Last Hike of the Year?

Well, we isn't sure yet if'n today's hike be the last one of 2011 coz the wevver peeples did tell fibs again.  We would has rather hiked tomorrow when it be 47 degrees out but the wevver peeples sayed oh no, no hiking, there be RAIN, fur sure!  So we hiked today in 15 degree wind chills.  This do be how cold it woz:

At the end of the hike, from sloshing thru puddulls wot woz not completely frozened, my belleh looked the same:

Then we get home and the wevver peeples say, ha, ha, ha, ha, we changed our minds about tomorrow!  So NOT funny, wevver peeples.

On with today's hike.  It woz a fantabulous hike with lots of seeniks even though we froze our paws off and could not stay and look at the seeniks furry long.  We hiked up Bear Mountain in Noo York on that Appalachian Trail.

The sunbeams make it look warm but it woz WINDY and COLD!

I has arrived at the seenik.

Those mountains is in Harriman State Park in Noo York and I has hiked up lots of them.

Let's go to the udder side of the mountain fur more seeniks.  All togedder now... ♫ She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes... ♫  We has to keep up a beat or we get frozened.

Here on the udder side be the Hudson River.

Atop Bear Mountain the Appalachian Trail do be axessibull wot means dogs in carts (and peeples in wheelchairs) can go on the Appalachian Trail.  They can drive up in their cars to get to this part and see the seeniks but that road be closed in the winter time.

This be the Perkins Memorial Tower atop Bear Mountain wot you can go up in fur more seeniks but I think we has plenty of seeniks down here.  Besides, the towah be closed in the winter

I can see Noo York City from Bear Mountain.

OK, last seenik, it be windy and cold up here and we is going down now.

On the way down we seened this deer and mom woz all SQUEEEEEEE!  There be no huntin nefur efur in this park so you can get closer to the deer fur better pikshures coz they is not so skeered of peeples.  This deer woz keeping her eyes on me big time but no worries, I dussn't chase wildlife coz if'n I even think about it I lose free range privileges and has to go on the walking string.

The Appalachian Trail goes on that bridge ofur the Hudson River.  I hiked ofur that bridge in the summertime.  It woz not so much fun.  I like the Appalachian Trail in the woods better.

The Appalachian Trail on Bear Mountain has lots of steps but they be made to look kinda natural so I isn't skeered of them.

Here be some things about those steps wot I thought you might find interesting.  And when you read that you will know why me and mom saved this hike fur the winter time - it be CRAZY BIZZY here in the summer time!

Quick Facts about the new Appalachian Trail section on Bear Mountain
- Since 2006 more than 800 individuals have volunteered over 30,000 hours of service. They have worked alongside professional trail builders recruited from around the country.
- The new section will feature nearly 800 hand-cut steps each weighing around 1,000 pounds.
- Over 15,000 square feet of stone crib wall have been constructed from scratch. This was all done with no mortar.
- The trail is designed to withstand the foot traffic of more than 100,000 hikers a year for the next 100+ years.
- The construction of this 1 mile of trail is the most technically complex along the entire 2,100+ mile long Appalachian Trail.

It woz not so windy down by this lake so we hiked around it and woz able to stop in a spot of sunbeams fur a drink of water and a chickun jerkey (fur me).

We akshully found a HEATED bafroom wot woz OPEN on the udder side of the lake and went in to warm up.  Dogs is not allowed, prolly coz they mite catch peeple cooties wot be in there, but there woz nobuddy there and I had to warm my paws.

When we comed out of the bafroom sumpin fluttered by and OMD, it do be a Pileated Woodpecker!

They do be furry camera shy but this one sat there a furry long time and modeled fur us.  Well, akshually, I think think he woz nomming bugs and stuff.

So then we woz getting back on the hiking trails when we heared musics.  Wot could that be? 


So when we got home the boy and the girl woz back from Pencilvania spending Chrissmass with the girl's fambly and they brought back flowahs wot the girl made fur mom.

I see no resemblance.

Thank dogness my hidey spot be next to the heat maker coz that do be where I is thawing my furs out.

Back to the No Dogs Allowed Park and the Chiropractor

So we went back to that park wot sayed no dogs allowed where we stealth hiked last week.  But this time I woz legal and had proof.  Mom emailed the park peeples and asked wassup with the no dogs allowed sign and the innerwebs saying dogs is allowed.  They anserred that dogs do be allowed and they will has the park ranger change the sign.  So just in case they had not changed the sign yet, we printed out the email and bringed it along.  Thank dogness we did that coz the sign woz still the same.

How hard can it be to change the sign?

So anyways, woo hoo, we got to go to the seenik now.

Common furrends, I show you the seenik.

It be atop that mountain ofur there.

Ta da!  There woz seeniks on all sides atop this mountain.

The seenik biggified - that be New York City ofur there.

Going down from the seenik.

Wishing I could get my furs wet but I has that chiropractor appointment.

So this only be a short almost 4 mile hike coz I had my chiropractor appointment.  I has to tell you, furrends, we has seen AMAZING results from me hasing my bones re-alined.  Rememmer how before a cuppull of hours after my hike I could not get out of my hidey spot to nom dinner coz I woz all wonky stiff and stuffs?  It woz happening efurry time we hiked.  So after just two adjustingments, we hiked almost 10 miles last Furiday and NO WONKY STIFFS!  We hiked almost 12 miles Sunday and NO WONKY STIFFS!  The chiropractor woz amazed and sayed he had not eggspected me to respond so fast.  So now I dussn't has to go back fur 2 weeks. 

Then on our way out of Mike's Feed Farm where my appointment woz, I met a new furrend and OMD, he be an Irish Wolfhound and I felt like a chiwawa next to him!

I is not used to being so tiny.

I got all eggsited coz off to the side (not in the pikshure) I seened FRANKIE FURTER!  OMD! OMD!  But when he did SNARLY FACE at me, I knowed he woz an impawster coz my buddy Frankie Furter would nefur show me his teefs like that.  His mom sayed he did that coz I be so big.  So my mom sayed "Wait until he sees what's around the corner."  Wish I could has stayed to seen that, BOL!

Christmas Day Hike

So on Saturday mom dumped drived the boy to the train station so he could join the gurl in Pencilvania at her fambly's house fur Chrissmass.  So seeing as we had no howliday obligashuns, we went HIKING!  We love hiking on howlidays like this coz we has the woods all to ourselves.

All decked out in my festib Chrissmass bandananana.

But I had to wear my hiking gear magical collah too and they dussn't match so I made a doggie fashion faux paw.

Wowser!  I found a snail shell.  There woz nobuddy at home so we carefully moved it off to the side coz that be valuable real estate fur some critter mebbe.

I be waiting on mom to climb the steep hill.  Four paw drive lets you climb faster.

I is leading the way to the seenik.

A crow flied ofur and he sayed Merry Chrissmuss at us.

Yummers! I got howliday chickun jerkey fur break!

I is crossing the bridge to the main part of the park wot is usually furry bizzy but nobuddy there today!

I put mom on the walking string, fur her own safety, you knows, and taked her to...

... Ringwood Manor.  It do be full of anteeks from 1854 - 1936 and you can go in and look, well not me coz I dussn't think dogs is allowed, but peeples can.  But they is closed fur the howliday.  They left a few dekorashuns up just fur me tho.

Did you all get your prezzies coz I hope this do not be Santa Paws' sleigh wot broked down.  Yikes.

Then outside the mansion in the yard there be this gate with no fence!  If'n they had dogs, they is not here no more.

I had to look back at the mansion one more time coz well, all us dogs wot once lived in shelters do be furry greatful to has homes but a home like THIS would be totally pawsome.  Hey, a gurl can dream rite?  And just think, mom would nefur has to get the vacula out again coz our furs would has all that room to spread out in and you would nefur see them!

Hmmmmm.  More gates with no fence at the old cemetery.  I is starting to see a theme here.

We found this grave in the old cemetery.  Do you know who this be?  He made maps fur George Washington.  Now I know how that George found his way all ofur New Joisey and New York!

So after visiting with all the graves and stuffs, we taked the hiking trail back into the woods.  Me and mom woz just like la-di-da-di-da strolling along all happy coz the sunbeams finally commed out when all of a sudden we heared...

Me and mom froze and looked ofur to where the sound came from and all we seened woz a black furball bear bootie flying away into the woods.  We must has skeered him and he JUMPED out of the tree and runned away.  Silly bear.  If'n he stayed there rilly quiet we would has nefur known he woz there and he could has been like a Peeping Bear.  Of course it happened so fast we did not get pikshures.  Again.

Butttttt, mom had to climb ofur a blown down tree and while she woz sitting atop the tree trunk swinging her legs ofur (furry carefully coz her bootie do be sore from falling the udder day), she noticed eyeballs on her and told me STAY!  Mom sat there and just started taking pikshures:

There woz a gabillion burds (and mom taked a gabillion pikshures) but these turned out the bestest.  The little ones do be White-throated Sparrows and you all know the udder be a gurl Cardinal - we didn't has to look that one up.

So when we get home after mom dragged me thru the woods fur 12 miles hiking I go in the yard to do my bizziness (I is back to holding it on hikes ) then straight to my hidey spot fur a nap.  So I let Sydney and Dixie snoopervise howliday dinner prepawrashuns.

We mussn't furget howliday dinner fur the kittehs!

Hey, you kittehs should try this stuff.  Our kittehs like it the bestest of anything they has efur nommed and there be no icky BPA poison stuffs in the cans.  It be called WERUVA - People Food for Pets.  They make it fur dogs too but we hasn't been able to find it in the store.  Still sniffin around fur it.  OK, going to go chow down now.  Bye.

Merry Christmas

From all of us to all of YOU!

And just coz this be so furry cute and festib (and coz I rilly like goats)...


And last but not leastest, thank you all so furry much fur your wonnerful cards.  I has decorated my hidey spot with them.  Mebbe next year mom won't be suck a slacker and can get some cards out fur me.  Good help be hard to find, you know.

Hunting For Mistletoe

So mom dussn't has to go to werk any more until NEXT YEAR!  So we went hiking today.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, joke's on the tickies coz I alreddy has Lyme disease and I now has anti-bionic powahs!

So this park be in the Pine Barrens down south in New Joisey and yes, they has tickies furry bad there so we dussn't go there in the summertime but even in the wintertime the tickies can still be there, just not as many.

I readed this furry interesting article yesterday about mistletoe so I wanted to go find some and this looked like a good place.  So in a skwerrel's nutshell, burds nom the mistletoe seeds then send them out their poo shooters into the tops of trees and that be where the mistletoe grows way up high.

Looking in the treetops fur mistletoe.

No mistletoe here.

Where is you mistletoe?

So there be lots of boardwalks in this park like I is walking on above.  They can be furry slickery.  Just call me Surepawed Shawnee coz I did not fall.  Mom did.  On her hiney.  So I made her walk next to the boardwalks.

Still no mistletoe but I found Oyster Creek.

And I found gooses.

And I found holly.

But still no mistletoe.  No worries, I be gibbing out smoochies anyways.