8/8/03 We huffed and puffed and strained. The slippery, muddy trail took all our concentration and the steepness sapped our strength. Tumble foolishly asked Rough to hike ahead and scout out the summit that seemed just out of reach each time we turned a corner. As soon as he was out of sight she got impaled on a branch sticking out into the trail. Fortunately it had been trimmed blunt and didn't puncture her chest, but gouged deep into her pectoralis and got tangled in her shoulder strap, leaving her suspended over a mud pit she had been trying to leap across. She was tired and sore.