Rosie is doing great

I wanted everyone to know that Rosie has made a full recovery, and she's doing great.

As many people know from awesome media coverage provided by all four of Boise's TV stations and the Idaho Statesman, Rosie got lost while Wendy, my friend Norm Nelson and I backpacked into the Vanity Lakes on July 19-20. We were catching up to friends who already were camped in the lakes basin, northwest of Stanley. Rosie is an English setter, and she tends to roam, normally circling back to us. This time, she didn't circle back.

Wendy spent the weekend scouring the backcountry for Rosie, but she didn't turn up. We had to drive away from Vanity Summit on a Sunday afternoon with a bad feeling in our gut, hoping she would be found ... we placed some posters on trees, indicating that Rosie was lost.

Tom Hickey and his friends and family from Meridian hiked into the Vanity Lakes on the following Friday, and encountered Rosie at the downhill edge of the lakes basin. They were a little bit lost, and seeing Rosie above led them to the lakes. Tom said, "It was by the grace of god that she led us to the lakes, so we called her Gracie."

Tom and his group nursed Rosie back to health, wrapping her bleeding pads, and feeding her 8 trout over the weekend. She was physically exhausted and a sack of bones. Then Tom's son, the studly dude pictured above, and his friend, physically carried Rosie out of the woods.

When I met up with them on Sunday night, it was really emotional to see Rosie alive. I called Wendy, who was in Ontario, Canada, and she was incredibly thrilled and relieved, as were the rest of our family.

So anyway, many thanks to Tom Hickey's backpacking party for saving Rosie. We will be eternally grateful.