Hiking the Emerald Necklace

Dave, Meg, Aki, and I hiked the Emerald Necklace Metropark trail near Boston Mills in Northeastern Ohio with Trigger and Larsen on Thanksgiving.  Trigger is Dave's son Geoff's Britt.  There was a lot of red and white flashing by on the snow-filled trail, and happy, tired dogs afterward.

Larsen enjoys the snow-filled wood.

Black Balsam Knob

This trail is southwest on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville at mile marker 420.  The hike is along a ridge to the knob, which provides for vistas to the right and to the left.  The trail is the 30 mile Art Loeb trail that links with both the Mountains-to-Sea (E-W) and Appalachian (N-S) Trails.

The gang stops for a breather on the Art Loeb trail near Black Balsam Knob.

At Allatoona

I took Duke to Lake Allatoona to work off some general anxiety and nervousness - - probably mine as well as his, as the old rail bed and Civil War ramparts always make for a contemplative and mind-clearing hike.  Duke was never a great outdoors dog, but he proved to have matured into a wonderful companion.  He was bold in moving off the trail toward scent (possibly deer), but, like many Welshies, and especially one who is outside of his element, he checked in often.

Duke likewise was never much of a swimmer, but a hot June morning made the water in that deep lake as inviting as it could be.  Duke waded, drank, and gamboled, and once, by his own design, he swam just a bit.

I'd tossed a stick into the water, probably two feet from shore, and he jumped to get it.  In so doing, he bumped it with his nose and it floated just out of reach.  With the steep gradient of the lake, Duke was faced with swimming or abandoning the fetch.  I believe that because he bumped the stick with his own nose, he somehow felt invested in the fetch and he screwed up enough courage to paddle a few inches to get it.

This is a nice, gentle dog and he can accomplish whatever he sets his sights on.

Duke patrols the path leading to the lake.

The deep lake provides a cool reward after the hike.

After breakfast, a dog pleased with his day so far. 

Mountains to the sea

The new year starts with a cold and misty rain in the foothills of the Appalachians, north of Atlanta, and a world away from the South Carolina low country.

Gator

Lake Allatoona is a hydro power lake that laps at the base of Red Top Mountain in Emerson, Georgia. The lake fills in some very steep gradients in that mountainous foothill. The lake has a deceptively long shoreline because of the numerous fingers that run and and out of the steep grades.  It is not a bayou or lowland by any means. In short, this is no place for a gator. 

Yet on a hike down the old Chattanooga-to-Atlanta railbed, that's what Larsen and I saw. Two gators, in fact, each about three feet long. I took a video, but I'm afraid it has all of the clarity and demonstrative power of the Sasquatch photos. It might look to you like a big carp preambulating along the placid retention pond on the lee side of the rail bed.  I think it was a gator.

Lost opportunity

I forgot the e-collar on our Saturday hike at Lake Allatoona.  Larsen's "sits" are getting better, but are still slow and begin first with a tentative crouch and not with a committed sit.  The e-collar makes an instant correction from afar, no different than the pop on the 6-foot lead when doing heeling work.  As with the 6-foot lead, the trick is in timing and being fair.

At the lake

Larsen explores the carriage path as a January fog begins to lift.

On the waterfront

Be a contender.

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving in Ohio means a hike in the Valley, otherwise known as the Rocky River Reservation or metropolitan park that winds its way from Bagley Road in Berea to the Lake Erie confluence in Rocky River.

Cousin Dave and his wife Meg corralled 14-year-old Scout and 18-month-old puppy Trigger to meet Aki, Larsen, and me. We let the dogs run, play in the river, and run some more. The lanky puppy, Trigger, was practically giddy with his ability and desire to run.

After the hike, we returned to Dave and Meg's for a lunch of turkey on white with mayonnaise.

(click on photo for full picture and for photo show)

Scout was high-stepping on his hike.

Dave prepares Trigger for launch.

Off they go! Road Runner and Coyote. Larsen does his best to keep up with the far swifter Trigger.

Larsen after Trigger (barely in photo) again.

Frank and Larsen pose for a photo.

Scout and Meg enjoy the sunny afternoon.

Larsen is beat after trying to match Trigger in the field.

Early fall on Pine Mountain

The weather turned cool enough to dig out sweaters and wool socks, but the sun is warm in the afternoon.

We hiked Pine Mountain, right off I-75 in Cartersville, Georgia. It's a 4+ mile trail that goes up to the David G. Archer Overlook and then down into the Hurricane Valley. The way up has a number of switchbacks and we mentally computed the gradient as 10% (500 feet to just under a mile). If I'm not mistaken that is a gradient of 4.5 degrees. That does not sound like anything, does it?

The fall flowers are out, but trees maintain their dusty green from the dry summer.

Autumn flowers abloom at the David G. Archer overlook on Pine Mountain in Cartersville, Georgia.


Aki and Larsen take a breather atop Pine Mountain.

Larsen enjoys the clear view.

Barkswell in Asheville, NC

We're heading to the western North Carolina mountains this weekend, and will stay at Barkswell, a pet-friendly mountain property. Hiking in the Pisgah Mountains is always a pleasure. The property seems very nice as well.

Good heel, good boy

Larsen and I were walking Allatoona Pass last Sunday, and down the old railbed came the lady with her three black labs. Two labs are adolescents, and the third, the white-muzzled matriarch, is 13 years and 8 months. She rides in a wagon because her gait can be unsteady when she is tired.

Larsen was off-lead when we saw the group. I sat him. Then I heeled him and walked with him toward the two happy young dogs who were headed our way. Larsen stuck right with me. I halted him, and then dismissed him ("ok") and let him run to the rapidly-closing dogs.

That discipline and good behavior is like gold gleaming from a nugget.

Big muddy

Larsen, not the river to the west of us. Aki's Memorial Day week drive from Atlanta to Chicago, and then on to Cleveland, was in a downpour of cold rain that turned the rich black topsoil of the Great Lakes area into quagmires of mud. Some of the older hardwoods (whose taproots admittedly were gone) had simply toppled over in the muck, producing gaping holes filled with milk-chocolate water.

Larsen loves the driving cold rain. He hit the swamp and immediately began tracking deer, whose tracks were three inches deep in the mud. On a run, he fell into a bole-hole- - completely disappearing under the muddy water before bobbing up and then scrambling out to resume his chase. Need I mention that the little dog had the time of his life?

Larsen looks toward to his next run at Bradley Park in Westlake, Ohio.

Frank appears to be having second thoughts about inviting a muddy spaniel into his Evanston apartment.

Taking a breather

Larsen knew just what I needed after a long week: a walk in the piny woods.

We drove north to the Pine Mountain Recreation Area in Cartersville. The PMRA is immediately off Exit 290 on I-75. You get off exit, turn right and the road comes to a complete dead-end. Curve around onto the gravel road that goes toward the Komatsu plant. Go 100 yards on the gravel road, and you will see the parking area and trail head to the left.

The hike is steep with a lot of switchbacks. Larsen, of course, runs across the switchbacks and then waits patiently on the higher part of the trail as I walk down one end, turn, and come back toward him on the other.

At the top, where the East and West Loop trails intersect is an overlook to the Allatoona Marina. You can also see Georgia Power's Plant Bowen -- a huge 3.2 GW coal fired generating plant -- off to the west, and Kennesaw Mountain to the southwest. On a clear day, you can see the buildings in the Perimeter Area, Midtown, and Downtown, and Stone Mountain to the southeast.

On a clear day, that is. We went on cool and overcast day, figuring to squeeze one more hike out of the area before the weather made it too hot to enjoy.

Larsen poses on the West Loop trail on the way back to the car.

Fortune smiles

Larsen's guardian angels did not get Easter weekend off as they saved the little mutt from harm at Lake Allatoona last Saturday.

Aki and I were at the lake just off Exit 283 of I-75. A pathway at the lakeside park is an old railbed from the Chattanooga-to-Atlanta rail line that had been the site of some long-ago Civil War action.

We were walking along the pathway that had been cut from the hills. Larsen was at 20 feet above us, on top of the cut, exploring. A jogger and dog came along and we chatted. Larsen decided to join, and unhappily also decided to to take a short-cut that involved a headlong plunge over the side.

Larsen hit the ground and flipped. I scooped him up on the flip and grabbed him to me. Miraculously, he was uninjured. He didn't vocalize a sound when he hit. He seemed unfazed and did not make any yips or cries when I poked and prodded his gut, ribs, and joints.

I can only think that he hit and skidded on the leaves and debris that had piled up at an angle in the berm at the bottom of the cliff. This angled berm produced a sliding glancing landing, rather than the brutal impact that would have occurred with perpendicular ground. Either that or someone was looking out for the little dog.



Larsen invents a new way to give Frank a heart attack.

The Emerald Necklace

Unlike the Cleveland Orchestra, few have ever heard of the so-called Emerald Necklace around the Cleveland area.  Like the Orchestra, the Emerald Necklace is a national treasure.  The Cleveland Metroparks portion of the necklace had its origins in the Rocky River Valley.  It now has unconnected beads in Huntington, Big Creek, Hinkley, Brecksville, Bedford, South Chagrin, North Chagrin and Euclid Creek.

Another of the unconnected gems in the necklace is the Boston Mills Historic District (which technically is part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park).  Boston Mills fronts the Ohio and Erie Canal just north of Akron.  The canal paralleled part of the Cuyahoga river, which in that region of the state winds north from Akron to Cleveland and then into Lake Erie.

We accompanied Cousin Dave, his wife Meg, and their 12 year-old Brittany, Scout, on the trails of the Rocky River and Boston Mills parks during Thanksgiving.  We had some nice, chilly outings. 

Meg, Aki, and Larsen enjoy a cold and wet Thanksgiving afternoon as the turkey cooks at home.

  
Cousin Dave and Scout lead the way.

Do you recognize this?  It's the Cuyahoga River.

Aki, Dave, and Larsen view the waterfall from a distance.

The former canal towpath in Boston Mills has been reclaimed for recreational purposes.

The low winter sun casts sharp shadows on this little store in Boston Mills.

Cloudland Canyon

Cloudland Canyon is in the northwest corner of Georgia next to the Tennessee and Alabama borders.  You reach it via Chattanooga.  We drove to Chattanooga on Friday and hiked the West Rim and a few other trails on Saturday.  A fun time, although some places on the rim walk you really need to leash up a curious spaniel. 

Morning at the No-Tell Motel.

Larsen waits for the rest of our party.

Rim Trail at Cloudland Canyon.

Frank and Larsen check out the view from the souvenir stand.

Look out everyone

Here

I

Come!

Re-enactors

Larsen and I hiked along the Allatoona shore at dawn.  The fog and steam hung over the lake.  Civil War re-enactors were rolling out of their cots, lining up, and starting their morning fires.

Civil War re-enactors line up at daybreak.

Wood for the sweet-smelling camp fire.

It's still hot out there

A dog can succumb to heat exhaustion and move on to heat stroke very quickly.  Heat stroke leading to death can happen even to the mature, healthy dog of a caring and experienced owner. 

The dog has no efficient way to get rid of heat, and there is an inflection point in the dog's internal temperature after which things go wrong fast.  One minute the dog seems fine, and the next he is in dire circumstances.   

A dog's normal internal temperature is 100.5 to 102.5.  Above 103 F is a problem (source: about.com, citing to Merck Veterinary Manual, 9th ed.)

The internet provides all sorts of checklists to identify heat exhaustion and heat stroke, but the incipient symptoms are pretty obvious - - the dog returns from a run on a hot day panting like a MARTA bus pulling away from the curb, frothing at the mouth, and a tongue hanging to one side.

Pull that dog from the field for a moment and get him settled down.  Give him some water, or get him into some water to cool down.  Most lake water in Georgia is > 80 F right now, which is very warm, but still 20 degrees cooler than the dog's internal temperature.  Just sit for a while.  Get everyone back and centered.

If you've ever played a sport on a hot day, you may know how heat can sneak up on you and you don't realize it until you've been on the sidelines drinking water for a while, your ears pop, and suddenly the world, which seemed fine, comes into focus.  He doesn't know it either, and you have to watch out for him.

Pre-season training with an eager dog provides an opportunity for harm.  Watch for that tongue drooping to one side.  It's the first sign.  Get his tongue to hang from the center of his mouth before you go again.  Don't forget about the rule of 140.