Mongo Loves Flowers
Rotary Park
Hiking in National Forest
April 5, 2014
Mongo and Dad went on a training
hike on Saturday. Dad is training
for a weeklong backpacking
expedition and needed to make sure that he
can still lug several dozen pounds of gear on
his poor old tired back.
It was a bit rainy, so Dad took his Gore-Tex
raingear along. Dad also brought Pippin’s
old pack along for Mongo. Mongo hates
that backpack. Even if it did once belong to
the world’s most vicious golden retriever and
huntress of squirrels, it still has flowers on it,
so it is not macho enough for him.
Dad loaded his own pack with 30 lbs. of
dead weight, and some water. Mongo went
with just the pack. .
It was not the most scenic day to hike the
Snoquarie Loop. It was cloudy on the
mountain, and a little rainy. At this time of
year, the trail is not much of a loop either.
Still, no matter the weather, the falls
themselves are always spectacular.
And the trail provides a good vertical
excursion to practice hiking uphill and
downhill, and good aerobic exercise as well.
Last Hunt of the Season
Mongo and Dad went hunting Sunday. It was the last hunt of the season. The wind was blowing very strongly out of the North. It blew all the scent away from the birds and made them very hard to find. Mongo was very persistent though. It was so difficult to find birds, hHe even tried to retrieve the duck decoys from the center of the pond. He was so focused on the decoys, he missed the live ducks over by the edge even as they flew away. Or maybe he ignored the live ones on purpose and his trying the grab the ones in the center was all false bravado. We all know live ducks can be very scary.
It was a long day no matter what. He loped all over the field three times, and by the end of the hunt he was exhausted. He slept most of the way home in the truck, and when he arrived, plopped unceremoniously onto the floor, and took another big nap.
Comments: