What Are You Looking At?

Views from the bottom of Fogo Head

I might have got ahead of myself. Fogo Head Trail is the most challenging stair master of all time. It’s 338 ft above sea level and over three hundred stairs to the top (somewhere between stopping for breaks and the uncontrollable quivering thighs you lose count). The panoramic views of the ocean and the little town of Fogo are breathtaking from almost every vantage point. I couldn’t help but make frequent stops to put the panoramic photo app on my iPhone to work. Shaun seems to think my photo ops were merely excuses to catch my breath. I’ll never tell.

Halfway up Fogo Head we stopped for a little break. We sat on a bench, so high my feet dangled, to take in the sights. Wow! “Hey, what’s Winston looking at?” Winston is rarely still. We watched him stand perfectly still looking out over the ocean. Awe. We paused to snap of few pictures of Winston strangely still and taking in the sights himself. And he’s off! “What’s he looking for? Did he see something?”

Winston made his way down the hill, sniffing his way to and fro. Might as well start filming, after all it’s pretty cute watching Winston explore his new surroundings. “Oh shit, an eagle!” Instantly I had visions of an eagle picking up a toddler from a YouTube video I once saw. Panic set in and I instantly start hollering for the little fur monster to make his way back to me, and quickly! Phew, that was a close one.

See the itty bitty black spot?

Just as we got Winston back on his leash and turned around to continue our trek up the hill I hear Shaun yell, “WHALES”! You’ve got to be kidding me. I just expressed to Shaun the day before how I can’t wait to see my first whale. You’d think, being from Nova Scotia, I'd have seen a whale before. Nope! Just then I spotted them, a pod of four or five orcas. Simply amazing! We sat for another viewing break, much longer this time.

Winston remained back on his leash for the remainder of the hike to the top. What a relief making it to the top, knowing its only downhill from there. GUESS AGAIN! That was the easy part! The winds had suddenly shifted and it began to sprinkle. We were under attack! At such strong wind speeds, on top of a mountain, raindrops start to feel like Bee Bees shot directly at your head. Instantly we were taking cover under the shelter of our sleeves while speed walking to the finish. Without a single word, a mutual understanding, we practically ran home.