Tear alert

Following Atticus:

Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship 

by Tom Ryan

Heart-rending and beautiful. If you're a tender-hearted dog lover, it may make you cry but don't give up on it.

If you don't think a twenty-pound dog belongs in the mountains, you're probably right. But there's more to life that playing it safe--if we really thought that, we'd stay indoors, avoid bathtubs, and keep our pets in a cage.  Here's what Tom Ryan has to say about it:

One of the challenges we have in winter hiking is hiking around Atticus’ comfort level. We’ve done well in keeping him out of the harsher elements to this point. That’s one of the reasons we haven’t been above tree line all that much. Those who watch weather tell us that it’s been a mild winter. Not above tree line. There’s only been a couple of days so far when we could go above tree line and one of those was the first day of winter and on that day we had previous plans to hike Carrigain. Had I known the mild days would be few and far between we would have changed our plans.

 Five stars for me--not perfect, but real close. Sometimes he seemed to get too busy just listing the mountains they climbed, but never gave any of the details that would have made it come real.  But his story of his family and of some of their off-the-mountain adventures made it worth the reading.  And what great adventure story doesn't leave the reader wanting more?

I've since discovered his blog: http://tomandatticus.blogspot.com.br/