Hiking Trail Search and Recovery

So we did not know wot we woz going to find after Irene commed through last weekend and wreaked havoc on efurrything in her path of destrukshuns.  All week long I kept my paw on the pulse of all things park related and it woz not sounding good.  So many parks closed but slowly they started to open back up.  I had mom plug 5 different parks into her GPS so we could hop from one to the udder if'n we had to.  We started out at Jenny Jump State Forest and it woz a good choice coz the park peeples had been hard at werk cleaning up.

So, you mite ask, why is this park called "Jenny Jump?"  Well it seems in the olden days a man and his daughter, Jenny, woz picking blooberries when they was ambushed by Indians.  To try to save his daughter, the father yelled "Jump Jenny, Jump!" and she jumped off a cliff and went SPLAT and died.  So in this park I will show you places like Ghost Lake Trail, Ghost Lake and Shades of Death Road.  Put the baby puppehs and kittehs down fur a nap coz this mite get skeery.

Evidences of park peeples fixing Irene destrukshuns.

We started out on the Summit Trail where there woz lots of seeniks:

You can see waters from Irene on the farm fields still.

That be the Delaware Water Gap ofur yonder where we has hiked many times afore.

Then we commed to the Ghost Lake Trail.  Nuttin skeery yet.

Irene had left lots of branches on the trail here so I had mom pick some of it up and throw it off to the side.

Mom, can you pick these up pawlese?

Ummm, mom, can you move THIS?

Well, here do be where the skeery begins.  This woz a humungoid tree wot Irene blowed down across the trail and I is skeered of going through blowdown trees.  Mom did find us anudder way around it but we had to go off-trailing (sort of like off-roading) and I dussn't like that either.  I like staying on the trails.  It woz skeery but a dog gots to do wot a dog gots to do.  We made it around the skeery blowdown and I had mom make a note of it to tell the park peeples.  Good thing we got around the blowdown coz we woz rilly close to Ghost Lake and it woz furry pritty.

At the udder side of the Ghost Lake...

SHADES OF DEATH ROAD!!!!!!

 OK, let's get off of this skeery road and go find a nice little kittehpillar:

Then we found a nice meadow on the Orchard Trail away from the skeeriness.

There woz some blowdowns in the field but coz they had open spaces with no branches to poke you in the eyeballs, I practiced my blowdown jumping skills:

Good thing I practiced coz we founded anudder blowdown across the trail and I went rite through this one and mom followed and crawled through, too, coz she figgered if'n I can do it, she can do it.

So we went back to the park office and told the park peeples about the big blowdowns we founded and they put them on their "to do" list so they can go out there with the chainsaws and chop them up.  Then me and mom went on anudder trail wot is maintained by the hiking club volunteers, not the park peeples.  We found lots of blowdowns there and made note of all of them so we could let the hiking club know.  There woz a cuppull of blowdowns wot I felt mom could move so I made her fix them.  Nice job, mom!

Mom did not nom enuff Wheaties to move this one.

So the big blowdowns we just jumped ofur or crawled unner.  You should see how graceful mom is at doing that.  Ummm, no you dussn't want to see, it be way skeery.  So anyways, we commed to anudder nice seenik:

So we woz happy we hiked 9 miles without hasing to change parks and that we woz able to help out some cleaning up the trails.  Then on our way home mom stopped the car coz peeples had a table in their yard with tomaters on it (BLECH) and a sign saying they be fur sale so mom stopped to buy some.  Sydney would like to show them to you.

Wordless Wednesday

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Hurricane Irene is GONE!

That meanie Hurry-Cane Irene is all GONE and I hope I slowed her down some fur my furrends up north of me where she be now.  So nuttin else happened here.  The sunbeams did come out some and it do be furry windy now but it be cool winds wot feels nice on my furs.  So since I writed the last bloggie, mom has been outside with the neybor and her daddy wot commed ofur to help cut the big tree up with powah saws and stuff coz, OMD, we had sekurity breaches. There be introoders in MY yard!

Those be the neybors dogs wot commed ofur to MY yard snooping around without MY pawmishun.  So now the bigger pieces be all cut up and out at the curb:

And there be some cut up piles in the yard but mom do be too tired to deal with them today. They can wait fur anudder day:

I checked the pawrimeter and has found the sekurity breach fixed to my satisfakshuns.

Sydney! Our yard duss not be a pond fur swimming!

So Odessa has been reunited with Nugget in the basement.  OMD, you should has heard the GRRRRRRR and HISSSSSSSS coming out of Odessa.  Mom closed off all the doors eggsept the basement door wot she leaved wide open then she poked Odessa with the broom to make her run and she ranned a hissin' and a screamin' all the way through the howse and down to the basement.  She sayed she is so calling PETA on mom.  Now that Odessa be back in the basement, Nugget has come out of hiding and be gibbing mom the stink eye.  They think mom did torture them fur no good reason. Silly kittehs.

So anyways, we only had one casualty.  Mom did sustain an injury when she stepped into my archeology dig wot had filled up with water and could not be seen.  She went flying, sayed some noggty werds, and had bloods on her knee.  Oops, sorry mom.

Again, thank you so much efurryone fur your good wishes coz they rilly werked.  We had the bestest happen wot could has happened.  We has heard there be lots of flooding and trees down close to here and has heard lots of sirens and ambulances and stuffs so we woz rilly lucky.  (And Pee Ess, no, we is not going hiking this weekend, BOL!)

Hurricane Irene is HERE!

Hi efurrybuddy! We still has powah so I is coming on speedy quick to gibs you all an update and I hope I can get it done afore Hurry-Cane Irene swipies the powahs!

So yesterday mom spent all day going down the stairs and up the stairs bringing impawtant stuffs up from the basement coz when Irene swipies the powahs, the suck-em-up-sump-pump dussn't werk and the basement floods.  We woz rilly worried about the feral kittehs in the basement so mom made them an island in case it floods:

And we put crates and carriers all around in hopes one would go in.  Cha ching!  Odessa woz in a crate when mom slammed the door on her and brought her upstairs.  Odessa woz not amused and we could hear her GRRRRR and HISSSSSSSS at mom.  Not a happy hurry-cane camper!

Nugget totally freaked out when she seened this.  Mom actually woz able to pick her up but when she smooshed her in a carrier to bring her upstairs, Nugget bolted and has not been seened again.  She be up in the basement rafters somewheres - at least high and dry.

So we did not sleep well last night.  The winds got crazee lowd and the rain woz knocking on our winders.  We finally falled asleep.  Then mom's cell phone beeped with urgent text messages from the city and county wot woz not so urgent.  It waked us up 3 different times.  Then Dixie started pacing coz Sydney woz in the doggie bed she wanted to be in.  Sigh.  At least Sydney woz the bigger dog and gibbed old geezer Dixie her bed.  I do it all the time coz she do be an old geezer.

Then Nugget started meowing in the basement and Odessa meowed back from the living room.  Mom had set a feral cat trap in the basement and kept getting up to check if'n Nugget woz in it.  Nope.  So fur like a gabillion hours, the two kittehs had a conversashun thru the floor.  Lowd, I tell you.  Then we finally got a little sleep and woked up this morning to this:

The neybor's tree do be in our back yard on our deck and the yard be unner waters.  Mom taked us out front on the flexi lead this morning when there woz a lull in the wind and rains but none of us would do our dooties - we just standed there and got wet.  At least the front looks better than the back:

So this should all be ofur later this afternoon and we is hoping we at least can keep Irene from taking our powahs, then all should be okie dokie.  Thank you all fur your well wishes.  I really appreshiates it.  Fur now, we is going to hunker back down and ride this out with our legs crossed, BOL.

Spokesdog for Virginia State Parks

My furrend Yoda the Dog do be at the BlogPaws Pet Blogging and Social Media Conference in Furginia rite now.  I has met his mom and she werks fur Furginia State Parks.  So wot did his mom do? She made me spokesdog fur Furginia State Parks on swag wot she be gibbing out at BlogPaws.  This be the envelope - check it out!

That be ME!  See me up there? I gibs the park cabins at Furginia State Parks a big paws up!

And this be the bling wot be inside the envelope:

Wowser!  That Yoda and his mom did send each of us one! One be fur my mom and seeing as she duss not wear a collah, she be putting hers on her zipper pull on her backpack.

Keep you paws off! This one be MINE!

Thank you Yoda and Yoda's mom fur the bling and I is honored to be the spokesdog fur Furginia State Parks where there be Fambly, Furrends and Fun fur sure!

So, on a different note, as you all know that Hurry-Cane Irene do be barreling down on us. Mom has stocked up on our noms and has been filling effury container with water and sticking it in the freezer to keep noms frozened longer and so all of us dogs and kittehs has drinking water.

I be where the arrow be pointing.

The red star be my house.  The pink be storm surge flooding fur Cat 3-4 hurry-canes so we should be safe from that.

So our biggest worry do be that Hurry-Cane Irene steals our powah and not gibs it back fur a a while. If'n that happens our basement will fill up with waters when the sump pump duss not werk.  Mom mite has to figger out a way to trap the feral kittehs and bring them upstairs. Mom woz kwite horrified at the nom store last night when peeples woz hoarding milk, eggs, meat, ICE CREAM... Wot is they thinking?  Those noms will all go bad when the powah is stolened.  So anyways, if'n I is not around fur a while it do be coz Hurry-Cane Irene stealed our powahs and innerwebs.  Me, I be battening down the hatches and hunkering down in my hidey spot.  And all of my furrends wot be in the way of Hurry-Cane Irene, you all be safe, k?

Hiking with Uncle Mike

So I has an Uncle Mike wot I met fur the furst time! He do live by Boston, MA and sayed he would like to hike with ME sometime when we hike in Massy-chew-sits coz where we go in the Taconics be the same 2 1/2 gabillion hour drive fur each of us. So since Mike has vakashun from werk, mom taked a vakashun day and yesterday we meeted to go hiking!  We made Uncle Mike hike 12.5 miles!  (He duss run regularly so he be in good shape and did a fine job keeping up with ME!)

Furst we taked Mike to see the Bash Bish waterfalls. I knowed how to take him there coz I woz there afore.

Then I showed him the seeniks atop the waterfalls:

Those be the Catskill Mountain in Noo York on the horizon. I be standing in Massy-chew-sits.

So then we started our hike on the South Taconic Trail.

Waiting on Mom and Mike climbing up Alander Mountain.

A seenik on the way up.

Ta da! Atop of Alander Mountain! That be the Hudson Valley with the Catskills way ofur there. I is in Massy-chew-sits looking into Noo York!

Taking a break with Mike. He has a comfy lap.

So you knows wot the Crasher Skwerrel is, rite? If'n not, click on the linkie and it tell you.  Well here be a Crasher BUG!

Hiking through the woods to the next mountain...

Stopping at the creek fur refreshments and cooling my furs.

OMD! More Crasher Bugs?!?!?!?!?

Aliens beaming up?!?!?!?

Where did they go?

A wind sawk for the alien spaceships

Mike and Mom keeped a close watch on the aliens...

... while I taked a powah nap.

On the way back to our car, I got to be in Noo York and Massy-chew-sits all at the same time!

Following Uncle Mike through the woods back to the car.