I have been trying to get out in the mountains more lately. Millcreek Canyon is right near my house, and as opposed the other two local canyons, which are designated watershed, dogs are allowed up the canyon so that is where I tend to head when I want to hike. At the end of the canyon road lies the the Big Water and Little Water trails, which lead 900 feet or so up into the mountains to Dog Lake, which as the name may indicate, is one of Daisy's favorite places! Daisy and I have been up there a few times year. It is about 3 miles up to Dog lake on the Big Water trail, pretty much uphill all the way. There are three creek crossings along the way which Daisy loves, but at age 8 the uphill is getting hard for her.
Last night she was tired when we started(the kids had taken her swimming in the afternoon) so she was really dragging and lagging all the way up the hill. (made her "momma" feel like she was in tip top shape!) The top of the trail is pretty steep, then you hit the crest of the hill and head downhill a short way to the lake. As soon as Daisy sees the lake she starts running and hops right in. She loves to swim, just for the sake of swimming and the sight of water gives her a second wind. She actually likes to swims laps. It's her idea, she starts swimming, I start walking, and the next thing you know we've traveled all the way around the lake. She is a graceful swimmer. She looks sleek, like an Otter, and clearly enjoys herself. After our lap she plays 'fetch the stick', either with me or she hones in on the other dogs games. While most dogs swim out and fetch then come back on shore and run, Daisy
never gets out of the water. Since yesterdays hike was an evening hike we reached the point where I knew we should leave or we risked walking down in the dark. I called Daisy, but she wouldn't come. Every time I caught her attention some other people would throw the ball and off through the water she swam. Finally the other folks decided to leave, allowing me to coax her out of the water. As we headed up the trail a new dog headed down, and it was all I could do to keep Daisy from turning tail and heading back to the water.
Because it was getting late, we took the Little Water trail down. It's about a mile shorter, much steeper and rockier, but is more out in the open where there was still light. Even though we were hurrying down the trail to beat nightfall, I stopped and enjoyed the sun setting over the mountains!
A rather poor picture of dog lake. I'll have to try to get a better shot during a sunny time of the day!
I have been trying to get out in the mountains more lately. Millcreek Canyon is right near my house, and as opposed the other two local canyons, which are designated watershed, dogs are allowed up the canyon so that is where I tend to head when I want to hike. At the end of the canyon road lies the the Big Water and Little Water trails, which lead 900 feet or so up into the mountains to Dog Lake, which as the name may indicate, is one of Daisy's favorite places! Daisy and I have been up there a few times year. It is about 3 miles up to Dog lake on the Big Water trail, pretty much uphill all the way. There are three creek crossings along the way which Daisy loves, but at age 8 the uphill is getting hard for her.
My friends who had the sushi party are also my friends with all the pet ducks. I think we have even more get togethers at their house now that they have ducks. Partially because we all enjoy their pond and ducks, and partially because it's easier for Jamie (who I now call the "Crazy Duck Man of Canyon Rim") to do his nightly duck care when we are all at his house. After receiving any necessary special care(medicine etc. for the injured rescues), the ducks get rounded up and put to bed in their mews. Due to the recent addition of Mocha's 5 chicks and a few rescues from the local park, they are now up to a flock of 12 extremely pampered quackers, so it is a little work to get everyone ready for bed. The above picture is of my daughter, holding Julio. As you may guess by the expression on her face, it is her first experience with a "lap-duck". The little yellowish duck in the second shot is Ulla. She was a tiny motherless duckling when my friends found her at the park and rescued her. Being the "baby" in the family she gets extra special treatment. After all the other duckies are put to bed, she gets to come inside for TV time every night!
Noon on the 4th of July.... and I have been having a nice day. I decided to spend the morning with my computer at my coffee shop. I thought I get some pictures edited and and mail written with out the distractions of home. Silly me, instead of home distractions I had coffee shop distractions, but that of course was a "good thing" (insert my finest Martha Stewart voice here). 
What summer vacation? As a working person, summer's not much different than winter, or spring or fall. But the day's are longer, giving us more time to recreate outdoors, so I'm trying to take advantage. The "new" thing I've been doing more of this summer is mountain biking. I've had a mountain bike for 10 or 15 years, but admit that it has rarely hit the dirt, with a few exceptions I've mostly putzed around the streets with it. Last year a girlfriend of mine took up mountain biking in a pretty serious way, and she's often looking for someone to bike with (or babysit while she bikes). So I have been actually getting out on the trails this year, and really enjoying it. We haven't been going terribly far, as her 10 year old daughter tends to pace our travels, but we've been on some hills and rocky trails. Last night a group of us, my friend, her daughter and two former students from the lab, went out and had a great time. The uphills, especially when rocky, are hard for me, but it sure is a good work out. And I did do about as well as my 26 year old friends (that or they were just being nice to the old lady!) so I was pleased. And I'm actually starting to get the hang of the rocky down hill sections; they are not nearly as terrifying as they were the first few times I went out. Now I'm starting to wonder why I didn't go out mountain biking more in the past. Perhaps having enthusiastic friends to go with makes the difference. We're going to try to have regular weekly rides for the rest of summer. Who knows, maybe it will even help loose the extra weight that makes the uphills hard. Now if I can only start getting myself to start biking to work....
