Schunemunk Mountain (Woodbury, NY)

This woz kwite the pawsome 10 mile hike today at Schunemunk Mountain in Noo York! It woz better than we thoughted it would be. But when hikes is rilly good, that means they is rilly hard coz you has to werk for those beeootiful seenik views. So you will see, I hadded to face anudder one of my fears. Last week it was steps, today - going down a rawk wall wot goes strate down. I mean I climb up and down steep rawks all the time but this was strate down wif no place to put my paws like if'n you woz to has to climb down off the rufe of your howse! Well, why not start off wif that and git it out of the way. So here was the rawk wall. Mom had gonned down alreddy but she had to throw her trekking pole and backpack down furst coz she could not get down the wall wif them. (Does that tell you rite there that this is not going to be a good thing?) Here I is at the top looking down at mom saying, "You have done gone and lost your mind, mom. I is NOT coming down that rawk wall! You cannot make me. No way. No how."

So I would take off to try to find anudder way. Mom kept saying she alreddy tried that and there be no udder way. So she would have to climb up to get me and bring me back to the wall. Mom would go down, tell me to come, and I would say 'no way' and take off. After climbing up and down the wall three times, mom woz gitting rilly good at it. So finally she leashed me up and taked me over to the wall wif her. Mom would go down a bit then make me come and catch me. (OK, she PULLED ME so I had no choice!) Then I would has to stay on a little ledge where there woz hardly enuff room for my four paws while mom went down a little more. Finally the last part I gotted really skeered and hanged on wif my one back paw while mom was trying to lift me down. She woz yelling at me to let go wif my paw and not hold on. I swear I has little suckshun cups in my paw pads, BOL! I finally letted go and mom gotted me down safely. The arrow shows where I woz and how for down I had to go. Ta da!

See, I is all happy and wagging my tail now. Good thing is, we had anudder hard wall like that and I cooperated better and I wented down udder really steep parts by myself coz I woz not so skeered any mores.

So let's get to the good stuff. This is wot we gotted to see for all of our up and down climbings and keep in mind the pikshurs does not does it justice. In real life it is way better.

Those is the Catksill Mountains where mom sayed we will go hiking pritty soon but they is rilly big mountains, like dubull big wot we has been climbing.




It woz rilly windy so that is why my eyes is skwinty and my ears is all flat.


That is the Hudson River in front of the mountains back there:


It's a bird! It's a plane! It's..... Oh, it IS a plane!

We woz so high up atop the mountain that mom woz able to get a rilly good shot of the airplane.

Mom also taked a pikshur of this cave but we got away rilly fast coz a bear could has been sleeping in there. YIKES!


After we gotted done wif all of the steep down climbings, there woz some nice easy trails to walk on:


And a creek for me to get my furs wet. Mom did not take my backpack off coz it woz not deep.


But there woz one thing mom had not thoughted of. I laid down in the waters BOL!


When we woz almost done wif the hiking, we comed to some railroad tracks where the arrow is pointing:


When we gotted around to the tracks to cross over, mom had a hold of my leash and she said to wait quietly for a minit. Mom thought she heared something so we did not move. Good thing coz all of a sudden...

That train went whooooosh by so fast if'n we would has not lissened and tried to cross, we would has been skwished!

Here is our litter hawl for the day:


But mom had to help me carry it out coz this one sodie bottle woz so big it would not fit in my pawket.


In closing, wif this being the furst weekend where we has rilly been able to see spring, I would like to share wif you some spring wot we found today in the mountains:

Stokes State Forest and Delaware Water Gap (Tillman Ravine/Buttermilk Falls/Rattlesnake Mountain)

Whew, that's a lot in that title and it woz a lot to hike! We hiked in two parks, thru a ravine, up a huge waterfall, up mountains, along ridges and down in valleys and saw incredible seeniks views all in 11 miles. We started out at Tillman Ravine in Stokes State Forest. It woz spectacular and of course, the pikshurs does not do it justice.




The waters woz so loud! If'n you lives close enough to visit there, you should do it! Even if'n you is not a hiker the trails and bridges through the ravine isn't more than a mile and anyone can do it. It is spectacular and definitely werth a trip. It is very dark in the ravine coz the pine needles up high at the tops of the trees keep the sunlight out. A kewl and refreshing place to visit in the summertime. (Lucy, I is thinking of your mom here, and Boris' Human1 and Human2 in Pencilvania ...)

So we walked on a dirt road a bit to get to Buttermilk Falls in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area right next to Stokes State Forest. Whoa, that woz a huge waterfalls. It doesn't look so hoomungus in the pikshur but trust me, it is HUGE and goes strate up the side of the mountain and we had to get to the top - YIKES!

If'n you visits Tillman Ravine you can drive up the road a bit to see Buttermilk falls but I would not recommend going to the top. Iz up to you but I is just saying... If'n you knows me, you knows I is deathly skeered of stairs and even tho it does not look so bad in the pikshur, those stairs go STRATE UP! SKEERY!

I tried to go around the side but it gotted too steep. I wanted to go back down but mom nabbed my leash and would not let me. Then she gotted weak in the knees and dizzy coz she looked down when I went past her to go down and she seened how high up we woz and how steep down it woz. I woz shaking rilly, rilly bad and crying very lowd. Mom woz hanging onto the railing wif a death grip. We both needed Prozac. But mom finally sayed we both had to get a grip and move forward becoz there woz no way she woz going back down . So finally we gotted ourselves unner control and maded it up the skeery stairs.

At the top woz a deck where it woz safe coz of the railing and we could look down and see how far we had climbed. The red dot is where we had been on the ground.

OK, so mom and I survived the trauma of the day.

We climbed up and up and up over 1,000 feets in about 1 1/2 miles.


Now keep in mind I had to go up steep rawks like the following pikshurs but that is purrfectly fine with me, does not skeer me at all. Just stairs wot hoomans make, those skeer me.




Then we gotted to the Appalachian Trail and commed to Rattlesnake Mountain but we did not see rattlesnakes. Some hikers coming towards us sayed they had seened one on the trail in the direkshun we woz going but we did not see it. They must has skeered the rattlesnake and it runned away. They does not want to be bothered by peeples and dogs as much as we don't want to be bothered by them.



We taked a break on Rattlesnake Mountain so I taked a little nap. Today would has been my nap day after hiking yesterday but I cannot nap coz we woz hiking again today. I need to catch my beeooty zzzzzz's whenever I can.


OK, break over and on to Bird Mountain.


And next stop, Blue Mountain. (This pikshur looks almost the same as the one from Rattlesnake Mountain but rilly, I is on a different mountain.)


Blue Mountain has a wonnerful panoramic view and mom tried, not very suxessfully, to capture that by cropping 3 pikshurs togedder:

Well, you get the ideer.

Then as we woz getting off of the Appalachian Trail to head back to Tillman Ravine where our car woz pawked, we wented by this shelter wot looks like a log cabin from "Little House on the Prairie."

This is where peeples wot hikes the Appalachian Trail from Gorja to Mane sleeps in at nite. They is not here now. Those hiker has left Gorja and should be coming through Noo Joisey in June. So we is getting in lots of Appalachian Trail hikes now afore it gets crowded in June.

As we gotted closer to the pawking lot, we founded some pritty spring flowers just in time for Easter. We does not knows flowers well but they looked like yeller daysees.


And, of course, as we gotted closer to the pawking lot where lots of litterbugs hangs out wot does not hike or has respect for where hikers go, we founded the litters. Anudder one growing on a tree...


And my haul for the day...

Mom sayed she mite tweet the @leavenotrace peeples wif this pikshur so they can see how I is putting my Leave No Trace Bigfoot patch to good use. Peeples always ask why I is wearing a backpack and we tells them it is to haul out wot litterbugs leave behind. I, a dog and a shelter dog at that, is a role model for peeples, how does you like that?

Pee Ess - So Mom tweeted the @leavenotrace peeples wif my pikshur and they liked it! This is wot they rited back:

High Point State Park - Lake Rutherford (Sussex, NJ)

Last October we hiked at High Point State Park to the big monument atop the highest mountain in Noo Jersey. This time we wented the udder way to Lake Rutherford. That is Lake Rutherford way down there but we hiked on the Appalachian Trail furst and you will see we wented close by the lake on our way back way later.


OMD! Look at this big rawk wall! I is so glad I did not has to climb up that. It would not has been pawsible.


There was rilly grate seeneries but it woz foggy in the morning and the pikshurs did not does the beeooty justice.


But I must say, I is kwite proud of "Kwik Draw McGraw" mom with the camera. In this shot below she managed to capshur the last seconds of this annoying bug's life afore I put the bitey on him for buzzing my hed. Nom.


Mom also managed to capshur 4 hawks in one pikshur at the same time.


We camed to this seenik overlook where we rested a while...



... and had some snacks...

(Mom must has forgotted about me nomming that bug - she tutched my mouf BOL!)

The we gotted off the Appalachian Trail and started to head back on the Iris Trail. There woz places for me to get my furs wet:

Bravo for mom rememmering to take my backpack off.

Coz of all the rain we woz hasing, lots of the trail woz flooded out so I had plenty of opportoonities to cool off my paws. And it woz hawt out - 70 degreeses!


Finally we gotted to Lake Rutherford. It woz very beeootiful. But we woz not allowed to go all the way up to it or in the waters coz that be where drinking water comes from so nobody is allowed to go in the waters. I dinnot even see gooses or ducks so they must know the rools.


We taked a long break there and sat on a rawk where I catched a few zzzzzzz's


And mom and I werked on our tans... (mom had shorts on and her legs is rilly white - yikes.)


After that it woz a cuppul more miles until we gotted back to the car. We hiked about 9.5 miles. Mom sayed we is going to see if'n we can hike three days in a row since it is Easter weekend. She sayed we has a big hiking road trip coming up at the end of the month in Furginia so we has to be in top hiking condishun. Woo hoo!