Kobae's Last Day

Kobae, Jax, and I are headed to San Diego tomorrow to drop off Kobae before the cold spell hits. On Wednesday temps will drop ten degrees and we're looking at highs of 50s or so for awhile. That's too cold for Kobae. Where he and his grew up it never gets very cold so he never learned to hibernate. He will be awake the next 3.5 months and most days will be too cold to go outside so he's a snowbird and headed off to warmer weather. 

This was our best year together. Sometimes we'd get two or three miles away and then I'd have to turn him around because I had guests checking in and a couple times a week it would take and hour or more to get him turned around. He'd fight me so hard to go where he wanted to go. Once Nate and then Collin showed up and I knew there were good people at the lodge I no longer cared if he turned around. We hike where he wanted to go and then an hour or so before dark I'd steer him towards a road and then call Nate or Collin to bring the truck and then we'd pick him up and put him in the bed of the truck and bring him back. So much less stressful.

There were a couple of times I tried to turn him around and after an hour or so called the lodge and somebody would bring the truck. One day I was exhausted trying to turn him around. I thought he might win. I was good for another five or ten minutes but he didn't look like he was tired at all. I got him turned around and he ran right into my feet and I fell on top of him though not with all my weight and I just sat on him but he started hiking even with me on. I lifted my feet in the air and he walked about ten feet with 200 plus pounds on him no problem. I called the lodge to bring the truck.We got back to the lodge and Kobae was pissed. He was in the bed of the truck ramming the walls so I just decided to leave him there until he got tired and then we'd pick him up and let him down so until then we all went about our business.

I could hear him slamming into the truck every minute or so. There was a huge crash and when I looked over he had knocked the tailgate open and we all had to go running over there or he'd dive right off the tailgate to the ground. We got him just as he was taking the leap and put him on the ground.