powerline trail

its been absolutely amazing and beautiful here for the past week or so. the weather has truly just been out of the world. bright, sunny, warm, but still breezy. its been really hard to stay inside all day to work. tonight after work i rushed right home and before i did anything, i just changed my clothes, loaded up the dogs (i've got erik's boys too because he's been working some really long hours), and went in search of a trailhead on the hillside. i've been to some, but its always been with other people and i actually haven't explored much on my own. i knew i wouldn't get lost, but i didn't actually know where i was going. i was looking for one, but ended up at another. i went to the flattop trailhead. its a pretty steep climb (to, you guessed it, a flat-topped mountain) and i've heard plenty of people talk about this particular hike. i've wanted to try it so i was glad i stumbled on it. but, there were quite a few people and quite a few dogs and quite a few signs the said keep your dogs on a leash. erik's boy, rosco is a little unpredictable too so i took the signs seriously. we started up the trail that was still covered in slushy, slippery snow. i had all four dogs on a leash and they were all attached at my waist. it was a challenge. the trail was narrow and they all wanted to pull in a different direction. and, it really was pretty steep. it didn't take long and i just decided that tonight was not the night for this particular trip. i was dreading the slippery hike down right away. but, we just slowly made our way back down. luckily there was another side trail that looked pretty flat and didn't have near the traffic as the other one. so, off we went. still slippery and still difficult to manage four dogs on a leash, but without other people, i cut them loose. they were thrilled and had a great time running in the trees, finding sticks, rolling in the snow . . . and in henry's case, letting out a little whine with every other step. he's such a faker though. he actually loves being outside and running around like a big boy, but has become accustomed to being the baby . . . or the prince as he prefers to be called. anyway, this trail went on for a while, but eventually connected up to powerline pass . . . which is just that . . . the trail which runs along the powerlines. its gradual, smooth, and well-maintained. its not so covered with trees so it gets a lot of sun exposure and was mainly dry, which we all appreciated. so, we had a great walk and enjoyed the sun and the views. you can see the inlet out in the distance on a couple of these photos. what a great night.