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. 

Paulding County Bird Club

Aki and I are considering joining the new Paulding County Bird Club.  This was a venture that Frank M. brought forward based on an idea from Mark W, a dog enthusiast who has both a pointer and a springer.  Mark has some pointer friends who may wish to form a club, and possibly for comic relief they brought the idea to Frank, a confirmed spaniel guy.

Frank, Deb, Susan, Allen, Aki and I toured the property with an eye to joining the club.  The property is approximately 220 acres and is located north west of Douglasville.  We would drive east on I-20 to exit 36 and then north for a few miles.

Shooting and hunting are permitted (e.g., no Sunday shooting restriction), subject to state law.  It takes an hour to get to the property.  This saves 30 minutes from the trip to Heflin, but is about 20 minutes longer than the jaunt to Lake Alatoona, albeit there is no bird training permitted at the lake.      

There are two small ponds for water work and to cool off a hot dog.  They are runoff ponds with no obvious spring or stream, so they might get low, muddy, and nasty during the summer.  There is also the danger that they could concentrate agricultural runoff if fertilizers are used on the proposed hay and millet crops.  The property also has a few buildings (house, barn, implement shed) that are wrecks due to weather and vandals.

The goal is to make the property available for those members who genuinely want to train, and not allow it to be pressed into service for hunting trials and the like.  In addition to the club fees, there will be mandated work days (brush clearing, planting millet, etc.).  As explained, the desired improvements and proposed upgrades do not seem to be so expansive as to represent a huge sunk cost in the first year's availability.  Given the state of the economy and the location of the property, it does not seem likely that the exurban housing boom will cause the property to turn into a subdivision in the near future, although, of course, only time will tell.

The property is really quite pretty, and we all had a great end-of-day hike, and for that alone the trip was worth it.