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this mean cow charged me!

CHARGED BY A COW

My husband and I tried to hike to the back of Waipio Valley today, again. We were hiking in a cloud, as you often are in Waimea regardless of whether or not you’re in the hills. It felt a little ominous. Also, there were cows, lots of cows, hundreds of cows, cows with baby cows. But up the hill we went. Came within about 30 feet of a white-faced black and white cow. I said “hi pretty” and she charged me! The nerve! I instinctively raised my hands and yelled at her (not sure where I learned this interesting technique). She backed off, gave me a stink eye, and then charged us again. This time my we both raised our hands and yelled. Apparently, my husband and I are scary enough to fend off a mean mama cow. The rest of the hike uphill past the 400 cows was harrowing to say the least. The barbed wire fence didn’t help as i envisioned gouging myself to death in our attempts to escape a stampede. On the way down, I went east coast and pulled out my iphone to google “cow attacks” before exposing ourselves again. Apparently, getting maimed or killed by a cow is a realistic possibility – especially if there are babies involved. So we snaked ourselves under the barbed wire fence and safely made our way down.

we found 2 sleeping dogs here

DOG SHELTER

At the forest entryway, there’s a shelter for lost dogs and a billboard for owners to post notes. There were 2 lost dogs, panting below a chicken scratch note from their owner posted to the board with duct tape. One of the two dogs followed us for about an hour until the owner came by to claim him; I guess the other was too busy licking the beer cans strewn about in the shelter to join us. This was the 2^nd time a lost dog followed me on this trail. What are the chances? The first time I was alone and a pit bull with a 5 inch wide collar and 8 inch tongue came up out of no where on my heels. She stayed right on my heels for about a half hour until she spied her owner in the distance; the moment she saw him she took off like a bat outta hell. Anyhoo, I guess local folks take (and lose) their dogs pig hunting in the woods here often.

I'm not proud of this

I can't believe he went along with this

PUDDLES & TRASHBAG BOOTIES!

Then came the big puddle. Trust me, it was deeper than it looks. It stopped us dead in our tracks the last time so we came prepared – with white kitchen trash bags to use as foot booties. Brilliant. I’m the proud owner of this idea (I abhor wet feet). However, my husband willingly played along without nary a question so I regard him as equally responsible. He went first. His first attempt was a total bust. Deep mud, not good. So off to the other side and he made it, thanks to his long legs. Something about my husband traversing a mud puddle in kitchen trashbag booties KILLS me. I tried and my trashbag bootie leaked. I was feeling rather vulnerable after the cow incident so I bailed and we turned around.

Next time – contractor bags, galoshes, my cold weather hiking boots, or acceptance of wet feet.