Ringwood State Park (Ringwood, NJ)

Today we hiked for 12 miles at Ringwood State Park. Where we parked woz rite by the New Jersey Botanical Gardens but they does not allow dogs so we did not go in. We did, however, find some of their daffydills along the way so I got to see them and it maded it feel like springtime.


The daffydills looks a little sad coz they gotted frozened last nite. We woz hasing 70 degree wevver for a whole week then last nite it wented down to 20 degreeses. Brrrrr. So we founded some icysickels too.


So here lately on our hikes we has been climbing up the mountain then staying atop the ridge and coming back down when we is done. Oh not today. Today we wented up and down mountains THREE times. You will see at the end how tired I is.

We seened this off the side of the trail wot says "YCC 1976-77".

That must mean the Youth Conservation Corps builted this trail long times ago. That woz rilly nice of them.




We had lots of seenik overlooks wif all the mountains we woz climbing.



We could not stop at this overlook coz a man was resting and hasing his lunch. There woz not enuff room for us and we did not want to introod in hims space so we just taked a pikshur and moved on.


But this next overlook, Ilgenstein Rock, woz rilly kewl anyways. See the Manhattan skyline along the horizon? You mite has to click on the pikshur to biggify it.


Or here is one wifout me in it, just the skyline, so mom could zoom in closer.


This is Bear Swamp Lake. You mite rememmer that name coz we hiked around it when we hiked at the Ramapo Valley County Reservation wot is ahind the lake on Noo Years Day in the snows! It looks a lot diffrent now wifout the snows.


I is starting to get a little tuckered out now.


We camed to Glasmere Pond but mom would not let me go in it coz it is too cold.


There woz some creeks to cross over too.


And check this out at the last overlook. These litter bugs thinks they is getting so clever, making us think sodie cans grows on trees! Ha! We is way smarter than that! Mom plucked the can, stomped it so it woz all squished flat and I carried it home for recycling in my backpack.


Then we gotted home and I has to show you real speedy quick wot camed in the mails afore I fall asleep. Mom had ordered me a nifty patch for my backpack! It says "Bigfoot's Been Doing It For Years - Leave No Trace". So take that you litterbugs!

I will try my best not to get it muddy after mom sews it on my backpack. I do wish it comed in brown, tho.

Photo Game and Sunshine Award

PHOTO GAME:

I woz tagged by my furrend Lucy at Lucy's Cat Lounge for the photo game. This is how it werks:

1. Open your first photo folder
2. Scroll down to the 10th photo
3. Post the 10th photo and tell the story about it
4. Pass along to 5 other blogs

Here is my 10th photo in my first photo folder:


This woz takened when we woz hiking at Monmouth Battlefield State Park on March 6, 2010. Mom did not use this pikshur in my bloggie coz I woz looking the rong way so it woz a blooper photo. You cannot read wot the sign says so I put it biggified here:

If'n you does not knows who Molly Pitcher is, you can read about her here. She woz famuss.

And I is passing on the Photo Game to the five, yes count them on one whole paw, FIVE furrends who gibbed me the Sunshine Award wot follows...


SUNSHINE AWARD

The Sunshine Award woz bestowed upon me by FIVE of my furrends:
Christopher's Groove
Teagan Times
Yoda at Barking Out Loud
Max the Quilt Cat
Your Daily Cute

Thank you all. I so is honored and to has gotted it FIVE times!


The rools is I has to pass it on to 12 udder bloggies wot brings me sunshines and I woz hasing such a hard time picking 12 coz they all brings me sunshines. So I gib it to efurryone if'n that is OK. If'n not, then I will has to prokrastinate longer on passing it on coz I cannot make up my minds.

Appalachian Trail (Wind Gap, PA)

We had such a wonnerful hiking last Friday that we decided to hike some more on the Appalachian Trail in Pencilvania. Mom seened Wind Gap, Pencilvania on the map where there is a place to park the car to gets on the Appalachian Trail and go up along the top of a different part of the Blue Mountains. So that is were we wented.


You can see here on this pikshur we taked from the car how we woz going to hike along to top of the mountain.


Furst we had to climb up high. I had to keep waiting on mom. She is so slow with the climbing.


The trails is very rawky here. The peeples wot hikes the whole Appalachian Trail from Goreja to Mane calls Pencilvania "Rocksylvania - where hiking boots go to die" coz of all the rawks you has to walk over. It makes hiking hard for mom sometimes coz she stubbs her toes and yells "OWIE" and has to be careful she does not twist her ankles if'n she steps on wobbly rawks. Don't bother me any wif my dainty little dog paws.


The furst seenik overlook we comed to is called Lookout Rock on the west side. I wonner how long it taked somebody to think up that name?


Then back on the east side we comed to Hahn's Lookout wot woz kind of loud wif traffics and not so pritty but we could see the highway wot we drived in on.


About a gabillion boy scouts passed us going the udder way. They looked like they had just woked up. Mom asked them if they had spented the nite on the mountain and they sayed yes. They must has had some wild camping pawty coz they all looked like they had camping hangovers. You can see they has they sleeping bags and stuffs wif them. They thought I woz a very kewl dog and they all gibbed me pets as they walked by. They liked my backpack too.


And then we founded where they had spented the nite. Akshually, mom sayed we must has passed mebbe 40 boys and the mans wot woz they leaders and when I inspected where they had camped, they passed my inspekshuns coz they lefted no litter at all. I was very proud of the boy scouts.


So mom and I decided to take a break where the boy scouts had camped coz there woz grate seenik overlooks on both sides, we could look east, then take a few steps over to the udder side of the mountain and look west.





Mom surprised me with a snack she brought for me! A while back I had wonned some cookies from Lucky Dog Treat Company and they woz so nommy! They woz hasing a sale and mom had buyed us some more cookies. When the package came the udder day, they had put in some samples with the order. Since the samples is not enuff to split atween the 3 of us, mom throwed them in her backback as my hiking snack and I gotted all of it. ALL OF IT! I did not has to share wif my sisfurs for a change.


That woz nommy!


Thank you mommy.


So it woz anudder beeotiful day and anudder grate hike. I woz a little tired from hasing hiked 9.75 miles on Friday and 10 miles today so I sort of falled asleep on the job. I rarely sleep in the car coz I has to keep an eye on mom's driving. Fortunately, she did fine without my supervisoring.

I Got Mail!

My good furrend Boris had a SciFi pawty on Twitter last weekend. It woz so much funs. I dressed up as Shaw-Shaw-Binks (Jar-Jar-Binks from Star Wars). Efurryone had such wonnerful kostooms for the pawty.


Boris had contesties to win prizes and I wonned one of these alien bunny stuffies:


So when we gotted home from hikings today, mom broughted me my mails. I woz so tired from mountain climbing that I woz not so impressed with hasing mails.


But when mom opened the box, I sayed "Oh my dog! That is my alien prize from Boris! I can smell Boris scents on it!"


I gotted my second wind and perked rite up:



There woz a mousie wot say "SQUEAK SQUEAK" in the box too. It woz for the kittehs so mom had to go gib it to the kittehs rilly quick like afore Sydney, the mouser, nommed it up.


And then there woz Yummy Chummies treats, too! We had never hadded these kinds of treats afore. They woz nomilishus and we nommed them all up even tho we just eated dinner. There is always room for Yummy Chummies!





Thank you so much Boris for a wonnerful pawty and the grate prize I wonned. I is going back to sleep now wif my alien bunny stuffie coz I lub him!

Mount Minsi (Delaware Water Gap, PA)

Mom had more use-it-or-lose it vakashun days to take from hers werks and today we had such beeootifuls wevvers (70 degrees) so we gotted to go hiking! It woz fantabulous. Rememmer back in November we hiked at Mount Tammany in the Delaware Water Gap? Well, Mount Minsi is straight across from Mount Tammany on the udder side of the Delaware Rivers.


So when the Delaware River waters split up the mountains, the one side maded Mt. Tammany in the Kittatinny Mountains in Noo Jersey and the udder side where we woz today was maded into Mt. Minsi in the Blue Mountains in Pencilvania. That be your geograffy lesson for today.

So after we parked the car we started on the Appalachian Trail and climbed up, up, up high up to the top of Mt. Minsi. It woz hard werks but it shore woz beeootifuls up there. I show you the trip up. In most of the pikshurs it is Mt. Tammany wot is the mountain you be seeing on the left and Mt. Minsi where we woz headed on the rite.








Where the arrow is pointing is where we woz on Mt. Tammanny afore:


Ta da! Here we is at the top of Mt. Minsi looking down at the teensy Delaware River and the cars on the highway wot looks like little ants from way up here.



Mom gotted the timer thingie on the camera to werk but either the camera woz crooked or the werld not be strate. But, hmmm, surprisingly mom and I look pritty strate. I wonner wassup with that.


Then we hiked more all the way to Totts Gap. All along the way any time we wanted to see a seenik overlook, all we had to do woz turn our heds and it woz rite there coz the trail wented along the top of the Blue Mountains.



And I founded the last little patch of snows! I is shore that after the 70 degrees wevver of today, that snow is now all gone.


OK, peeples, so you think that if'n you stuff your plastic bag unner a rawk that is a good thing?

NO! That is noggty! That still makes you a litter bug. (Gib them a big HISS for me, will you, Lucy?) Mom put the bag in my backpack and I carried it home to throw away. Bad peeples. Shamie on you.

So anyways, it woz a pawsome day and we hiked 9.75 miles. The whole weekend is supposed to has wonnerful wevvers so I think there mite be more hikings. I had better nap and rest up just in case.