Last Saturday Tuck and I climbed a mountain. We hiked ten and a half miles up the north fork of the Moorman’s River in Shenandoah National Park, starting in Sugar Hollow and ending up on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Blackrock Gap trailhead. It’s a hike I’ve done parts of all my life, but I’ve never gone all the way to the top of the mountain and always wanted to. It was a beautiful day, especially for the middle of August in Virginia, and Tuck was a model trail dog, running ahead but always staying within sight and frequently waiting or trotting back to check on me. He nicely greeted the friendly dogs we came across on the hike, and studiously ignored the neurotic yappers that could barely be contained by their owners.
And, he got to swim and chase sticks in the water at every hole we came across. A good day for both dog and me.
My friend and I do the same with her two Belgians and my two English pups. We are in Michigan and near the big lake, so we hike into the woods that happen to be quite high and ridge-like for a view with a 180. Then we go back down and let them swim the woodsy creek. It is wonderful fun! Don’t you love to see them run? One spot has a ravine with a spring fed swim hole too and they race down to dive in! Since we are not puppies, but rather retirees, it is pleasure in nature and the best of exercise. It is what we need to balance the virtual reality that threatens to consume us at times. Cheers!