Hiking Vacation Day 4

So on this day we hiked at the park where our cabin be at coz as you mite has seened, there do be 20 miles of hiking trails at this park.  We came up with a loop wot capshured all of the hilites in 7.75 miles and I show them to you now.  So the hike started along the James River wot be furry seenik.  But on the way I had to stop and sniff these pritty red wildflowahs wot I has not seened anywhere else.

So now I be at the river.

Then we commed to Dixon Landing where you can put a boat in the river if'n you has one. We did not and thank dogness coz mom is known fur tipping boats ofur and that would be skeery.

Then there do be this place where you can come and make noms. We could has a big pawtay here. I do think all of Blogville could fit in here.

Then we camed to this gate to Tye River Overlook and it sayed that the horsies duss not be allowed.

So wot to do if'n you has a horsie with you?  Well across the way, there do be a place where you can tie horsies up thusly:

And then after the horsie peeples has goned to the Tye River Overlook and commed back, they can get back on their horsies thusly:

Those park peeples, always thinking... But seeing as I is a dog and not a horsie, I is allowed so let's go to the Tye River Overlook.

OMD that do be a bootifuls seenik.  There do be some kewl benches fur mom to sit on while she gibbed me my Power Bones fur energies fur my inner athlete.

Then a little resting coz it do be a furry bootiful and peaceful place where you want to hang out fur a bit.

So then we went on ofur to Branch Pond:

And after that we passed by the park office wot the park ranger be at.

Then rite there on the hiking trail I did find me a noo furrend.  Mom looked her up on the innerwebs when we got back home to Noo Joisey and this duss appear to be an Eastern Painted Turtle with pritty colorings. The turtle did not run from us and let us take her pikshure but OMD, I think she rilly needs a pawdicure, no?

So it woz anudder rilly hawt day and when we got back to the cabin I took a nap rite next to my water bowl just so it be handy if'n I needed a quick drink.

Mom had lots of water along fur me on the hike but it woz so hawt I needed even more.

I hope I is not blasting you all with too many bloggies all at one time.  I wanted to do as much as I could while it be fresh in my memmeries and afore mom needs the pooter fur her werks tomorrow.  I is only half way thru - we did A LOT of hikes!

Hiking Vacation Day 3

So this do be Easter Sunday and the wevvers woz much better.  On our way out of James River State Park, we had to furst stop and make a contribution at the pink poo bag depository.

And you will nefur beleef wot we seened there.  The Easter Bunny!

He did not even run away from mom and she walked rilly close to him. He must has been rilly tired from hiding all of those Easter eggs fur the childruns.

So as you can see, the skies woz bloo and the sun did shine down on us.  We akshually did two hikes here, the Mount Pleasant Loop and the Cold Mountain Loop wot woz 12.5 miles totalled.  So we started on the Mount Pleasant Loop.  We woz up high on the mountain where there not be any leaves on the trees yet so we got to see seeniks through the trees.

So we got to this one seenik where mom had to climb up rawks to see the seenik and I had to wait fur her down below coz it do be too steep fur me.

Here be wot the seenik looked like but I could not see it.

So then we went ofur to anudder seenik on Mount Pleasant and that one woz fine fur me to climb up on the rawks and see fur myself.  We woz at 4,071 feet up in the air!

By now we had done a lot of mountain climbing up high and it woz getting hawt.  (Yes, Yoda, fur two days we hiked in upper 80 degree wevvers. It woz HAWT even up high in the mountains where it is supposed to be kewler! You so know that efurry time we go hiking in Furginia there do be a heat wave, BOL.)  So anyways, we commed across a creek where I could kewl my paws off.

So then when we commed down off of the Mount Pleasant we just hopped on ofur to the next trail to go up Cold Mountain coz it do be rite there in the same place.

It woz getting hawter so I had to rest in the creeks.

And stop fur a powah nap...

... next to mom's skeery white legs like wot Anna's mom has.

So finally as we woz getting to the top of the Cold Mountain, we started getting some seeniks:

So afore we get all the way to the top of Cold Mountain, I has to eggsplain to you wot Cold Mountain is so you can better appreshiate the seeniks.  The top of Cold Mountain at 4,022 feets high (they call it Cole Mountain, too) woz a pasture a long time ago so all the trees woz cut down.  Because the seeniks is so spectacular from the top of this mountain, the forest service duss keep it mowed so the trees dussn't grow back and peeples can enjoy the seeniks.  So it be 1/2 mile of walking atop this mountain on the Appalachian Trail with nuttin but seeniks no matter where you look.  And rilly, my pikshures duss not do it justice at all. You has to be there in the fur to see it fur yourself.

And OMD, rememmer this do be Easter Sunday? On top of Cold Mountain I did find a jelly bean.  No lie!  Mom did pick it up to throw away later coz if'n wildlife would has nommed it, they mite has gotted a belleh ake or rotted teefs or something.  You see, the rule of paw in natures do be if'n it dussn't grow there, it dussn't belong there and it mite be danger fur wildlifes.

So we stayed on the Appalachian Trail wot bringed us back to our car.  We could has just kept going on the Appalachian Trail and ended up back home but no, our vakashun woz not ofur yet!

We did find some litter here wot mom had to pack out in her backpack coz I did not has my backpack on.

But considering lots of peeples camp out on these mountains, we eggspected more litters than wot we found so yay that there be no more!

Hiking Vacation Day 2

So the wevver woz still spritzy so we did a hike wot did not involve mountains cuz that would has been icky.  So we stayed close and I got a historical educashun ofur at Appomattox Court House where the Civil War did be ended on April 9, 1865, almost eggzactly 146 years ago. (I woz there on April 23, 2011.)  Plus it woz National Park Week so we did not has to pay green papers to get in!

Mom had downloaded a podcast on her iPod so as we walked around the historics she could lissen to the stories about the olden day places.  I just sniffed the informashun posts and readed the pee mail wot sayed the same thing.  Well, more or less.

Here be some of the places wot we learned about on the podcast tour:

This do not be the real courthouse - it be moved 3 miles away but this be a replicashun as the visitor center.

This be where Generals Grant and Lee promised not to put the bitey on each udder any more.

This be where parole passes woz printed for the soldiers so they would not go to prison camps wot would be like  us going to the animal shelter.  *shudder*

On the left be a store and the yellow howse do be the Jonathan Woodson Law Office.

This be wot is left of the old prison wot burned down.

This be the noo prison and I think the peeples in here do be needing that Jonathan Woodson Law Office from afore.

I dussn't know wot this be coz there woz no sign or pee mail to read.

This be where the soldiers did snarly face at each udder fur the last time.

So then we headed down to the Appomattox River to start our hike coz there do be hiking trails there too!

To get to the hiking trails we had to walk in the grass along the road and the grass woz wet from the rains and kinda tall.  Seriously mom, wot woz you thinking? Is you aware that your pants be wet all the way up past your knees?

So finally we gotted ofur to the trails.  Ahhh, this do be more like it.

We found anudder historic howse in the woods:

And we hiked along the Appomattox River that we had seened afore:

So at the end of the hiking trails we comed out by this cemetery where some soldiers from the Civil War do be buried:

Then we walked across the field back to our car.  We had done a 6 mile hike all togedder.

Then we just hanged out at the cabin the rest of the day.  Mom readed her book and I napped while we woz waiting on better wevvers so come.