TD2 2021 Adventure -- Week 4, Part 1 "Meeting Luigi"

Hey there everyone!

Here's your fifth installment of Thistle Dew Too's (TD2) 2021 Adventure.  Week 4 comes to you in two parts.  The first part includes securing the camping spot, arrival of our son Greg, his girlfriend Katherine and their dog Luigi (who we had yet to meet in person), and then an early morning assault on Rainbow Falls in the Devil's Postpile National Monument.

One point of background that is relevant to Week 4 is that Luigi recently came down with an auto-immune skin disease.  He's been treated and is recovering, but is still on medication.  And the disease (or its treatment), have caused Luigi to lose a lot of muscle mass, and his paws have become very sensitive as they heal.  We didn't know how this would end up affecting Luigi on these hikes, but we soon learned 😬.

The hike down to Rainbow Falls was pretty easy (it was still early, so cooler, and the hike was pretty much all downhill).  But nevertheless, we eventually saw Luigi wanting to rest under shade.  After we revitalized at the Falls and had lunch, the kids wanted to see the Lower Falls too, but Carol decided that might be too much for her, so she and I stayed near the upper falls until the Greg, Katherine, and Luigi returned.

While that part of the hike went OK for Luigi, things quickly got worse on the walk back to the car.  Luigi was struggling, and the best he could do was have Katherine run him between shade-to-shade spots, resting each time.  It was going to take us too long to get him back to the car.  So the decision was to have Greg run back to the car, grab a backpack designed to carry Luigi, and then we take turns hiking out carrying Luigi.

While Greg was gone, we came to a trail intersection that indicated there was another route we could take.  This would allow Greg to drive the car to a new pickup location, and only have to walk back a short distance (rather then 6 additional miles: 2 miles back to the car, 2 miles back to us, and 2 miles back to the car again).  I contacted Greg via text and told him we had a new plan, but when I sent the details, there was no reply ... he was out of cell coverage!  So Greg walked back a short distance until he could call, and we relayed the new plan (and we had been slowly walking in that new direction as much as was possible for Luigi).

In the end, it all worked out, and we met up with Greg and the backpack with only about 1/4 mile more to go.  So Luigi got a short ride, which we considered a "test drive" for the following day, where a much longer hike was planned.  Oh boy!

In the end, everyone had a good time, and got some good exercise.  We relaxed and cooled off at a beautiful park in June Lake, and Luigi got to rest and have his first swim in a lake!

Here are a few preview photos:

Welcoming Greg, Katherine, and meeting Luigi!

Everybody made it down to Rainbow Falls, woohoo!

Luigi gets his well-deserved first-ever swim, in June Lake!

That's one tuckered-out pooch, fast asleep in his sleeping bag!

Please click this link to access the full set of photos for Week 4, Part 1 ("Meeting Luigi") of our TD2 2021 adventure.  As you move your cursor over each photo, you will see a descriptive caption, and place the cursor on the caption itself to read the whole thing, or just double-click the photo.  

If there is a Part 1, then you know there must be a Part 2 ("Epic Hike") coming up next!

So until next time ... wishing you all the best and hoping you are having fun!