Last Friday, we were hiking up the old Mailbox Peak trail with some friends and our Boxer, Yogi. At about 2000 feet, we lost site of Yogi, we called out to him and searched in different directions trying to find him. We stayed and asked every person who came off the mountain if they had seen him. Nothing!

We posted flyers and used social media to spread the word that Yogi was out in the snow and cold weather. We even had K9 Search and Rescue experts give us tips on how to locate him. We know that every day, people were out on the mountain looking for him.

Yogi spent four nights climbing over snow banks, withstanding the frigid temperatures, not able to rest for very long, no shelter, no food. How he wandered into the Fire Training Academy on Tuesday afternoon, I’ll never know.

Now Yogi is a very experienced hiker, he has climbed many peaks along the I-90 corridor. He loves to run with us when we are mountain biking, he is a very strong dog. I’m thinking his lifestyle trained him for this unthinkable adventure.

The support, the prayers, the good vibes, the love everyone has for our four-legged friends, Yogi’s endurance or survival instincts brought him home.

He was tired and a little scratched up and yes, he was hungry!

Thank you to everyone who posted the flyer on social media or at your place of business. Thank you to those who came out to look for him and those who looked for him late into the night. Thank you for posting flyers out in the neighborhoods and to those who called thinking they had seen him. Thank you for telling your friends who hike to look for him.

We are blessed to have Yogi home and to live in such a caring community that expands way north through Snohomish county and south through Pierce county.

Cindy and Mike Gaudio

North Bend