The final adventure

This is Barkley

 

I rescued him an hour after he was supposed to be euthanized. I rescued him to be my partner in search and rescue. He found a lost hiker, who had been given up for dead, before his wilderness certification was complete. This is him on his 10th birthday, September 16, 2001. He spent it searching the rubble of the WTC for victims. He helped find 7 souls that first week. 

This is Lizzie

 

She took over when Barkley died. This is her in Waveland Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She located a missing woman, buried in the rubble of her home.

Both of these dogs were with me almost constantly, day and night, from the moment I rescued them until the moment they died. They had amazing hearts. The things they did I know were for me. They did some amazing things.

In the days following 9/11 everyone wanted to "do something". There was a group of 6 guys who hiked up Mt Liberty in NH and flew a huge American flag to honor the lives lost. It has become an annual event for volunteers to hike up all 48 4000' peaks and fly flags, simultaneously,  for 2 hours around September 11. 

I have had Barkley's and Lizzie's ashes all these years, not quite knowing the perfect place to spread them. I found out about this event and knew it was perfect. I was invited to go to Mt Washington, where one of the event founders was taking the original flag. 

We are in!!

 I decide that Ace, my search dog who never got a mission, would carry Barkley's ashes. This would be his mission. Stennis, who Lizzie and I found and rescued in Waveland, would carry Lizzie's ashes. Scout, 3 1/2 was, as always, up for a new adventure. We are heading up the shortest trail to the summit....read steepest.

Scout tried out the pack, for about 20 minutes, she hiked the rest of the way to Lakes of the Cloud Hut by herself. It was unbelievable. 5 hours, she wanted to do it, singing songs the whole way, amazing all those that passed her. The terrain was beautiful but physically challenging, she rocked it. Check out what she did.

 

We had come to spread the ashes, but something else was happening. Scout was amazing us with her determination, stamina, enthusiasm for the beauty around every turn and her own made up songs she sang all the way to the top. We were not going to get to the top for the flag. That was ok, we would get there when we got there. We wanted the trip up to be shear pleasure for all of us, a trip to look back on and smile for all the wonderful memories. We wanted Scout to love the mountains as much as we do and want to return. So we traveled at her pace, which was surprisingly fast for her size, and enjoyed each moment...together. Each time we asked if she wanted to get in the pack she said "no, I can do it". And she did. We arrived at the hut 5 hours after we started and she received quit an ovation when all the travelers that saw her on the way up witnessed her walking in the door.

All adventures need a good snack break in the middle. Maybe next time we will spend the night here at Lakes if the Cloud Hut . 

The weather was foggy and the place was full of people. Then the fog started lifting. Shouts of "I can see the summit" echoed across the rooms. The place emptied fast as hikers all made a dash for the summit. We finished our snack and decided to finish our mission. This time Scout would ride strapped into the pack. Reports of hurricane force winds were predicted for the summit. 

This leg of the journey was like crossing a rubble pile.

 

 

We are almost there...we keep pushing on...everyone is determined to get those dogs to the flag.

 

We got to here...not sure if I could even find here exactly. But we were about 1/10th of a mile from the summit. We were into hurricane force winds. We held onto a rock, Stennis crouched low against it. It was not safe to go any further. We let those ashes fly right there! I am sure that wind carried them the rest of the way. We couldn't linger, the weather would only get worse.

 

Now we must get back. As we made our way back to the hut the rain began to fall. By the time we traveled the 1.3 miles back it was pouring. We were prepared. We went inside and changed into dry clothes and rain gear. Scout would have to ride down in the pack. The rain would make the trail treacherous and it was getting late.

There are no photos for this leg of the journey. We had only a few things on our minds, don't fall and get off the rocks before dark. The rain turned the rocky trail into a slippery river. We inched our way down with our precious cargo. Sometimes sliding on our bums because it was too dangerous to walk, but mostly working as a team to get down each rock one step at a time. 

Scout was amazing on the way down. She never complained, never asked for anything, she sang songs, took cat naps and mostly realized our situation and did her part. 

We talked about how much she was learning that day. On the way up the beauty of the mountain, the determination to finish something important, the pride in amazing accomplishment, the fun. On the way down she saw her parents working together to solve a problem, parents who worked as a team and never once got angry with the other, parents who were confident and so she was never scared, parents who found the fun in an otherwise miserable situation. It rained buckets all night. We made it off the rocks just before dark, after 3 hours of grueling climbing, carrying that precious cargo. Then there were still a few miles to go. It rained harder, it got dark, there was thunder and lightening (though thankfully just a little), we were exhausted, dehydrated, hungry and our muscles were ridiculously fatigued. 

We reflected at that point at how perfect this was. On the final hike with those two special search dogs we hiked through the wilderness and the rubble. We experienced hurricane, storm, flooding and a final sweep of the mountain. What better ending could there have been. And Murph and I, it had been a long time since we had a good disaster together! We pulled it off, perfectly. And Scout, just another day for her...do not travel where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. That is what we hoped for her when we chose the name Scout. We believe she is living up to it, and loving every minute of it.  

The story is not quite over yet.

We returned home the next day. Before long 2 perfect rainbows appeared over our home. 

Barkley and Lizzie smiling down on us! 

Life is Good!!

Today I will remember

Today I am remembering lots of souls that lost their lives that day. I am especially remembering my amazing partner, Barkley.

We started our lives together in an unexpected way. No one wanted him, he languished in a tiny animals shelter for months. His time had run out, he was sent to be euthanized. He was already there, he should have been dead when I arrived. But fate had different plans for us. I took him home and our journey began.

Together we joined the newly forming FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams. Only California had these teams, this training and these dogs. It didn't deter us. We were inseparable, we spent just about every moment of every day together...along with my son Zach. Zach was a key member of this team. Zach was an expert "victim".

We were always on the lookout  for anything that could be used as a "rubble pile" to train. Back then they didn't exist outside California. We would use anything we could find, giant log jam piles, dilapidated houses, old barns, huge glacial deposits in the forest, quarry piles, everything was looked at with its potential to be a rubble pile. Zach would go hide, Barkley would search for him. We eventually had a group of others to train with us, but Zach was always the best "victim". His timing was perfect and enthusiasm for play (the dogs reward) unmatched.

The 3 of us traveled to California to train a few times and also to test. It was a big event to travel to the Type I test. The most advanced and notoriously difficult. At that time, the pass rate was only 25% (it is much better now with more experienced folks training...and an easier test). On our first attempt we passed. He became only the second dog outside California to EVER pass the Type I test and the FIRST dog East of the Mississippi to do it. At that time he was one of less then 25 dogs that were certified Type I. I am very proud of him for that and don't want it to be forgotten.

 It was a long day, Barkley worked amazingly hard. He was not the type of dog that would be chosen by most people today. He may not have passed the testing to see if he was a worthy candidate. But he had an amazing heart, amazing work ethic, he was very smart and he would do anything for me. We were an amazing team. He got a perfect score that day. I have never had another partner like Barkley. I still cry today of his loss and miss him terribly.

We were there at the World Trade Center. The photo in this post is Barkley on his tenth birthday. He celebrated by spending our entire 12 hour shift working on the rubble. An amazing honor. He helped, along with the other k9 hero's from MATF-1 locate the remains of 7 people, 4 of them came on that day.

18 months after we returned home Barkley came to me one evening after I got into bed. This was unusual because he always chose to sleep, upside down, at the front door. He put his paws on the bed and laid his head on my chest. As I rubbed him and wondered why he was there I felt it.....lumps on his neck. As it turned out he had massive cancer. At least 3 different types and his body was riddled with it. He hated the chemo treatment. So, one month later he disappeared one night. The next morning he came by while I was in with the horses. He stopped by the fence and sat. I recall, with his head drooped low, that he looked like Snoopy on top of his dog house. Then he walked away. I didn't realize then that he was saying goodbye. He walked off into the woods, crawled under a cottage by the lake and quietly passed away.

So, on this day I will remember all the hero's from September 11th...but especially my hero Barkley.