Hiker saves injured lost dog during hike.

Hiker Saves Injured Dog with the Help of Angels and Laughter 

Tia Vargas and her dad, Ted Kasper love to go hiking. So every year, they visit different locations to do some adventure hiking. This year's trip was up Table Rock in the Grand Tetons in early July. 

Little did they know, this time their trip will become more remarkable than ever. Vargas was just below the 11,000-foot peak with her dad waiting about a mile down the trail when she ran into a distraught family of hikers who had found an injured dog, an English Springer Spaniel.

New found baby, Tia and Boomer.

They tried so hard to find the pup's owner but failed. Because the family had kids in tow, Vargas figured it would be easier for her to carry the pup to safety.

Vargas soon ran into her dad, who snapped some photos when he saw his daughter coming down the trail with a dog on her shoulders.

"Dad laughed and said, 'Isn’t this hike hard enough? You have to carry a dog too?'" Vargas recalls. "My dad makes me laugh. He is such a great man."

Tia Vargas with her dad, Ted Kasper.

That sense of humor helped Vargas get through the ordeal of carrying the heavy dog down the steep trail, she says. The trek was hard and nearly unbearable at times.

"Every time I put him down so I could rest it was difficult. And every time I got down on my knees to put my head under his belly and try to use neck and body strength to lift him it was painful and difficult. I thought we would see people on the trail on the way down to help. But that wasn’t the case," she says.

At one point, Kasper offered to run down the trail and try to find help, but Vargas didn't want to be left alone.

Tia’s too tired for carrying Boomer.

Vargas' was too tired, her legs hurt and shaking. "When I wanted to quit is when I prayed. The prayer gave me the strength. That and my dad's jokes. He made me laugh and it gave me energy. And feeling the angels lift the dog off of my neck was what I needed to continue on."

They hiked six miles and finally reached the bottom of the trail. Then. Vargas found a very small note that said, "Lost dog named Boomer, call this number."

She called the owners, who thought for sure Boomer was dead. They had gone hiking together the day before and Boomer had fallen off a 100-foot cliff and rolled 200 feet. When the family rushed down to find him, he was gone. 

Tia’s too tired for carrying Boomer.

Vargas' was too tired, her legs hurt and shaking. "When I wanted to quit is when I prayed. The prayer gave me the strength. That and my dad's jokes. He made me laugh and it gave me energy. And feeling the angels lift the dog off of my neck was what I needed to continue on."

They hiked six miles and finally reached the bottom of the trail. Then. Vargas found a very small note that said, "Lost dog named Boomer, call this number."

She called the owners, who thought for sure Boomer was dead. They had gone hiking together the day before and Boomer had fallen off a 100-foot cliff and rolled 200 feet. When the family rushed down to find him, he was gone. 

Tia and Boomer

Vargas says the 4-year-old pup loves to do tricks and have his belly rubbed. He loves to explore and smell everything and always wants to put his head in her lap. Vargas, who is a substitute teacher, Zumba instructor and sells jewelry, has started a Facebook page for Boomer because so many people are now following his story.

Thanks to Vargas and his dad, they saved a dog's life and provided a forever home.

“The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.”

- Konrad Lorenz