Backpacking at Ellicot Rock with Amanda and Noah

Still catching up - here's another incredible trip!  We went backpacking with two of our friends Amanda and Noah.  It started a little rocky as always with a long ride in the car - I hate car trips.  This one was especially bad because at the end there was about 9 miles on a bumpy dirt road.  I was in the back seat with mom and Amanda and I was so nervous I kept standing on them and going back and forth between each side of the car.  Eventually mom got tired of it and restrained me in her lap for the rest of the trip.

The trail was beautiful!  It was right along the river the whole time with lots of great views.  We didn't hike in very far only about 2 miles but then we got to play at the camp site.  I tried to remember to check in mom and dad but mostly I just explored.  I crossed the river several times which was a little scary.  One time I even got stuck in it for a while before I was able to swim over to the shore.  The people finally went swimming as well although by that time I was pretty tired and content to just nap by the shore.

Petunia sleeping by the water

the view from our campsite

me exhausted at the end of the day

cooking dinner

The next day we took a side trip to see a really pretty waterfall and then hiked back out.  I ran around a bunch and by the time we got to the car I was exhausted.  My GPS thing ran out of batteries so I only have the route for part of the first day.

my exploring around the campsite - you can see how many times I went swimming

the rest of the trail

Day Trip to Blackrock Mountain

Still catching up.  A few months ago we did a short day hike at Blackrock Mountain.  Even though the trail wasn't that long (only about 7 miles) it was really hilly!

the elevation

There wasn't much to see except at the top where there was a great view.  We stopped for lunch there which took way too long in my opinion.  I wanted to go chase things and Petunia kept trying to steal food from the other hikers. 

family photo at the top

On the way down we took a short side-trip around a lake.  It was pretty although since there were lots of other people I had to stay on the leash and couldn't go swimming.  Petunia did though - totally not fair!

by the lake

It was a fun trip.

Spring Break in Pisgah with the Extended Family

So, I've been exhausted by all the extremely hot weather we're having in Atlanta and haven't updated my blog in a while but I've gone on several great trips. I'll start with spring break.

the whole crowd

For spring break I went backpacking with my parents, grandparents, uncle Aaron and of course my sister.  The first night we camped at a campground.  It wasn't too bad, I got to sleep in the car with mom and dad.  Petunia however got to sleep with Uncle Aaron, she must have been having a lot of fun because I could hear her getting up and running around many times throughout the night.  I was tired and just stayed in bed.

at the campsite

 The next morning we got up early but it took everyone else a ton of time to get ready.  There was lots of food to sort and packs to organize.  When we finally got on the trail it started raining and they all had to stop again to put on their rain gear.  How boring!  Then we had some fun and I got to run all around chasing things.  At one point they all seemed to walk back and forth a lot and get flustered something about being lost but I didn't mind. 

on the trail - uncle Aaron brought a whole box of wine

The real trouble came in the afternoon when it started raining.  The light sprinkling throughout the day wasn't bad but by afternoon it was raining hard and I was getting cold.  Petunia doesn't handle cold well and she was shivering a lot.  Finally they decided to setup tents.  Petunia ran into mom's lap while I waited for grandpa to setup a tent for me.  However when he finally had it ready and I ran in he kicked me out - what a grump!  Aaron didn't let Petunia sleep in his tent either - I guess he only likes her when she's dry.  After a while mom and dad setup their tent and we went in there to get out of the rain.  Mom and dad had bought us new camping mats but they were a lot less soft and comfy than my normal bed.  It took me a long time to dry off but I finally convinced dad to let me sleep with him in his sleeping bag.  The storm was pretty loud but I slept okay.

me wet and miserable

The next day was much better I got to run lots and it didn't rain.  Although it did start snowing during the last part of the hike and we headed back to the car cutting the trip short.

grampa making coffee on the trail

the end of the trail right before the snow

All in all it was fun although I would have enjoyed it more if we'd stayed out longer and it hadn't rained.

oh where oh where has my little beer gone

Ashes to Ashes
Dust to Dust
Dirt to Dirt
This gift of love is more like a turd.

Arabia Mountain - Petunia

Dad said I have to post some pictures of my sister as well.  She didn't go on the run but went hiking with mom and dad instead.  It doesn't look like near as much fun.

Arabia Mountain

So, another weekend went by without a hike but I did get to go on a long run. We went to Arabia Mountain and I ran ~10 miles. Mom and Dad were boring and decided to hike around while I went on a run with my good friends Zsolt, Tom and Joanne. It was so much fun!!!! Although, I really think we could have done the whole thing again. At the end of the run mom and dad picked us up and I got to sit in the back seat next to Joanne while Zsolt had to sit by my smelly sister in the back =) Here're some pictures Zsolt took:

Woohoo! It works!

Here's the Google Earth gadget for our Coosa Backcountry Trail trip. If it starts to get slow, clicking on the post to open a separate window may help. See if you can find where Peanut was on the far side of the ridge and couldn't heard us...

PS. Please tell me if this loads slowly or is cumbersome, there are about 20,000 GPS points in this file since I didn't pare it down.

Google Earth Test Run - Cherokee Trail

This is my first try at embedding a Google Earth link in the blog.  If you don't see the earth below you'll need to download the Google Earth plug in.

A Run at Stone Mountain Park

So last weekend I didn't get to go on a hike, but we did go for a run - my second favorite activity in the whole world. We did a loop around the base of Stone Mountain park. I've hiked it many times but this was my first run. Petunia was with us so we went even slower than normal but aside from that it was fun. I was on a leash the whole time so the GPS info is pretty boring.

There was one fun surprise though from the GPS info - the Cherokee trail around the base of Stone Mountain is 4.89 miles, including the little walk to the car! That doesn't even round up to the 6 miles the park says it is.

-PButter

22 Miles at Vogel State Park

I hurt!! I'm not sure if they're connected but yesterday (1/18/2010) I did the most amazing hike I went 22 miles total (mom, dad and Greg only did a measly 13) and got to be outside running around all day. The hike was a great workout, short on vistas but a lot of fun!




The adventure started the night before when we drove out to Vogel state park. As if the drive wasn't bad enough I had to stay on the leash all evening while mom, dad and their friend Greg cooked dinner outside in the snow, poked the fire, and tried not to freeze. Then they expected me to sleep in a tent. It was cold, the floor was hard and I could hear all the animals outside that I should be chasing. At about 2AM, after trying to break through the tent walls about 9 times, I finally convinced dad to take me outside but instead of going for a walk he made me sleep with him in the car. How frustrating, with just a little more time I'm sure I could have gotten out of the tent.





After a very boring night the next day was great! At about 7:30AM I leaned on the car horn to wake everyone up and around 9 they finally got out of bed. After a quick breakfast we headed out on the trail. Mom and dad complained about not seeing many vistas but I was just happy I got to run around for 8 hours straight. After the hike, Dad tied my leash to Petunia's thinking that would keep us from running far, but all Petunia and I wanted to do was sleep! We got in the car and crashed.

Pre-Christmas in West Virginia

For Christmas mom and dad got me this annoying GPS device. It's attached to my harness and everytime I go hiking I have to wear it. The upside is when I get home I can figure out where I've been and share it with all of you. So, I started this blog to share my trips. For my first post I'm going to talk about the amazing hikes I did over the Christmas holiday. All in all it was a great time (except for the car rides).

For the first part of trip we stayed in a cabin in West Virginia with all of mom's family. There was about 2 feet of snow on the ground which made hiking especially fun. Our first hike was a short loop near the cabin. I was still getting used to all the snow so I stuck pretty close to mom and dad. After we got back inside someone left the door open for me so I got away and raced around back behind the cabin across from ours. I had smelled something really fun there earlier, but no one had let me check it out. It was great racing in the moonlight, until Michael caught up with me.

The next morning dad took me out to the sledding hill to get a little exercise. After going up and down the hill twice and checking out the pond and the rental building, I got bored with going up and down and found some deer to track. After about an hour and a half I got tired and decided to let dad catch up. He didn't seem very happy, I mean what's better than running in the woods in two feet of snow for an hour and a half? Not much. The snow slowed me down some but I did manage to hit a top speed of 20 mi/hour.

After leaving West Virginia we headed for grandma and grandpa's in northern Virginia. We did a bunch of walks and even a run and had several great hikes at Scott's Run. The second hike I ran all over creation, right up to people's back yards, until I got put back on leash. There were deer, I know it. On the second one I hit my best speed so far, 23 MPH! It was downhill, but it still counts.

After returning to Georgia we had our last hike of the holiday at a great park very close to home. The Sweetwater Creek rapids were beautiful, even though dumb park rules kept me on a leash the whole time.