Dawg has never crossed a river before. He has zero "experience." He does not know what to expect. He does not know that the flow will push him down river away from where he wants to go. I don't want him to panic or feel uncomfortable when crossing. The best way to prevent anything unexpected is to train him. Let him "practice" swimming in the river. Since we planned to cross the river at this spot tomorrow, I decide to give him a taste of what will happen when his feet leave the ground. We take for granted all the things we've learned in our life times. We don't know how to swim at birth like a dog, but that doesn't mean the dog can't benefit from a slow introduction to new activities. Safety First!

When we returned to camp, Andra decide to rest her leg across my lap. Dawg thought that looked comfortable and figured if it was good enough for mom, he'd try it out also!

We notice fire smoke billowing into the area. Fires are always a risk when backpacking in the Sierra's. It is evening time and we have no way of knowing where the fire is located. I figure the best thing to do is wait a bit longer until dark, and see if the smoke is lit from the flames on the other side of the mountains. If so, we will pack up and leave. Fortunately once it got dark, we could see no glow over the mountains and we are surrounded by snow in two directions and it is from those directions that the smoke is coming.