Saturday, October 24, 2009

The best hike yet!!!

This past week we had a couple of great weather days. Mum was thinking that they may just be some of the last nice days of the year. So, we were determined to get in some good hiking.

On Wednesday, we headed to the River Road Park and hiked along the White River. Have to tell ya there is some pawsome hiking there! We hiked for about 2 miles along the river, then headed back, so we got in about 4 miles total.

Here we are headin' out from the parking area! Gracie was just a blur throughout the entire hike.

We took a brief stop at the canoe launch to take in the river.

Then we were off!

Before we got on the path, we ventured into the dense to get another good look at the river.

Then we got on the path. It was gorgeous! The leaves were falling like snow, and the slightly muddy path was covered with leaves to keep us drier. The path was fairly steep and slopped since it was actually the river bank from years ago when the river was wider.

Mum had to walk with one leg shorter than the other the entire hike, while Gracie and I zigged and zagged, up and down, back and forth through the entire hike. Sometimes all three of us jogged on the steep ups and down. Fun stuff!

Have to say you get in some good body work going up and down, over logs and stuff. Mum is getting pretty amazed at my abs lately. None of us need any type of appetite suppressant to keep in shape lately, all the hiking and body work we've been doing is really strengthening my core.

Mum had to take a pic of this moss growing on the north side of the tree. She remembers from when she was younger that this is how you tell which direction is which, so you don't get lost :). The moss was pretty much right on every tree we saw.

We got into the dense area again, and the squirrels were everywhere! Mum really had to plant to keep us reigned in. And Gracie was screaming her fool head off. I, of course, was barking wildly.

After we calmed down, we took a little break and I rested my bum on an old rotten log...nice and cool.

During our break we just stayed still, listening to the leaves fall, if we could hear any critters, making sure we took it all in...

Then we headed down the path again. Gracie was wild on the entire hike. For some reason this time it seemed like a very new and overwhelming experience for her senses. A few times she got crazy manic and a bit on the frantic side.

She'd get spooked at the littlest thing. So Mum helped her work through it, helped her investigate whatever was spooking her, so she could gain some confidence. I was proud of her...Gracie learned a lot about the world on this hike.


After the hike in the woods, we got on the walking path and ventured down for about another half mile and back. Look what we found? A Wooly Worm!

A wooly worm is actually the larvae of the Isabella tiger moth. It’s a fuzzy caterpillar with bronze and black stripes. Folklore says that the more black, or the longer the black ends, the more sever the winter is going to be. Looks like 50-50 to me. I think that means normal, which the Farmer's Almanac says too for our area is this coming Winter. Guess time will tell :)

Weather prediction tomorrow looks a little good for hiking again! Gotta get in as much as we can before deep winter sets in. Hope you are having a pawsome weekend!

11 comments:

  1. Your River Road park is making us long for Sleeping Giant, guys, but mom is nervous about hiking seeing as I'm still mending from my limpy leg. She doesn't want me to re-
    injure it.
    What a beautiful spot you have for a hike!

    Love ya lots
    Maggie and Mitch

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  2. That looks like a fantastic walk Johann! Enjoy all the walks you can before winter.

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  3. We had that same bonus weather too!

    Tank woo fur sharing your khool hike with us!

    BEAWOOTIFUL!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  4. OMG, I was following along, enjoying your autumn photos and thinking I need to get out with the dogs instead of sitting here, when OMG again, the wooly bear photo yanked old memories right out from over 40 years ago! We lived in upstate new york, and there as a street near me with woods on one side and a field on the other, and in the autumn these guys crossed the road in the zillions. I'd take a can or box and wander along picking them up by the dozens and take them home and put them into a bigger container and feed them plantain leaves (because I think that's what the book said they ate). Never did get cocoons--most of them escaped really easily. But wow, what a blast from the past! We don't get those out here. (And I never saw a relationship between the color ratio and the winter--picking up so many, I saw a huge variation.)

    Thanks for that!

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  5. (Huh, the searches I've done just now say that its range is across north america, but I've never seen one in California. On the other hand, I'm not in elementary school any more. :-) And not spending a lot of time exploring nooks and crannies.

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  6. w00fs, wonderful walkie u pups went on...we heard its gonna b a ruff winter, but the wolly worms say otherwise..

    b safe,
    ~rocky~

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  7. Your park looks so much like the park I hike at with my dogs. Funny! Diana

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  8. What a lovely place for a hike. That was interesting info about the caterpillar, too. I hope the winter turns out to be a good one.

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  9. Fantastic hike! The weather was really good and I went on some great walks over here too! Mom loves the leaves on the trails just like your mum. We saw lots of woolly bears and caterpillars and lady bugs. And you're right, we gotta get out there as much as we can while the weather is nice because that winter weather that I love and mom hates is right around the corner!

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  10. Grate hike, Johann! The wooly worm I sawed in Pencilvania a couple of weeks ago was almost all black. Bummer. Looks like we is hasing a bad winter :(

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  11. lovely place to take your dog for a walk, i bet you all enjoyed it

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Thanks for barking in!

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