The Imp (pt.1)

We decided to do a fall foliage hike, a loop trail up and over the Imp, (cliffs that are suppose to look like an Imp's (woods sprite) profile.

We woke in the van in Gorham, N.H. Heavy frost outside and on the inside of the van windows.....burrrrr. I cuddled with Mom and Dad and stayed cozy warm. Cooked a hot breakfast roadside and then continued on to the southern trail head, where we'd be coming out and walked the road the .03 miles up to the northern trail head. Low and behold a jeep in the parking lot had a licence plate that read " IMTOAD" Will I ever live down the toad biting thing of a few weeks ago? ha! ha!

We headed up, and I do mean UP, the north trail, 2.2 miles straight up. PHEW! That'll tighten up a little dogs leg muscles! But as always, I summited first, Mom got a good picture of me in the sun looking back down on my poor winded parents. And why do I want to get to the top first? Little Cesar! I always get yummy food at the top, then with full belly, I kick back and enjoy the view. AND WHAT A VIEW WE HAD. The Presidentials. Magnificent! Maddison, Jefferson, Mt Washington, the Wildcats ect. Did I mention the COLOR! Wow!

A few other hikers summited while we were up there, a nice young couple from Mass. and a couple with two big labs. None of us had ever met but all shared the love of these gorgeous and enchanting mountains.

From where we were we could look down on the parking lot at the Mt. Washington auto road and all the way to the summit of Mt. Washington.......so vast it was hard to get on film. We had lunch on the 4 mile decent through birch groves, with many glimpses back to Mt. Washington. WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY FALL HIKE!

The Imp (pt.2)

Mt.Meader/Basin Rim trails (pt.1) .

Friday we laid Grammie June to rest. It was a somber day full of friends and lots of family. We had time to mourn, then, to celebrate her life, Mom, Dad and I headed into nearby Evans notch. A tribute hike to Grammie. Up the Wild River onto the Eagle Link trail, across Meader ridge to mt. Meader then continued on to the Basin Rim trail to the Basin trail and back to the van two days later.
Friday night we made it a few miles into the site of the former Spruce Brook shelter, now all tent sites. The shelter actually lay in ruin, bundled up by trail crews, who are removing shelters to return our wilderness back to wilderness. YEAH! Sign at trail head said no camping Tues/Wed due to heavy helicopter traffic in area. We assume they'll be picking up the bundled shelter.
Saturday we had a bad start, I was playing around with a toad, and if I have one bit of life's advice for you, it would be....NEVER put a toad in your mouth! YUCK! SPIT! GAG! EEEEEKKKK!
For an hour I foamed at the mouth. What a disgusting taste.Mom also had her back go out, not a good start.
Thank goodness the day brought so much beauty, brooks and birches and stunning rock mountain views. We, well the folks, picked alpine cranberries, being very careful not to disturb the alpine vegetation that takes sooo long to grow.
Second night we came down the other side of mt. Meader as the sun was setting and camped part way down in the pine thickets. Our morning view was looking down on the fog bank that engulfed the Basin. Absolutely gorgeous! Slow poke back to the van (Mom's back) and when Dad wasn't carrying both packs to help Mom out, he was practicing his "flip my pack on" trick,(see video) pretty cool.
Ended up being the most extraordinary hike of the summer, a great tribute to Grammie.

Mt. Meader/ Basin Rim trails (pt.2)

My great grammie June

I would like to dedicate my blog to my Great Grammie June who we lost this week. She was an incredible woman who made the world laugh. I was her favorite adventure great granddog. She was in full suppprt of our adventures. She even came to greet my Mom & Dad in the White moutains when they were hiking the Apppalacian trail. We will carry her memories up every moutain and down every river, and we will miss her so.

Shapleigh pond/Saco river (pt.1)

Fall is in the air, stunning cool crisp air and bright blue skies. We did two day adventures this weekend. Saturday we paddled Shapleigh pond. The swamp maples have already began to turn red, adding much color to our surroundings. Mom & Dad paddled and pulled the canoe up and over a couple of beaver dams up to the backwaters of the pond. Water lillies and pickerel weeds all in full bloom right now, adding much more color to the scene. Mom filmed algae that looked like silky green ribbon flowing under the water....so cool!
Sunday we canoed up a section of the Saco river. Once again, eye popping scenery. Dad stopped the canoe so Mom could photograph a Blue Heron who was fishing the rivers edge. Same heron, still fishing on our way back down the river. He was either too busy eating to notice us or he's just used to people from all the boat traffic on the Saco in the summer. On this day we hardly saw a soul. PERFECT! We did however pass a couple in a kayak, they waved at first, then she hollared over to us, " Is that a famous dog? My daughter had one of her cards" WHO ME??? Was she talking about ME???? Famous???? Well I guess I am now. First time someone has recognised me out in the wilderness! I am truely humbled.
Our day ended with a slow drift back down the river, enjoying the foliage,the blue heron, sunshine reflecting on the river bank in waves of white light, the bright blue sky and the peace of the river on a georgous fall day.

Shapleigh pond/Saco river ((pt. 2)

End of summer

Hey everyone, thanks for checking in as summer comes to an end. Our garden is in full bloom, lots of flowers and veggies. We also bought some beautiful gladiolas and I wanted to share some pictures of them with you, they're soooo beautiful.
On the adventure side of things, we've gotten in a few day trips since my last post. Starting last Sunday, we headed out early to go fishing. We stopped by the side of the road to....well you know...what dogs do! We found a skidoo trail marked "JJ" (go figure) and decided to follow it. Good call. It lead way up to a vista of a huge hay field then continued on to a 360 open summit view. WHAT A FIND! Knox mountain.
Back to the van and drove more until we got to a boat launch on the Little Ossippe River. Mom and Dad decided to paddle UP river, fine, I'm just along for the ride! We explored a couple of wet land areas then on up to the first set of rapids. How do you get UP rapids? Well the folks got out of the boat, waist deep in rushing river water and pulled me and the canoe Up through three sets of rips....they're crazy that way. Then we rode the rips back down...my first time! It was soooo much fun, we never did go fishing!
This weekend we had to go to Vermont Friday night so we began a slow meander back east in the rain Saturday morning, playing tourist. We did stop in Enfield NH to make lunch and hiked into a woods pond, in the rain, called Butterfield pond. It was really cool. We saw lots of mushrooms in the rain.
Sunday we hiked Douglas mountain in Sebago Maine. It's a loop trail that takes you up to a rock tower lookout that looks down on the Sebago lake area. Stunning, rain gone, sun out, cool air, perfect hiking day! Fall is in the air and this adventure dog is looking so forward to the fall hiking season! Stay tuned!

Knox mt,Little Ossippe River, Butterfield pond &Douglas mt.