be Daredevil, and just like the comic book hero she employees all her sense to do extraordinary things.

[Rawhide68]

Having lost my cat Caramelle 15 years old recently ,I truely understand how much pets impact our feelings.

Thanks for sharing Ryan!
God speed!

:dog:

PS Sory for not finding the correct Mara dog animation for you.
DS

[angelfire]

What a tribute beautiful Mara is to the animal kingdom.

[Bill Ryan]

A minor (I hope!! https://projectavalon.net/forum4/moz-extension://ca5ff96b-4ae9-43c1-91eb-f7f9cea0ed3f/popup/entryview/images/smilies/0705 Heart.gif:heart: ) update about Mara. (A double update, in fact.)

Some readers may recall her adventure on 10 April which I recounted above (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121734-Mara-returns-to-the-Mountains&p=1663822&viewfull=1#post1663822). That day we became separated high in the Llama Valley, and she made her very magical way, blind and all on her own, down past the waterfall and a few dangerous rocky drops to very near the trailhead, where I found her patiently and happily waiting for me. She seemed entirely unfazed by her experience.

A couple of weeks after that, I had a dream. In my dream I saw Mara slip over the edge of a rocky cliff to her left, where she took a fall of what looked to be about 30-40 feet. She was unhurt except for a flesh wound on her right rear side. She was a little shaken, but scrambled away from the accident with no injury to her legs or head.

I thought little of it, except that of course I wondered if it might be a prophetic warning of some kind. In our subsequent hikes I watched her specially carefully. But all was well.

Then — OMG! — I saw that she did indeed have a flesh wound on her rear right side.

I'd never noticed it, as her coat is VERY thick and she often gets wet and muddy from wading in the water and rolling in the grass. Taking a close look, it seemed to have healed well. But there was a large scar about a couple inches in diameter.

Guessing, it seemed that it could well have happened when she made her own solo way down the trail past the waterfall and the steep rocks there. The timing would fit.

I'd simply never been aware of it. I don't have a photo of the injury, as my camera is out of action. But here's an image showing where the wound is. You can see it on her rear right side.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara's_wound_April_2025.jpg

So that was just a rather curious thing. Evidently, no harm was done — however it happened.

:flower:

Then, 4 days ago, we had something new. Mara, happily trotting along with me on the trail, developed a slight limp on her front paw. Again, I'd noticed nothing that might have caused this. But she could have easily slightly sprained her wrist on a slippery rock when I wasn't looking.

We'd not gone too far, and we turned round immediately. Going nice and slow, we were back at the trailhead within 20 minutes. But her limp was quite heavy by the time we got there.

Since then, Mara has been limping slowly around the house rather unhappily — though it seems a lot better now. I gave her some CBD oil (which is a kind of mild natural painkiller), and closed all the doors so she's inside and has to rest.

She's now 12 years old, no longer a pup, with thousands of mountain miles behind her. She's endured all kinds of things in her long life: replacement platinum tendons in both hind legs, then losing one eye, and then another. She always recovered from everything. And she's still super-excited whenever I start packing my backpack and putting my boots on. https://projectavalon.net/forum4/moz-extension://ca5ff96b-4ae9-43c1-91eb-f7f9cea0ed3f/popup/entryview/images/smilies/new/smile.gif:)

I'm quietly hoping that this will heal fast, and we'll be active again soon. We'll try for a short local hike on Monday. And if all's well, we might go to the mountains again on Tuesday.
:fingers crossed: :happy dog:

[avid]

Please don’t let her out of your sight 🙏🤞🐕‍🦺

[grapevine]

Do you think she could have something in it Bill? In the UK atm the blight for dogs is grass seeds which can burrow into their bodies either between their toes or in their ears etc., and owners are advised to check them thoroughly after every journey out, particularly in grasslands. It really is a scourge. Mara's coat is so thick you'd be forgiven for missing it. Will she let you touch it?

[Bill Ryan]

Do you think she could have something in it Bill? In the UK atm the blight for dogs is grass seeds which can burrow into their bodies either between their toes or in their ears etc., and owners are advised to check them thoroughly after every journey out, particularly in grasslands. It really is a scourge. Mara's coat is so thick you'd be forgiven for missing it. Will she let you touch it?I've never heard of that! (Here's an article I just read)


https://www.aldgatevet.co.uk/latest-news/grass-seeds-and-dogs

The Dangers of Grass Seeds in Dogs

https://www.aldgatevet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/dogs-grass-seeds-1200-x-600.jpg

I've never seen grass seeds like that here (on her nose or anywhere else!), but she does love to roll around in the thick alpine tundra grass.

I just took another look at her wound, and it's healed really well, it's not inflamed at all, and she's quite happy to let me touch it. Also, her limp is pretty much gone now. I do think we'll be good for a high hike again on Tuesday.
:happy dog:

[Bill Ryan]

I just took another look at her wound, and it's healed really well, it's not inflamed at all, and she's quite happy to let me touch it. Also, her limp is pretty much gone now. I do think we'll be good for a high hike again on Tuesday.
:happy dog:Sure enough. after a few days of rest she was 100% fine again. This one-minute video taken a few days ago is nothing special, but it shows her as happy as a puppy in the long alpine tundra grass which she always enjoys wading through even if she can't see a thing. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_fully_recovered_from_her_limp_27_June_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_fully_recovered_from_her_limp_27_June_2025.mp4

But very soon after that, the weather, which had been grey day after day, turned super-cold and very wet. This is becoming the year without a summer for us, in stark contrast to last year's 6-month sun-every-day drought.

We went out again yesterday anyway. This is meant to be summer now, but it was icy cold with a strong wind, freezing rain and hail. (Too cold to take any photos!) I wore two fleeces under my storm jacket, and double gloves with two pairs of wool socks. And I was still cold. :)

There was too much water in the waterfall to cross it safely, and though I couldn't see a thing at the time I guessed (correctly!) that there was snow high on the mountain, later reported as a full 4 inches.

I didn't take this photo! It was in the local media this morning. But these are the mountains surrounding the Llama Valley, where we hike all the time. I have to admit, I'm partly wishing we'd braved the elements and gone up there anyway just to experience it all.

https://elmercurio.com.ec/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/foto-cajas-1-scaled.jpg

And here's a nicely made Instagram video of the same place. (At the very end, you can see 'our' waterfall. :thumbsup:)

This is absolutely nothing for most readers here (even those in Scotland!), but it's quite a fun rarity here, living right on the equator.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLquQd4tnnq
DLquQd4tnnq

~~~

The good news in all this is that Mara, as she always does, recovered fully from her new injury. I give her all kinds of supplements, and my guess is that they work pretty well. As you can see in the little video above, she doesn't behave at all like a 12-and-a-half year old senior dog, in human years now (even! :P) older than I am.
:flower::happy dog:

[Bill Ryan]

We went back up there today, managed to cross the waterfall :worried::), and found this panorama before us. It was still icy cold, but there was not much wind and it was dry. I was very tempted to head higher to reach the snow itself, but after a closer look I decided it was very likely to be a little too steep, slippery and rocky. (But still, this is a very rare sight here.)

1) Our waterfall crossing: (the video was curtailed, as I felt I had to drop the camera quite quickly to give Mara a hand and make 100% sure she was safe. :bearhug:)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_5_July_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_5_July_2025.mp4

2) The Llama Valley: (yes, this is summer here now :))

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Cajas_snow_panorama_5 July_2025.jpg

[Ravenlocke]

Wow snowy mountains in July! Brrr! Thats’s cold!

Hi Bill, so is the weather also cold and wet down below when you go to town? Just wondering…

[RunningDeer]

Mara is always present and never distracted. :happy dog:
There's a lesson in her stillness.

:heart:

[Bill Ryan]

Wow snowy mountains in July! Brrr! That’s cold!

Hi Bill, so is the weather also cold and wet down below when you go to town? Just wondering…We have two 6-month seasons in Ecuador, as it straddles the equator: rainy (January—June) and summer (July—December). Summer should have started a few weeks ago, but the rain has been continuing relentlessly — down in the valleys and here at home too. I'd trade that for sunny blue skies, no rain, and daily power blackouts (because of low hydro levels, like last year) any time. :)

[Bill Ryan]

No video of Mara this time, but here's my great friend Pema (12 years old) running on the remains of the snow high on Quitahuayco today, where it was still very cold but this time there was just a little blue sky.

(For anyone unfamiliar with Pema, she was running as part of her regular daily training. Do see this fun thread (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--), titled Introducing Pema, the Wonder Woman supergirl :).)

There may just possibly be another snowfall tomorrow, in which case we'll definitely head up there on Wednesday to see what it might be like again. :snow::fingers crossed::snow:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Pema_running_in_the_snow_7_July_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Pema_running_in_the_snow_7_July_2025.mp4

[Bill Ryan]

This is becoming the year without a summer for us, in stark contrast to last year's 6-month sun-every-day drought.And our year without a summer continues: :raining::rain::worried:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_rain_11_July_2025.jpg

That was yesterday. To my surprise, when I arrived at the trailhead I saw my friend Gilberto's vehicle there, where he and his super-athlete children Noam and Pema had clearly ventured out again for another training session.

I judged it was way too wild and icy-cold to go high, so we opted for our regular bad-weather Plan B, a slightly lower-level hike round a bunch of small lakes nearby. I was expecting to see them there as well — but they weren't there at all, and I realised they must have gone up to Quitahuayco, some 2,000 feet higher (where they'd had fun running in the snow a few days earlier in Noam's little video of Pema that I posted just above).

I was genuinely concerned. The weather was appalling. I felt they'd surely made a bad decision. When we returned to the trailhead, their vehicle was still there. I want to find Fabian, my mountain-guide friend who runs the little restaurant at the trailhead, told him where they must have gone, and alerted him that if they weren't back in a couple of hours there might be a problem.

(Fabian is very competent, and would know what to do. I was serious. You don't mess with these mountains. I posted here in 2018 about Wilson Serrano, (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?93672-Bill-s-searches-for-the-Wawa-Grande--Ecuador-s-Bigfoot-&p=1246080&viewfull=1#post1246080) a highly experienced and able local mountaineer who went out one day in weather that wasn't nearly as bad as this — and disappeared without trace. 664 people, including indigenous trackers, army and police searched for him for 30 days before they gave up. His body has never been found.)

Later in the afternoon, I went up to their house to check all was okay. They greeted me with huge smiles. "You're still alive!" I said. :)

"They're incredible", Gilberto told me. When they arrived at the trailhead and saw how bad it was, his immediate reaction was to turn round and head straight home again. "But they insisted they wanted to go up there. So that's what we did."

Gilberto suffered the most, as while Noam and Pema were running around in the icy rain and sleet, he sat and froze, having given his own gloves to little 12-year-old Pema, whose hands had been very cold. He said his fingers never warmed up for two hours after that.

They're both entered for a national race up Quitahuayco scheduled for next weekend. If the event goes ahead, I'll be there as well with my camera. But they all agreed that if the wintry non-summer continues like this, the race would certainly be canceled for safety reasons. (And quite right too! :ROFL:)

[Michel Leclerc]

From what I know about the field: nothing from experience but this from listening to two friends:

Friend One telling how her son, an experienced high-altitude climbing guide who made a hundreds of meters fall with his patrons on a rope, of whom one fell to his death, one broke his back and basin, one just had bruises and he himself fragmented his foot bones because he had allowed his quite assertive clients to override his warning that the weather was not to be trusted;

Friend Two, the attorney representing the relatives of the clients, who won the case against the Climbers‘ Club employing Friend One’s son.

Lesson One: never continue when your guide says Return,
Lesson Two: always return when you want to return even if your guide says Continue – with your guide.

Does that sound like a wise rule, mountaineering members? Bill?

[Bill Ryan]

From what I know about the field: nothing from experience but this from listening to two friends:

Friend One telling how her son, an experienced high-altitude climbing guide who made a hundreds of meters fall with his patrons on a rope, of whom one fell to his death, one broke his back and basin, one just had bruises and he himself fragmented his foot bones because he had allowed his quite assertive clients to override his warning that the weather was not to be trusted;

Friend Two, the attorney representing the relatives of the clients, who won the case against the Climbers‘ Club employing Friend One’s son.

Lesson One: never continue when your guide says Return,
Lesson Two: always return when you want to return even if your guide says Continue – with your guide.

Does that sound like a wise rule, mountaineering members? Bill?Yes, 100%. :thumbsup:

Many years ago, I was on Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Scotland, famous for its bad weather), with a friend who had traveled a long way and who was an enthusiastic novice who'd never climbed there before. I knew Ben Nevis very well, so I was in the role of the 'Guide'.

Half way when hiking up to the mountain, I began to get a very bad feeling about the weather. I decided that we had to turn round and forget about climbing that day. My friend was very upset, but I insisted.

Sure enough, later that day a violent storm broke. If we'd been high on the mountain, we'd have been in very serious trouble. (I have quite a few similar experiences, and my instincts about things like this have been part of why I'm still alive. :P)

[mountain_jim]

I was amazed at Noam's ability to film that smooth of a video while running behind Pema on that slippery, uneven surface.

[Bill Ryan]

A trivial fun update, only to share a couple of nice photos. :sun: (In the first, Mara can be seen at the very left of the panorama.)

Today (in Ecuador's year without a summer!) the weather wasn't too bad, so we went to actually climb a mountain — Cerro Amarillo, the first peak we've been to the very top of for 6 months.
:happy dog:
It was quite a climb, but Mara managed it easily and right now as I write this (after a big late lunch!) she's soundly fast asleep. :)

:flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_panorama_17_Aug_2025.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_17_Aug_2025.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

It was quite a climb, but Mara managed it easily and right now as I write this (after a big late lunch!) she's soundly fast asleep.... and like all dogs, Mara's favorite place is in front of the fire. :ROFL:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_front_of_the_fire.jpg

[RunningDeer]

Bill, lovely pictures of you and Mara.https://i.imgur.com/pJjXOzt.gif
Thanks for sharing. :happy dog:

[Ravenlocke]

A trivial fun update, only to share a couple of nice photos. :sun: (In the first, Mara can be seen at the very left of the panorama.)

Today (in Ecuador's year without a summer!) the weather wasn't too bad, so we went to actually climb a mountain — Cerro Amarillo, the first peak we've been to the very top of for 6 months.
:happy dog:
It was quite a climb, but Mara managed it easily and right now as I write this (after a big late lunch!) she's soundly fast asleep. :)

:flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_panorama_17_Aug_2025.jpg


Hi Bill,

I agree with everyone and grateful that you keep us updated and with photos too.
But also,
I love the stone sculptures in the above picture, very comforting to look at and I love finding them on trail walks, when out walking. Also I like how that one way back in the middle looks like a guy holding a tray on his outstretched arm. :clapping:

[Bill Ryan]

A trivial fun update, only to share a couple of nice photos. :sun: (In the first, Mara can be seen at the very left of the panorama.)

Today (in Ecuador's year without a summer!) the weather wasn't too bad, so we went to actually climb a mountain — Cerro Amarillo, the first peak we've been to the very top of for 6 months.
:happy dog:
It was quite a climb, but Mara managed it easily and right now as I write this (after a big late lunch!) she's soundly fast asleep. :)

:flower:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_panorama_17_Aug_2025.jpg


Hi Bill,

I agree with everyone and grateful that you keep us updated and with photos too.
But also,
I love the stone sculptures in the above picture, very comforting to look at and I love finding them on trail walks, when out walking. Also I like how that one way back in the middle looks like a guy holding a tray on his outstretched arm. :clapping:Here's a zoomed-in photo. In Scotland, these piles of stones are called cairns, and they're a traditional feature seen on tops of mountains all over the world.

(these are all high-resolution images, shrunk to fit the page)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/cairns_on_Cerro_Amarillo.jpg

Cerro Amarillo is unusual here, as it's a gently curving dome, and it's not obvious at all (when you're up there!) which is the very highest point. So there are sculpted poles of stones ('cairns') all over the place.

Here's what the mountain looks like from a distance. 'Cerro Amarillo' translates as 'Yellow Mountain', and you can see why. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Cerro_Amarillo.jpg

But we climbed it from the other side, which is a steep ascent from down in the valley below. (Our starting point was the lake at the extreme left of the image.) Cerro Amarillo is the highest point on the skyline.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_looking_at_Cerro_Amarillo.jpg
:happy dog:

[Bill Ryan]

More about our year without a summer. :raining: :snow: :raining: :snow: :raining: (We've had maybe just 3 or 4 blue-sky days, one of them shown in the post above)

This photo was published in local news just now, of the road through the mountains where we hike all the time. This was all a few hours ago. So we'll definitely head up there tomorrow morning to take a look... though maybe we'll not go too high. :ROFL::)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Snow_in_the_Cajas_21_Sept_2025.jpeg

[Casey Claar]

I just thought I would report this:

On August 2 (of this year) I was told as I was waking of "an incoming cool breeze coming from the direction of Cassiopeia". I began feeling it the following day. When more normally here in California, August, September and October are just brutally hot months, instead and indeed came a cool breeze that has kept even our hottest of days pleasantly, and surprisingly cool. It continues, still, and I wonder if it will through all of October (the month I generally dread the most). We have had thick clouds and even rain this past week. Generally we only see rain here down at the bottom of the state in Spring, so this is SUCH a lovely reprieve.

[Bill Ryan]

More about our year without a summer. :raining: :snow: :raining: :snow: :raining: (We've had maybe just 3 or 4 blue-sky days, one of them shown in the post above)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Snow_in_the_Cajas_21_Sept_2025.jpeg

This photo was published in local news just now, of the road through the mountains where we hike all the time. This was all a few hours ago. So we'll definitely head up there tomorrow morning to take a look... though maybe we'll not go too high. ~~~

By the time we got there this morning most of it had gone, but there was just enough for Mara to encounter snow for the first time in her long life. Here she is trying to figure out just what it is: :ROFL:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_snow_1_22_Sept_2025_sm.jpg

But she soon got used to it:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_snow_2_22_Sept_2025_sm.jpg

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_snow_3_22_Sept_2025_sm.jpg

And then she discovered that if she sat down on it, it was just as cooling for a hot dog as sitting in the waterfall. :bearhug:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_snow_4_22_Sept_2025_sm.jpg

:heart: :)

[Casey Claar]

Aw, a first snow!!!!!! how wonderful for Mara, I bet she loved it. Coming from the desert, I have not seen snow much in my life either, I could count the times on one hand. I will always remember the absolutely MAGICAL moment of my first encounter. There wasn't much more to it than that seen in these photos of Mara, but it was magical all the same. I am so glad Mara to experience it while still here in such an astounding body.

[Bill Ryan]

Mara and I haven't been to the high mountains together for a long time (I couldn't afford the gasoline/petrol, but thanks to the great kindness of many members (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?15584-A-reminder-please-don-t-forget-to-donate-to-the-Forum&p=1693235&viewfull=1#post1693235) that's now been fixed. :heart:)

After a summer of near-continuous rain, the last week has been HOT (and dry!) with beautiful blue skies everywhere. So we set out yesterday to climb Cerro Amarillo ('the yellow mountain'), where some of you who've been following this thread may remember we've been a number of times before. (The summit is marked by a whole bunch of creative rock sculptures — called 'cairns' in Scotland — which I've posted a few photos of earlier.)

A nice photo from a few months ago: (Cerro Amarillo is the highest point on the horizon. It's quite a steep climb to get there, but it's actually not too far.)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_looking_at_Cerro_Amarillo.jpg

Here's a 360º video panorama from yesterday: :sun:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Cerro_Amarillo_summit_panorama_5_Dec_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Cerro_Amarillo_summit_panorama_5_Dec_2025.mp4

And here are a couple of rather fuzzy selfies. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_on_Cerro_Amarillo_summit_5_Dec_2025_1.jpg
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_on_Cerro_Amarillo_summit_5_Dec_2025_2.jpg

Some of you may have see my post here (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--&p=1693950&viewfull=1#post1693950) a few days ago when I reported my efforts on a different high altitude hike, my first for a couple of months, where I got to 14,300 ft/ 4350m but then 'hit the wall'. Cerro Amarillo yesterday was just 300 ft lower than that, and this time I had no trouble at all. So all in all it was a most beautiful morning for us in the sun.
:sun: :happy dog:

[Bill Ryan]

And some more. On Monday we went to a very beautiful remote valley where I'd not been since Mara lost her sight, as I'd believed it would probably be beyond her now. But as I reported on this different thread (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?121888-Introducing-Pema-the-Wonder-Woman-supergirl--&p=1695270&viewfull=1#post1695270), a week ago, the Friday prior my friends and I had taken Mara to a couple of very high lakes where she was totally happy and had had no trouble at all. Here's a nice portrait from that day:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_by_the_Emerald_Lake_under_the_Pyramid_13_Dec_2025.jpg

So after that, I thought maybe we could actually return to that beautiful remote valley which I'd never revisited for years. I was right, and we had a wonderful long day in the sun. We took it easy and went slowly, and again Mara was energetic and excited all the time.

But it was definitely tricky for a blind dog, with many rocks, steps, drops, river crossings, trees, bushes and other obstacles to negotiate every step of the way. When we returned home she was happy but clearly exhausted, and I think it was right at the limit of what she can now do. (She's nearly 13 now, close to 80 years old in doggie-human years. :flower:)

I failed to take any photos (my bad!), but grabbed a quick, rather poor video right at the end of the day, nearly back at the trailhead:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_16_Dec_2025.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_and_the_waterfall_16_Dec_2025.mp4

And yesterday we went out again, on a more reasonable, easier hike (but still a good couple of hours, this time with no sun) where we've been many times. Here's another nice portrait:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_by_the_lake_18_Dec_2025.jpg
So, we're doing well. :) On Christmas Day we'll go for our traditional high hike, probably to Cerro Amarillo (see the post immediately above this one) if the weather permits. I'll celebrate with my usual tiny chocolate cake... and Mara will have a big handful of doggie treats.
:happy dog:

[Bruce G Charlton]

Bill - A mountain-related aside...

This news story (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c0l9e4jgr2zo) about "robot legs" for mountaineers.

It strikes me as rather like trying to lift yourself off the ground by pulling your own bootlaces! - but what do you think?

[Bill Ryan]

Bill - A mountain-related aside...

This news story (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c0l9e4jgr2zo) about "robot legs" for mountaineers.

It strikes me as rather like trying to lift yourself off the ground by pulling your own bootlaces! - but what do you think?Ha. That was really about assisting mountain rescuers in arduous situations by augmenting the power and endurance of their leg muscles, like a kind of partial mini-exoskeleton. I can actually appreciate that... after all, rescuers do use helicopters and drones to help them save lives!

But high-tech assistance for regular mountaineers (and even elite ones) is quite something else. This is increasingly controversial in mountaineering circles.

The debate started a hundred years ago with the advent of bottled oxygen for mountaineers at extreme altitudes, though pioneers like Reinhold Messner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Messner) (and a small number of others soon after him) showed this wasn't strictly necessary for those with exceptional physiology and training. (And of course, not needed at all by the Sherpas, who don't require any assistance of any kind. :)) Now, many Himalayan mountaineers use drugs, but that's almost completely taboo to discuss.

There are similar issues in regular rock climbing, with super-sticky rubber shoes now used by everyone, even novices. These were unknown and unavailable 20+ years ago — making it almost impossible to compare the highest-bar achievements of different generations. I have the strong view that there were quite a few climbers and mountaineers from many decades past who would be able to exceed the performance of most of those today — given the same equipment to use.

A legendary college math professor called John Gill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gill_(climber)), who did much of his climbing in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, is considered by many climbing historians (and yours truly!) to be the best of all time. But again, this issue of technological advantage for new generations is hardly discussed at all.

And the same is definitely true of high-tech sports like motor racing, which is FAR more about engineering than driving skill. Veterans like Juan Fangio, John Surtees, Ayrton Senna, and Jim Clark would almost certainly be able to beat the best today given the same cars to drive.

There's a fascinating video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpXByGpsTtE) of a race in 1984 when all the elite racing drivers at that time were given identical cars. The race was won by Ayrton Senna, then an almost unknown youngster but now acknowledged by many as the greatest of all time.

:) :focus:

[Bill Ryan]

The last two sunny-day photos of 2025: (And it's been another great year for us. :sun:)

Christmas Day on the summit of Cerro Amarillo...

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_25_Dec_2025.jpg

...and the day before yesterday, at the lake below the summit.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_lake_panorama_29_Dec_2025.jpg

But I think it may also be the very end of our dry, blue-sky Indian Summer — not a 6-month drought as in 2024, but a 6-week drought which has again emptied all the hydro reservoirs. The rainy season, which usually starts in the second week of January, may come to the rescue.

However, that might actually start early. We also always follow up our Christmas with a traditional New Year's Day hike, and this is our weather forecast for tomorrow: :worried:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/weather_forecast_1_Jan_2026.jpg

It threatens to be cloudy and raining in the morning, with lightning in the afternoon. (That's quite a change from how it's been the last 40 or 50 days!) So we'll try to head for Cerro Amarillo again, braving the weather in the morning but definitely avoiding the afternoon as that's NOT the place to be in a lightning storm. :) And if it's too wet and wild to climb the peak, we'll just find a pleasant sheltered spot somewhere for our regulation mini-chocolate cake and doggie treats.

Happy New Year, everyone!
:happy dog:

[Ravenlocke]

Happy New Year Bill!

What a beautiful place to visit.

So Mara went in the lake water? It wasn’t cold then?

[Rawhide68]

What nice photos thanks Bill!

I'll go there some day.

Amarillo means yellow in english and gul in swedish, I remeber from school.
I have a few other words I remember, like "El gato negro esta bajo de la mesa" :heart:

:dog:

[wondering]

I think I recall Mara getting "meaty bones" for big celebrations in the past...now I've heard "dog treats" twice?? 🤔 Is her standard of living declining? 😟
.

[Bill Ryan]

Happy New Year Bill!

What a beautiful place to visit.

So Mara went in the lake water? It wasn’t cold then?Happy New Year to everyone who so kindly follows this personal (and relatively trivial) thread! :heart:

Yes, there's wild beauty all around here, all very easy to access any time the sun's shining. (But see below! :P)

Mara has a very thick coat, never gets cold, but sometimes gets pretty hot when we're hiking. The lake in the photo above is one we often visit, but it's a climb of several hundred feet to get there and the lake is the first water we encounter.

Mara knows it very well, is somehow always aware exactly where she is — something which never stops amazing me! — and when it's a hot day she just makes a beeline to the lake without stopping and plops herself right in it to cool down and have a long drink.


What nice photos thanks Bill!

I'll go there some day.

Amarillo means yellow in english and gul in swedish, I remenber from school.
I have a few other words I remember, like "El gato negro esta bajo de la mesa" :heart:

:dog:Yes, it translates as "Yellow Mountain". Here's why, a telephoto view: (it's high, 14,000 ft, but not actually above the vegetation line. But for reasons only a geologist or a botanist could explain, nothing grows there at all on the sandy areas that are all yellow.)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Cerro_Amarillo.jpg

We always climb it from the other side, which is a steep ascent from down in the valley below. (Our starting point is the lake at the extreme left of the image.) Cerro Amarillo is the highest point on the skyline.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_looking_at_Cerro_Amarillo.jpg

Here's Mara near the summit on Christmas Day. It looks like the Sahara desert: :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_on_Cerro_Amarillo_25_Dec_2025.jpg


I think I recall Mara getting "meaty bones" for big celebrations in the past...now I've heard "dog treats" twice?? 🤔 Is her standard of living declining? 😟Yes! You have such a good memory. :highfive:

What happened was that when my young super-athletic friends Noam and Pema both won their races at the major April event at Baños last year and the year before, part of their prize package (not only $$, but lots of assorted goodies from sponsors) was a whole bunch of packets of Knibbles, these doggie treats:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Knibbles.jpg

Of course they gave them to me straight away (both years!), and so I have a whole big stockpile. Mara loves them, they're very lightweight, they're sure to win a bunch more of them this coming April, and so I have to use them up!

Here's the rather fuzzy photo from yesterday — and the bad forecast was accurate, a wild, wet, windy morning. The 6-month rainy season has now suddenly kicked in. (The animals, plants, farmers, and hydro-electric engineers will all be celebrating!) We were up and down early, escaping the lightning storm in the afternoon.

What you see here is me giving Mara one of the treats from the Knibbles packet — a special reward for her climbing this thing one more time (a) when she can't see anything at all, and (b) when she's nearly 13, which in equivalent human years is something like 80 years old. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Bill_and_Mara_Cerro_Amarillo_1_Jan_2026.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

Here's something a little different: 3 short videos of the mountain road that we navigated to reach our hike yesterday. The first two show the view on the way to the trailhead, while the third is on the way back. The one-way journey takes about 20 minutes from the main road.

Enjoy. But not for the faint-hearted!! :ROFL:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_1_8_Jan_2026.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_2_8_Jan_2026.mp4https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_1_8_Jan_2026.mp4
https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_3_8_Jan_2026.mp4https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_1_8_Jan_2026.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_1_8_Jan_2026.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_2_8_Jan_2026.mp4

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/mountain_road_3_8_Jan_2026.mp4

One we got there, it was quiet and beautiful. We lost the sun after an hour, but here's a nice photo of the first water we got to, high on the mountainside overlooking the clouds, which Mara was happy to find after a hot 1000 ft climb. :)

(high-resolution photo shrunk to fit the page... just open in a new tab to see all the detail.)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mara_in_the_stream_8 Jan.jpg

This high valley is extremely interesting, as there's an ancient stone circle there, 100% man-made, exactly like the ones in South-West England and the North of France:

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/stone circle 3 Jan 2026.jpg

... and finally, another shot of the stone circle, complete with horses, which seem to like it there. :)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/horses in the stone circle 3 Jan 2026.jpg