Leaf Peeping

Yes, furrends, I went leaf PEEping in the Catskill mountains in Noo York yesterday!

My view from my pawsition as back seat passenger.  Hello Catskill mountains!

Now furstly, you mite be wonnering how I can hike in the mountains with that mean old Arthur Itis?  Well, if'n you rememmer, last time I was getting my second Adequan needle.  Mom's furrend, Alex, the V-E-T tech, gibbed it to me.  They catched me totally off my guard, let me tells you!  Mom pulled into the A&P.  Why is I at the grocery store?  Anudder car pulls up and it be Alex, the V-E-T tech.  Mom and Alex do yak, yak, yak fur a bit in the pawking lot then mom opens up the back seat door by my head, gets in with me and puts me in a death grip headlock.  They calls it a "hug", yeah right. The door by my BUTT opens up and I know it be Alex back there...  When mom let me go I turned and looked at Alex like "Wot you doing back there?"  Mom and Alex was laffing coz Alex done stucked me with the needle and I never felt it!  Alex rawks!  So we is not supposed to be seeing any improvements yet from only 2 needles but I tells you, I be feeling GOOD so off the Catskills we went!  (Mom wanted to wait until next week until I had gotten 2 more needles butt the weather peeps sayed all rain next week.  Of course now that we has gone and is back, the weather peeps changed their minds.  Sigh.) 

OK, so follow me.  Off we goes.

Oh, but furst mom had to sign us in at the trail register like so:  "1 peep + 1 dog"

Now follows along with me.

Do not furget to stop and sniff pee-mail fur all the mountain gossip.

The waters be furry low right now with no rains so only enuff to get my paws wet.

Now we has to start climbing.  Oh and even tho we be the only ones on the mountain, I is wearing extra no-huntin-me orange coz it do be huntin' season here.

Here do be some little falling waters but I betcha when it rains, it be a raging torrent of mighty falling waters!

Look who I runned into!

It do be getting more colorful up higher on the mountain.

Mom is being pokey again and I has to wait on her.

Yay!  I has reached 3500 foots.

Just a little bit higher to ...

Seeniks!  I is atop Balsam Mountain, one of the highest mountains in the Catskills!

Pawsome colors down there!

The pawfect place fur my chickun jerky snack.

And a break.

We continued onward and commed to an intersection where we stopped fur a minit to pawnder if'n we should complete the loop back to our car or if'n I could go on a bit more to the next mountain.  While contemplating, mom started to STRIP!  Yes, rite there on the trail.  I was so skeered she was becoming the Easy Lady of Blogville when I saw she was just changing clothes from pants into skeery white leg shorts.  Whew.  This could has been quite embarrassing fur me.  Anywoo, we decided I could forge on to the next mountain.

Almost there and my back legs was hasing a hard time climbing but mom boosted me up and it was OK.

Continuing onward...

to the summit of Bellayre Mountain.  No seeniks here butt...

If'n we continued on a soft, grassy woods road, we would come to ...

Seeniks at a ski place!  We thought it would not be furry far but it was more far than we guessed so it made the hike longer than mom wanted fur me.

Furst ofur to the Sunset Lodge fur a break.  I is sure they does not allow dogs there on the deck, but they was closed!  There was no NO DOGS ALLOWED sign but there was a NO SMOKING sign and seeing as I do not smoke, all was good.

Enjoying my chickun jerky break.

Sweet!

Then we went across the way to the ski slopes fur seeniks.

The seenik from wayyyyyy down below biggified.  Great leaf peeping here!

Time to head back now.  We had a dog checking in at the B&B in the night time so we could not linger too long.

On the way back I seened this chip monkey.  He do be hauling his winter stash back to his hidey hole.

Heading down off the mountains and what do be at the bottom?

Enuff waters fur fur wetting.  Just before the end when I has to get in the car.  This will ensure I stay nice and wet and cool all the way home!

Pawsome day of hiking.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

So I was limping pritty badly at the end of the hike but this morning I was running around like a young pup again so all is well and mom can stop feeling bad that the hike turned out to be so long.  9 miles, yikes, and I did not think I could do that much any mores.

Sunday Hike

It has been fur furever since we has been hiking on a Sunday but the two dogs at my B&B is good being alone while we is hiking so off we went.  You can see here how good they is coz I spied on them with my Shawnee Cam.

This be wot Bob be doing home alone:

This is wot Ollie be doing home alone:

OK, so with that unner control, let's get on with my hike!

The sun do be coming up just as we gotted to the boat launch at the reservoir.  Mom wanted to go take a look at the water.  I wanted to get my furs wet.  Mom say NO, it be too chilly that early in the morning.  I say, just wait fur that winder of oppawtoonity...

Mom grabbed my magical walking string out of my collah so I could not go in.  Bummer.

Oooooo.  Let's go check out this Rocky Beach Trail.

Get mom taking pictures of the seeniks ...

Formulating my plan of action.

Not doing nuttin.

On my tippy toes ...

Hey mom, look at that bird!

Success!

We climbed up the mountain to see the seenik from up high.  You think mom would beleef me if'n I told her my furs is not wet, I is just hasing a bad fur day?

I went into this one afore mom could yell at me, BOL.

So sneaky.

By the time we hiked down this looooooong woods road ...

... it was warmer out and I had pawmission to go in.  Like it mattered, hehehe.

This do be our break spot fur nomming some chickun jerky and ...

... watching peeps in boats.  Why is they not getting their furs wet?  So strange.

Wet furs, fresh air, it do not get any better than this.

Happy Shawnee

OK, so I went to the V-E-T last week and got my furst Adequan needle as pawt of my arsenal to put the bitey on Arthur Itis - OOOOOWWWWWWIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!  I woz not a happy dog.  The V-E-T did say we would not see any improvements fur a cuppull of weeks and I has to get 2 needles efurry week fur 3 weeks.  Butt, I has to point out that I has not been jumping ofur logs recently and this do be wot happened yesterday.

Becoz my V-E-T do be like 40 minutes away, she gibbed mom the needles and mom asked a V-E-T tech furrend if'n she could hire him to gib me the needles coz she has to put me in a death grip headlock and cannot shoost the needle and do that at the same time.  (That do be all pawt of my plan to make this as hard as pawsible, BOL!)  The V-E-T tech did say he be furry good at gibbing those kinds of needles and most dogs do not feel it so much.  I will be the judge of that.  Stay tooned.