I grabbed my gear in a hurry and in my haste I neglected to bring a critical piece of gear - my climbing harness! I didn't realize my egregious oversight until the tree was rigged and I was gathering my gear for the ascent. Luckily, Steven, Slinky's owner is a rock climber and had a harness I could use! Thank you!
Slinky was in a vine-laden tree along a stream swollen from 10 days of rain. Also adding to the challenge was the fact that Slinky was in the highest branches of the tree and the main union where she was stuck was clearly decaying. Thankfully the branches were strong enough to hold me and she was eager to do her part in the rescue too. After about 10 minutes of trying to coax her to me without much luck, I reached up to make a successful grab. After a bit of nervous growling I had her in the bag and we were both on the way down for a happy ending. Here's hoping this is the extent of Slinky's excitement in 2016!
