A couple false starts and screw it

It was to be like any other Mission Peak hike. But it didn’t turn out to be that way. Team Vandenbusch picked us up 7:30am-ish, then over to get John and Michelle who were going to follow us to Ohlone college. We even picked up a couple of free parking passes so we could save the $2 (or a $35 ticket!). Hit the trail somewhere around 8:30. The sun was already starting to beat down on Chalk Hill, Right when we were going to start the big ascent, we realized that we didn’t give John a parking pass. John volunteered to walk allllllll the way back to the car to get the pass and put it in his car. OK, no problem, go with the flow. So we are waiting at the base of Chalk Hill, just chilling (make that baking). We could pretty much see all John’s progress as he trekked down the 1/4 mile back to the parking lot.  The VandenDogs were frolicking happily, awaiting another hike up the peak. During the dog frolic we hear a yelp, then a few minutes later notice fresh blood drops on the trail. Sure enough, poor Maxine had cut her pad on her front paw. No way was she going to hike. Good old Steve volunteered to take Maxine home and come back, and maybe meet us when we were on the way down.  Sounds good. LATER STEVE! Get will soon Maxine!

So we started our way up. Up up up. Not the same without Maxine.  Oh yeah, and Steve.  The vibe just wasn’t a good one. Then we saw the remnants of a pretty big snake that looks like someone had chopped in pieces with a machete. Not good.  So Vicky was the first one to mention that the karma was not good for the hike. We all agreed. I suggested we hike the short distance to the seasonal pond, then take the back, less traveled way back to Ohlone parking lot. The trail back was real overgrown and the snake-phobia was high. Its a beautiful hike back there and down a tree line canyon to the college. As we were just about to come out onto paved road, John shouted “TICK”. Vicky had a tick on the back of her leg.  Not good Karma for us!  Flicked the tick, checked ourselves out (flick, flick, flick) and then thought of poor Bella,  the younger Vandendog.  A quick check showed that she had MANY ticks all over her legs. We tried to get a few then figured, lets get to the car and do an assessment. Ok, maybe not the best idea to take the path less traveled.  I learned my lesson. Sorry Bella!  Steve was waiting for us when we got there, then we proceeded to pick about 50 ticks off Bella. We found more in our socks and shoes. LOVELY! After the tick picking party, we headed over to Pets Mart to get Bella some good shampoo, and then it was home. Still got a bit a workout in and got to spend some quality tick picking time with friends.