Spring?

Well, the weather might have finally changed for the better here in Boone. The Food Guy and I woke up to sunny skies and temps in the 60s. That'll happen when you sleep till 10 o'clock like we do whenever we can. The Food Guy started our day by taking me for a walk, then he snuck off for a training run. He thinks he's all slick by getting dressed to run and then taking me for a walk before he goes. He thinks he's fooling me, but he's not. I know it's for my own good that he's not letting me run with him right now. I don't like it though. I can't wait to get back out on the trail.

The good news is that he decided I could go climbing with him today since the hike in was only about 5 minutes. It was so nice to be outside hanging out. I like going climbing. There are always people hanging around who want to pet me. Well, I think the only reason people go anywhere is so they can pet me. I don't think that's too crazy. I mean, who wouldn't want to pet a yellow dog?

Greg and the Food Guy had lots of fun climbing. Greg's son, Lem, came with us and he knocked out a couple of routes too. I think the spring weather might be coming on with a little more regularity now. It was so beautiful at The Dump today. Check out this view:

And, I'm so glad. I like playing in the snow, but bumming around at the crag is a lot of fun too.

I hope you all had a great weekend. My leg has been feeling a lot better, and I'm hoping the Food Guy will let me go on a real adventure soon.

Resting an injury is no fun

Hey, y'all. I know it's been a while since my last post, but things have been pretty quiet around Camp Z for a yellow dog. One of my legs has been giving me some trouble, so the Food Guy has been making me rest, and not letting me go on many adventures. A while back, I started limping around after the Food Guy and I got back from one of our runs. He made me rest for a week, and then I talked him into letting me go for a short run with him. Wouldn't you know, I ended up limping again, so he wouldn't let me go hiking or running with him for a couple of weeks. I was feeling better, so he let me go over to play with my doggie friend Alabama Star, and I ended up limping again. Well, he got all worried about me and took me to the vet. The good news is that my hips are fine. He was worried I was starting to have some hip problems. The vet thinks it's my MCL, so he put me on some doggie celebrex. I think it did the trick. After a week on the dope, I stopped limping. The Food Guy says he's not letting me run or go on any good hikes for a couple of months. I've been pretty bored. He did let me go hang out with him when he went paddling a couple of weeks ago. I made him feel so bad for leaving me in the truck- a little limping helped- that he let me take a rest at the take-out:

I suppose all this time off is for the best though. Hopefully, I'll be all healed up and I'll be able to be up to going on some good adventures this summer. I'd better be. I get pretty bored hanging out at home all day while the Food Guy is off training for his big run.

He thinks he's so slick. He sneaks out of the house with his running shoes every day- as if I don't notice that those smelling things are leaving the house everyday. I mean, really. Does he think I can't tell that he's been off running all afternoon when he comes home from work. Sheesh! Well, I don't give him too much trouble. I know he's got to get his mileage in. He's training for a 100 miler in August. Check out this website to see what he's training for.

Well, y'all take care. Maybe the Food Guy will let me go climbing with him sometime soon. I told him I'd be A-OK just hanging out on a leash while he climbs. I'll try to talk him into taking me for a good-easy- adventure soon.

February Backpacking Trip

It's been a pretty stellar week here in the high country-- well, that's not really a shocking statement since every week up here is pretty much off the hook. But, the last week or so has been particularly excellent. It's been sunny and warm! Can't wait till spring. Yesterday the Food Guy, Alabama Star, Greg and I went up to Ship Rock for some climbing. It was pretty exciting. Food Guy had to carry me up a couple sections of the approach trail because I couldn't climb the boulders. My claws just wouldn't dig into the rock. Today, the Food Guy and I put in a pretty solid day's work. We started off the day with a beautiful run from Camp Z in 48 degrees and sunshine. Trust me, that's like a full on heat wave up here. After we finished our run, we headed out to Mark and Leslie's house to cut firewood. I just hung out on the porch while the people worked, but I'm proud to say that we have enough firewood to get through the winter now. I'm sure the temperatures will be back below freezing on the regular soon.

Last weekend was the annual winter backpacking sufferfest with B. Aubin, Nate, and the newest hardcore in the bunch- Steven. The jury is still out on Steven though. He was in much better shape this year, but he might have been sandbagging us. My pack was heavier than his and I'm just a dog. All kidding aside- Big Ups to Steven for getting in shape. He gets the most improved player award for his year.

We had sunny skies and a beautiful trail to hike. We started and Pine Gap and hiked the Gorge trail for most of the day. The trail went from the river back up to the rim a few times. It was a pretty stout hike. One poor guy we met at the trailhead fell into the river and dislocated his shoulder. Poor guy had to hike back up to the rim and drive home in a lot of pain. It was beautiful though. I'd bet he'd say it was worth the price of admission. Check out the view from the river.

After a great day of exploring the Gorge, we made it to Babel Tower where we found a sweet campsite that even had a bar.

It was nice during the day. Check out this view from one of the vistas back on the rim.

But the wind was serious at night. It was friggen cold! I found creative ways to stay warm like sitting on Steven instead of the cold ground.

The boys seemed to have alot of fun, and there was lots of hamming it up for the camera. Check out the Food Guy doing his best fashion model tiger pose.

We hiked out Sunday morning under blue skies and made it to Pappy's BBQ for a late lunch. I had to stay in the truck and eat dog bones, but the people ate some killer brisket. Food Guy doesn't eat a lot of meat these days, but he's not one to turn up his nose at a good brisket. I hear the hush puppies are pretty amazing there too.

We're taking it easy tomorrow. Food Guy just needs to get a short run and maybe a ride in since he's training for the 100milesforswisher.com run in August. Mostly, I'll be sleeping while the Food Guy grades papers. We'll have more adventures next week, so check back when you can.

Backcountry Ski Dog

What do you do when you have snow everywhere? I asked the Food Guy that question this morning when we woke up, and he had an answer before I'd even taken a mouthful of dog food. "Head for the trail, yellow buddy," was his reply. So we did.

We loaded up the mobile doghouse and met some friends in town to head out to Roaring Creek for some backcountry ski action. It was a nice sunny day and the temperature looked like it might even get above freezing today. The blue skies were a sight for sore dog eyes as we stepped onto the trail this morning.

We spent the first couple of hours working our way up the AT near Roan Mountain. I was having a blast following the people and playing with my new dog friends: Ruby and Rose. They're both Sug dog look alikes, so I knew I'd probably get herded a few times today, but I don't mind. I'm used to being herded around- My doggie friend Sug taught me that lesson when the Food Guy first got me. Anyway, after cruising along the trail for a couple of hours, we finally got the top of the first section.

The views were amazing, and the people had fun skiing through a "glade" (new ski lingo I'm learning). Well, the Food Guy took a couple of face plants 'cause he's still figuring out how this skiing thing works. It looked like he was having fun though.

I lost one of my shoes today.

The Food Guy said it wasn't my fault. The snow had a layer of ice on it in some places. When I broke though, it was chest deep. I lost my boot trying to swim my doggie feet back up the surface of the snow.

Once the people were done skiing through the glade, we headed back to the trail to get all the way to the top.

It was so pretty up there.

The trip down was really exciting. In most places the trail was only 10 feet wide. The Food Guy managed to not hit any trees, which I thought was pretty impressive. We finally made our way back down to the trailhead at about 4:30. After, 6 hours of running in the snow, I was SO tired. I'll never learn; I spent the first two hours racing up and down the trail. It always takes me a couple of hours to figure out that I need to pace myself. Hopefully, I can talk the Food Guy into taking it easy tomorrow and watching football most of the day. I think I'll walk really slowly by the wood pile in the morning to drop that hint that he needs to stay home and split some firewood to keep us warm this week.

They Take Winter Serious Here

It's cold, y'all. For real cold. When the Food Guy and I woke up this morning it was -2. I'm not talking -2 with some wussy windchill temperature; I'm talking for real, ambient temperature. And, it was windy too. It warmed up to a balmy 7 by the time the Food Guy drank some coffee and took me for a walk around Ztown. On the good side, we have lots of snow. There's a drift behind the house that's as tall as my back. Most everywhere it comes up to my dog elbows.

I like playing in the snow. I spent about an hour this morning running around with my friend Daisy from across the street this morning while the Food Guy sorted out some firewood. We ran around jumping in the snow drifts and throwing snow up in the air with our noses- pretty good stuff.

Yesterday morning we woke up to about a foot of fresh snow, so the Food Guy decided it was time to put our sledding hill to the test with his new skis. He got some telemark skis so we can head out in the backcountry and get some exercise. The cool thing is that you can also ski downhill on them. Best of both worlds. Put skins on the skis and go uphill, and then take them off and you're ready for some cool downhill action.

I think he had a lot of fun. He must have liked it because he and Greg decided to go to the local ski hill last night for some nighttime skiing.

He said it was pretty cold up there, and I believed him after he showed me a picture of the weather station up there. It was 9 degrees, which I suppose isn't all that cold if you're just going outside to post up on a tree or something. But, if you're riding around a on a pair of skis for a few hours, I suppose it's pretty cold. Check out the 26 Knot winds that were kicking around up there.

We are supposed to get more snow tonight. Luckily, the Food Guy doesn't have class until Tuesday afternoon, so hopefully he won't have to have his class cancelled. Well, I actually would rather they cancelled classes so we could go play somewhere. But, I doubt he wants to start the semester by losing the first day of class. We'll see. Stay tuned for more adventures. You know we can't sit still for too long.

New Year's Eve

Happy New Year, y'all. The Food Guy and I closed out 2010 in style today. Sam and Rebecca came up from Chattavegas to hang out last night, and we got lucky with some sunny weather for a little New Year's Eve trip to the Dump.

We got this morning to clear skies, and strong coffee brewing. After a leisurely breakfast at Mountain Bagels, we headed up to the Dump to meet Greg for a little climbing. Alabama stayed home, so I didn't have my doggie crag partner to hang out with. We still had a good time though. Check out some pics from today's adventure.

Rebecca did a great job on Son of White Trash. And she got a little lead climbing in too.

I was happy to get out and enjoy some sunshine while the people got some winter time climbing in.

The Food Guy seemed pretty happy to get out climbing after a couple of weeks of snow.

I'm sure the Food Guy and I will head out for a good run or hike to ring in 2011. Stay tuned, y'all.

Roan Mountain in the Snow

The Food Guy and I have been making the most of our vacation so far. Yesterday the Food Guy's sister, brother-in-law, and niece came up to Camp Z to spend the night on their way back to Mobtown. We had a good time hanging out. Haley and I played with all of my toys until I was ready to go to bed.

It was great having those guys up here for a visit. Today, Food Guy, Gregg, and Karen loaded up the mobile dog house to go hiking up at Roan Mountain. It was super-cool. That place got pounded with snow last week, so the Food Guy thought it would be a good time for me to try out my new winter hiking boots. He's always worrying that I'll get my feet cut up by the ice under the snow, so he brought some boots with us today for me to try out.

I wasn't so sure about them at first. I don't know if you have ever seen that cartoon dog Goofy, but that's what I felt like when I first put them on. I was running around lifting my paws over my head trying to figure out what in the world had happened to my dog-feet.

But, it didn't last too long. That Food Guy is pretty sneaky. He waited until I was having a lot of fun playing in the snow before he stopped and pulled them out of his pack. I was having so much fun that the boots were really just a momentary distraction. Before long, I was up to my normal tricks: rolling in the snow, snorkeling with my dog-nose, and racing up and down the trail making sure all the people were staying together.

Roan Mountain is a really cool state park. We hiked along the AT up past Jane Bald (5807 Ft.) for a couple of hours.

The wind was crazy up there, and the snow was so deep in places that I kept getting stuck. I have some pretty long dog-legs, and I still kept getting stuck in snow that was over my chest. The Food Guy had to come help me back onto the trail at one point. It was so much fun.

We should have some more good adventures this week. Sam and Rebecca are coming up from Chattavegas, so I think we're going climbing tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Y'all take care now.