[ Major Tom, a big grey tabby wearing a black harness, is standing on the van’s front passenger seat, looking out the window. Loiosh, an orange tabby, is meatloafed on the seat, and Tom is almost standing on Loiosh’s head. ]
They look so eager!
Well. Tom looks eager. Loiosh looks like Tom could maybe not stand on his face.
This is where we didn’t actually take a hike.
[ A cliff that’s basically one big red rock. It’s probably eighty feet high & hundreds of feet long, & trails off to the right; on top, towards the left, are a couple small evergreens. ]
Tiny dunelets!
[ The sand is very fine, almost dust, and each dune is maybe half an inch tall, but they look JUST like the big ones you get in the Sahara. ]
Why I wanted it to be a hike:
[ A trail winds off into the distance, through low scrub. Low hills rise into higher ones, and off in the distance is a spire of almost white rock. ]
Tom is not fond of the wind.
[ Tom is sitting on the trail, looking back over his shoulder at the camera. His fur is wind-ruffled, and his tail is extremely dusty. ]
Neither is Loiosh, but he actually got out of the wind.
[ Loiosh is standing in the shadow of a small bush that basically is made up of tiny caltrops. ]
… into an entire goathead bush, but nobody ever said he was smart.
SERIOUSLY someday this will be A HIKE
[ It’s a similar view to an earlier one, with the spires off in the distance; but an arroyo winds up towards the spire, which is to the right, and to the left is a series of hills eroded into rounded shapes. ]
… but probably not with the boys, because this was after less than half a mile.
[ Both boys are standing in the shade of a big rock. They’re both drooping and generally looking very tired. ]
Cats, it turns out, are built for the sprint, not for endurance. Fortunately when they get tired they’re a lot easier to carry than an ENTIRE-ASS GREYHOUND, ask me how I know.
Mom? Can we go back now?
[ Loiosh stands in front of a stacked pile of pale grey rocks, looking back over his shoulder towards the trail. ]
Just after I took that picture he hopped down & started back down the trail.
FINE
… did stop to take pictures of Rocks In Niches tho
[ A series of small niches cut into the rock, each maybe six inches high. They’re maybe a foot and a half across, and each has a white rock standing in it. ]
ROCKS. IN. NICHES.
[ Same, but from a different angle. ]
& then we turned around & walked the whole way back, the end.
NEXT time? I go earlier in the day, I bring Loiosh but not Tom (there were other people on the trail & he was NOT OKAY with that), & I also bring the back basket, cos I really doubt Loiosh is gonna wanna walk that whole way.
Also, more water.
