Annual hike Gone to the Dogs....

I met Jason and his dog Piper last year on New Year's Eve. We hiked together for the first time during the Kickapoo Winter Festival in 2022. We hiked together a couple of time sense then. Saturday we met up again to hike at the Weister Creek ice cave trail.

Jason had adopted Felix just weeks ago. There is a lot of unknown about Felix as he is an older dog who supposedly lived on the streets. 

Felix is in the red coat. Charlie is trying to help Jason do something or get in his car.

Here Piper is running back towards us on the trail. Piper wears a coat and also has Paw Balm on her feet to help protect her feet.

She seems to have boundless energy.

Both of Jason's dogs are adopted rescues and he absolutely adores his dogs. Charlie adores Jason too because he has the greatest dog treats.

Jason explained that he wanted to see how Felix would do on a hike that was a bit longer than 30 minutes. He planned on taking his dogs with him to Superior next month to visit the Ice Caves along the lake.

Charlie didn't wear his coat, I'm still trying to find something that will allow his tiny legs free movement when negotiating deeper snow and jumping logs. However, the weather didn't bother him one bit.

His orange reflective vest is great for visibility as long as we are on a groomed trail.

Photo by Jason:

Piper, chillin' out:

We got to the Ice Caves fairly quickly.

Piper lead the way and then waited for us.

Ahhhh hah!

We can see who the dogs prefer!

Felix inside the ice cave doing his own thing.

We spent a long time exploring the ice formations and Felix started to get a bit grumpy and began to shake. We figured he was cold and decided to head off the bluff we were on.

By the time we got down into the valley, Felix was himself again and walked sedately behind me or Jason. Charlie often walked shoulder to shoulder with Felix. [Hey! A new friend for Charlie that doesn't try to roll him over like a ball!]

Piper kept bounding around us and trying to get Charlie to play. Charlie decided that Felix was more his speed. All was good in the doggy hiking world.

We met up with two large groups of people. Felix just walked by them and ignored them with no more than a sniff. Piper sat out of their reach and waited for them to pass. She is good with one or two people, but shy of crowds.

I had leashed up Charlie because he is a greeter and adores humans of all kinds. They asked if they could pet Charlie and I said sure. I let him off leash and he did his Charlie thing. He squeaked and grunted with pleasure, his tail doing wild wags.

One lady asked how did Charlie get through all this snow? Charlie showed off by jumping a log and diving through the snow to circle around her with glee.

My answer: He Loves Snow!

We got to the end of the ice formations near where the old Beaver Dam used to be. Jason climbed out on a boulder next the the very cold and very swift Weister Creek where he wanted his photo taken.

It was pretty funny that Charlie whined and fussed all the time Jason was up there. I kept him with me as I am sure the little stinker wanted to try and jump over the water to get out there.

Our hike back was rather quiet and unexciting. We talked about meeting up again this winter for another outing. I think I'll take him to an off the map place to see some bluffs and ice.

Hopefully, it will all work out. And...Felix did fine on a 2 hour hike! We didn't hike fast but kept it to his pace.

Charlie was exhausted from his outing.

Another good hike in the books for the start of 2023!

Time Out

I needed a Time Out. 

I didn't think the ponds would be thawed out at Kickapoo Valley Reserve, but Charlie and I went anyway. I forgot my YakTraks so I decided not to check out my favorite ice 'fall'. 

I like winter. I can walk across a frozen boggy area and not get wet. I did a lot of wandering off trail following wildlife trails. Little short Charlie had to negotiate the long grasses but he seemed to enjoy all the scents he found near the tiny stream we followed.

I was hoping to hear birds, you know, like Sandhill Cranes or Geese. But once I saw that the ponds were still iced, I knew I wouldn't find any.

But I did see an eagle. I didn't bother pulling the camera out at first, because eagles always fly off by the time I'd get the camera out of my pack.

However, the eagle kept circling overhead. Shooting straight up and trying to follow the eagle was really hard. 
Shooting straight up also makes me feel like I'm going to tip backwards.

It isn't the best shot and it is cropped a---lot. I was pretty pleased anyway.

We walked to the birding blind and looked at the frozen pond. Then we took off down another wildlife trail and explored the marshy area west of the ponds.

We found the river and a few places where raccoon had left trails in the bank.

Charlie was in heaven, so many smells!

The Ice Shoves from last week's heavy rains and warm temperatures were amazing. These shoves were piled high on the bank. The sun's warmth had given them Teeth! We found some shoves about 30 feet inland in the marsh too.

We headed back to the Visitor's Center. Charlie likes to lead the way. I suppose he thinks I don't know how to follow a trail?

The river was flowing but the ponds were still encased in ice. We didn't see another human and we didn't see any migratory birds, but we still had a great Time Out.

With next week's warm up the ponds should open up.

As I was toweling my muddy/iced up dog off in the parking lot, we heard geese and a Sandhill Crane calling overhead. At least I think it was a Crane.

Face to Face

Charlie begged me to go as I tossed on my coveralls. I knew I should wear snowshoes but...

I knew Charlie should stay home
but...

I'm not always smart, see? I thought I would just take a short hike and walk in my tracks from last week. Charlie would be fine. Really he would. I pointed at him with a mittened hand. "I am not carrying you! So don't ask. You can do this right?"

He gave me that adorable look that I cannot refuse. 

Of course!

We made it to the creek bank and just as we were going to drop down about 20 feet into the creek, Charlie started to shake like a leaf and he tried to climb my coveralls. I reached down and scooped him up. 

I looked over to the fenceline that marks the end of my land and the start of Gary's land. Both ponds and the tiny falls were frozen solid. I wanted to climb down there and take a look.

Around the huge roots of the old cottonwood tree and rocks came a large coyote. He/she stood and stared at me. 
Well now. I knew it was breeding season and I know coyotes will grab a dog in their territory. They are much more aggressive towards dogs during their mating season. 

In the blink of an eye the 'yote turned and disappeared upstream. Of course, it made sense. The snow is less deep along the creek the frozen water makes for a great trail.

I fired a warning shot with my pistol and saw the 'yote bound eastward and up through the woods.

I set Charlie down and he had none of it. Nope. He was going to climb up my leg no matter what. 

Coyotes and Gunshots! Are You Kidding Me?

"Charlie, you chose to come along. I told you that you would be snow swimming." 

I watched for a bit and then we dropped into the creek. I hobbled along with a long dog clutched in my arms and trudged through the snow. I berated myself a bit in not wearing snowshoes and bringing Charlie. However the poor guy hadn't gone on a walk for nearly a week. 

I put him down again so he could follow my tracks over the ice and snow while I negotiated some tricky footing.

"No Charlie, you said you'd be good. Oh poor Charlie, you are shaking!"

Well, at least this time he wasn't off and running trying to find every smell and dig out any suspect voles under the snow. He was a cling-on. 

Our hike was extremely slow with me picking him up whenever the footing was good. 

I sat for a bit on a boulder and pulled dog treats out of my pocket. Poor fella was still pretty nervous. Dog treats always make things better. 

We made the trek to the other end of the creek and headed up the forest trail. I kept carrying Charlie and plunging through the deep snow. Each step reminded me of why I should have put on my snowshoes and why I should have left my dog at home.

"Cardio work out Charlie!" I said as we climbed the steep hill. "This is a good one!" It was hard. 

We got to the meadow and Charlie found a well trodden deer trail. He raced ahead while I admired the wispy clouds in the sky.

We approached the house and Charlie raced like the dickens to the porch and sat at the door until I arrived. I cracked open the door. Charlie sped through without a backward glance leapt onto the couch, and promptly laid down with a sigh.

Dismissed, human.

It rained today...all day!

...and I cleaned the house already and got supper stuff ready...
Laundry is put away...

So... Time to get out the toys and play. Here is "Creepy Baby" with his Funky Frogs imitating the Pinky and the Brain Show:

Frogs:
Whaddya wanna do tonight Creepy?
Creepy:
What we do every night! Take over the World!

[Some won't recall this show, but my kids loved it and so did I.]

....And they said Social Distancing Did NOT matter!!!

Think about it.

And this Dragon is practicing...Safe at Home.

The Unicorns didn't listen once before...but they are now.

These were shots from yesterday before I headed down the valley to look for skunk cabbage and marsh marigolds with Charlie.

 How it sometimes feels....

And lastly? I'll get around to working on my next set of Infrared Shots. I used a different filter this time and am finally getting the 'hang' of it.

Here is a teaser:

Good night all...

Doggone Good Day

Basil is my neighbor's dog.

She is a cutie!

I forget exactly what she is ... perhaps Shitsu and ...? Um, I forget. All I know is that she has hair and doesn't shed like Charlie.
However her 'hair' gathers burrs while Charlie's shedding gloss hound dog coat doesn't.

The two of them absolutely have the best time together, no matter what.

I'd offered to take Basil out when the neighbors are gone for the day. It serves as a great way to exercise both dogs at the same time. Both end up happy and content at the end of the day.

Here is a short video I took and compiled together of them....



My newer Olympus 'cheap' camera takes videos in a resolution that is fantastic if you want it played in slow motion. If this was regular speed you wouldn't see the expressions on Basil and Charlie's faces as they played.
They play rough, but never hurt each other.

We did some exploring...

When 'in the wilds' I kept Basil on a line. She has been very good for me on a recall, but finds deer trails a bit too tempting. We found a trail that I've used along with deer for years that the 4 wheelers have now expanded.
Looks like a nice one to ride mules on!

Both dogs were a bit more subdued when we headed up our trail for home.

And sunbathing and sleeping took over when we got to the porch.

And...the day was a doggone
good
day.