A very important job

29 September 2011

Reading time: 7 mins

At the beginning of the month I got to help out on the 2nd day of a very important job. I got to go and help the hu’parents & others restore the Caballo refuge. We left Lanjaron at 5am after having met Pepe and Jesús, drove for an hour up to the trailhead where we met Toni, Jonni, Pepito (the mule) and two pupsters. They had spent the night there ready to bring more supplys up to the hut.

Here is me leading the way at first light

and here is a nice close up of me waiting for the humans, mule and pupsters to catch up

The walk to the hut was a slow one because Pepito had to have regular stops for resting after carrying heavy weight all up hill. It was great for me as I had more time to look more for mountain goats.

I might be in the middle of no where but I know where im going

Now you know why I had that stupid look on my face, look at all those mountain goats

So whilst we were having breakfast, a big group of Ibex ran past and the two little pupsters decided they were going after them, much to the amusement of myself and the humans. You see the pupsters had tiny little legs and were never ever ever going to get anywhere near the Ibex.

Pupster 1 seeing the mountain goats. This pupster didnt like me, kept making growly noises at me

Pupster 2 spotting the mountain goats, me, im just trying to make friends

And so after breakfast we continued on our way up the mountain to the hut. Oh and by the way me and pupster 2 did become friends.

Checking out over the edge for mountain goats

I needed to take some time out in the shade as it was very warm up in the mountains

And then we were off again

Not to far to go now, just around that big lump

Look what was watching us. It really stared at me. Its a female Ibex!

Wow I made it to the lovely lake near the hut. Hu’mum took me straight down to the lake for a cool off. It had taken us 5 hours walking just to get to the hut and we hadnt even started work yet!

Into the lake for a nice cool paddle and drink

Whilst the humans worked, I supervised the goings on. Pepito had his goods taken off his back and was led down to the lake for a cool drink and rest before he, the muleteers and pupsters headed back down the mountain again. I sat in the shade, looked in through the window whilst hu’mum, hu’dad and Jesús set about painting and Pepe put the door to the hut on!

Me watching Pepito, the muleteers and pupsters at the lake whilst sat in the shade

Sat in the shade wondering why hu'mum keeps taking pictures of me and not working

Wondering if I could get in through the window and help with the painting

Me, hu'dad and Jesús having a rest after painting

I moved position for sleeping so I could get a different view up the valley

Whilst we were outside having finished painting we started to get flybys from Griffon Vultures. We all know how much hu’mum loves these birds and she gets very excited when they appear in the Sierra Nevada. Im afraid this was the best photo she could produce from this camera.

Griffon Vulture flying over the Caballo hut

And after the rest we had to head back down the mountain to the car. We reached the car in 2 hours. We would have been quicker but I got rather hot, as you saw from the pics there is very little shade up there, it was hotter than we had all expected. When we did reach any kind of shade I made a run for it. Hu’mum began to worry about me, she stopped with me under some trees lower down for a good 20 mins allowing me to recover before the final 10 mins back to the car. Boy was I hot. The best part about being a hot dog is that I got to ride in the back of the pickup rather than boot. Me and hu’mum shared the back seat all the way down to Lanjaron.

Hanging out the window catching some cool air whilst sharing the back seat with hu'mum

Comments

Bailey: Heard the sad news from FiveSibes – sending lotsa woofs & hugs your way! <3 ~Bailey (Yep, I’m a girl!)

Norwood: Oh dude I would love to chase those goats with woos. Woweee. Momma laughs that woo have the longest string in the world attached to woo. Norwood Ps- nice work

FiveSibesMom: Khumbu, you sure do have a very important job - and you do it so well! Beautiful pics - and of course hu-Mum is going to take your pics - you’re just too beautiful not to! That Ibex would’ve scared us, too! Do I see a really fluffy coat on you…? Is your winter coat coming in? Looks beautiful! Thanks for taking us along on your hike! I almost feel like I was there (without the sweat equity)!