At that time we were able to do one of the many mountain hikes. I won't go in to the details but we had a fabulous time then and have many great memories from that trip. Since then, we've been back here many times. These days we do the creek trail. It's not nearly as scenic but it is relatively flat and of course the dogs can get a drink fairly often. The first time the dogs saw the creek they were in it in a flash.
One of the reasons we like this place is that once you reach mile marker 1.7 dogs are allowed off leash. That didn't use to seem very far but today it seemed like about 17 miles. Walking the three big dogs on Flexi leashes is so easy. But add Boogie into the mix and we just spend our entire time being all tangled up. If I try to walk ahead with Boogie then he just stops to wait for everyone to catch up. If I try to walk behind then he pulls trying to catch up. We were never so glad to see the 1.7 mile marker!
We only let the girls off leash at that point. It's just not safe for Slugger to be off as the woods are fairly thick and he could get lost too easily. Boogie has a great recall but there could potentially be critters that might think he'd be a tasty snack. The two boys walked very nicely on leash most of the time.
There are so many trails here. You can literally hike for days and there are campsites along the way with lakes for fishing. Even though it was a very nice weekend day and we saw plenty of people the first mile or so, after that we only saw a couple people the entire time. This is a popular place for mountain bikers, horses, dogs, and hikers. The mountain bikers must stay on the main trail so they are no trouble to the rest of us.
As you can see, the mountain bikers would have a hard time on the side trails.
Here is a view off to the left as we head out the main trail.
Wazzu especially likes the forest part of the hike (which is most of it) as that's where the squirrels hang out. You'd think she'd get a sore neck as much time as she spends looking up in the trees.
Wazzu stands so still when she watches them that they get very curious. This one ran up and down the tree and kept coming closer and closer to Wazzu getting within six inches of Wazzu's nose.
I really think in another few seconds they would have touched noses like she's done many times before. But it was about that time that Sparkie realized what was going on. She's not quite that statue that Wazzu is.
After hiking a couple hours we came to Poe's Meadow.
I love meadows and evidently the dogs do too. Here we can see quite a distance so we felt it was safe to let Boogie have a little off leash time. He was perfect! He has the best recall of all four dogs. And he loves staying close to Wazzu so he had a good babysitter.
Whatever Wazzu did, Boogie did too.
Shortly after the meadow we come to a great area in the forest that is right next to the creek. There is a really nice fire pit area as well as a great place to hang your food so the bears don't get it.
The water in this river was so clear! You can see the rocks so clearly here and the water is probably four to six feet deep in this spot.
At one point we took a trail that might lead us back. Instead it turned out to be a vista trail. This shows you how far we walked. We were at the creek level earlier and we didn't walk up any steep hills at all. It was very gradual but for a long way.
Slowly but surely we made our way back down and came across another meadow. The girls totally loved racing through the meadow.
Here's another view from the meadow.
We came to many more spots to play in the creek as well. Here it looks as though Slugger is almost walking but in fact he is swimming and the water is a good 10 - 12 feet deep.
Boogie stayed near the edge but the rocks were slippery and at one point he fell in. This is exactly why we took the time to teach him about swimming in the pool. When he fell in today he didn't panic a bit, he just calmly swam to shore.
At one point the trail was well above the creek but the dogs were thirsty. So they went down this cliff. It wasn't exactly straight up and down but extremely close to it. The big dogs ran down while Boogie slid down - he's not afraid of anything. If the other dogs can do it he figures he can too. However, we didn't think there was any way he could make it back up. But he had no trouble! Mike couldn't make it and had to walk a bit to find an easier trail back up.
I'm not sure yet about this new lens. I really like the range it has but I'm not sure I get as good quality as with my other lens. Anyway, here are a few scenic shots.
As you can see a fun day was had by all.
Mike was enjoying watching the kids frolic near the water's edge.
The three boys of the family taking a brief rest on the way back. Boogie didn't see the need for any rest but Slugger was tuckered.
There were many times that we weren't near the creek for the dogs to get a drink. Mike's so great, he carries a first aid kit and a few quarts of water so that we can all drink whenever we are thirsty.
As we were close to getting back we saw our first (and only) horses of the day. What a beautiful place for a ride.
Point six miles before getting back to the trailhead there is one last creek access. When we headed down to the water we notice hundreds of butterflies flying around. They were so thick! They would land for a second or two and then fly around again. Boogie had a blast chasing all the butterflies - the other dogs totally ignored them.
Phew, after five hours we finally made it back to the car. We didn't actually go all that far compared to what they do in that amount of time when I'm not along but I tend to slow them down quite a bit . Actually, Sparkie and Wazzu probably covered about 20 times more miles than the rest of us did.
When we first got Boogie, Mike was worried that he'd have to take Boogie on separate hikes thinking that he wouldn't be able to go very long. Well we hike for five hours and Boogie showed no signs of slowing down. He is one rugged dog. There is no leaving him out of any activity for sure.
Here are a couple final shots of Boogie enjoying his day.
Here's to thinking that we will all sleep well tonight!
Debbie
9/15/07
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