Time Well Spent

I'm a pretty tired doggie right about now, but I'll try to tap out a few lines to tell y'all about our weekend before I go back to sleep. The weekend started off right on Friday morning with a trip to The Dump for a little climbing. The Food Guy woke me up at 7 and said, "Let's go, lazy dog." I looked at him like he had about 7 heads. I mean, it was COLD outside, and I couldn't think of a good reason to drag myself off the down comforter to head outside. Once he picked up the climbing pack, I changed my tune since I knew that I'd probably get to hang out with my doggie friend Alabama at the crag. Alabama and I played for a few hours while Greg and the Food Guy got some climbing in. Then, we headed down to town to meet up with Reeve and O Dog to head over to Elk Knob for a run. I was pretty tired by the time we got home Friday night, but I was psyched when I saw the Food Guy and Reeve put away their coffee cups and pick up their running shoes.

In true highland fashion we got a nice "southern alpine start" and headed over towards Linville for a run on the Profile Trail. Check out the views from this place.

It's pretty sweet, eh?

The Profile Trail isn't the greatest place to run. It's straight up for 3 miles and there are some boulder garden sections that are just plain un-runnable. But, the view is totally worth the effort.

We cruised back into town after Reeve and the Food Guy ate some killer cuban sandwiches in Foscoe. I only got dog bones, by the way. Someone should talk to the Food Guy about that. Just sayin'. Then we headed over to "The Rock" to watch App State kick the crap out of Wofford on the football field for a while. Luckily the Mountaineers got the game in hand quickly, so the Food Guy could head on home to watch the Georgia game. Auburn ended up winning, which is pretty lame, but that's OK. Bama won, so at least one of my SEC teams managed to pull out a W.

I was pretty worn out by the time the Bama game ended, which is pretty reasonable since we'd already had a pretty full weekend already. I called it a day and climbed onto the down comforter to get some sleep while the Food Guy got all of our stuff ready for the next adventure. He woke me up early again this morning, so we could head up the the Boone Fork trail for a little run. I always enjoy running up there. The trail has so much diversity. Smooth single track, Rhodi caves, boulder gardens... it's got it all. After we finished our run, we drove a little further up the Parkway to check out the view from the Linn Cove Viaduct. Not too shabby, huh?

Now, it's time for some sleep. Hope y'all have a good week.

Back in Boone

The Food Guy made it back from Denver last weekend, and we managed to make our way back up to Boone. It's been a pretty quiet week around here for me. The Food Guy finally got all moved into his office on campus, so he's been spending some time working. When we lived in Athens, he worked from home all the time, but he's decided that he should probably work in his office now that he actually has a job that will pay him--eventually. Oh, and I should mention that the Food Guy scored us a brand new MacBook Pro this week. His boss twisted some arms and got ASU to kick out with a new computer for him. I really like the new computer. The keyboard is a little bigger than our old one, so it's a lot easier for my paws to hit all of the keys.

It hasn't been all work and no play for us though. We managed to get a few laps in on our favorite running trail- the Boone Fork Trail, and the Food Guy went to a couple of yoga classes. We also got some climbing in this week. The Food Guy and Greg decided to play hooky from work on Thursday to spend the day climbing at a place called "The Dumps." It's a pretty cool spot. It's one of the very few bolted "sport climbing" areas in NC. Since Greg and the Food Guy both lack all the gear needed to climb most of the "trad" routes here in NC, they have to stick to bolted routes or routes they can top rope right now. Plus, the Food Guy hasn't really done much trad climbing, so it'll be a while before he learns how to do it safely anyway. The Dumps is a pretty cool area. It's really close to the road, so I have to stay on the leash while we are there.

I don't mind that too much. I mostly just lay around and nap while the people climb anyway. I just like being outside and adventuring with people. We're laying low this weekend. The Food Guy's a little worn out on traveling at the moment, so we decided to just chill here this weekend. I'm sure we'll head out for a short hike this afternoon and we'll probably head up the boulders in Blowing Rock tomorrow. Then, it'll be back to work. The Food Guy needs to get his classes planned for the fall. He'd better do a good job because we really need the dog food money that he makes by teaching. He also needs to get his act in gear and write a couple of papers. Somehow, I doubt next week will be all work though. I'm sure we'll manage a good adventure or three. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted on the life of an adventurous Yellow Dog.

More Pics & A Sunday Stroll

After we got back from climbing and running around yesterday, the Food Guy and Steven went to pick up some of the photos that Steven got developed yesterday. I figured I might as well add some of them to the blog since Steven is quite the photog. Check out this shot of me and Food Guy walking up to the Mushroom Boulder yesterday. Check out the cool Tigerlilly on the right side:

Pretty cool, huh? He also got a couple of cool black and white shots of the Food Guy working one of the problems we found at one of the other boulders:

These days of not having to work have been pretty fun. Today, we decided to take it easy, and just go for a short hike. Since the Boone Fork Trail was so much fun, we decided to go back and explore it a little bit more. Check out some of the cool things we saw:

The Rhodiecaves are really cool, and I think the ladders are a nice touch on this trail. I don't climb ladders, but I can find ways around them pretty easily. You know I am a pretty smart dog. I don't stagger around under the weight of my own brain or anything, but I can find alternate ways around sketchy parts of trails without any problem.

There were all kinds of cool boulders to walk around on and look down at the creek.

After walking through the caves and on the boulders, you pop out into this cool bald.

This trail is a must hike/run if you're ever in the Boone area.

It's been a nice relaxing day overall. The Food Guy and I have just been chilling this afternoon. He's been fixing some things around this crazy old house we are renting right now and watching the tour. Me? Well, I've been catching up on my sleep. Somehow, I think we'll end up going for a long run in the am before the Food Guy heads out to ride his bike. You know we can't sit still for very long.

The Adventures Continue

It's only saturday, but the Food Guy and I have had a pretty good weekend so far. Brian came up from Mooresville yesterday morning, and we headed out to the local boulders to try to get some climbing in. It didn't turn out to be much of day for the people to climb. It rained on the way up there, but we decided to hike down to the boulders anyway. The Food Guy and Brian each managed to climb one problem each before the rain and thunder really started. Now, y'all know I DO NOT like thunder. We huddled up under one of the overhanging boulders to wait the storm out.

It was fun though. I took a nap on the crash pad while Brian and the Food Guy hung out and watched the rain. After the rain let up, we hiked back up to the truck and Brian helped the Food Guy fix the screen on the front door of our house. That really made the day a pretty productive one because it's much cooler in the house now that we can have the door open. I mean, it's cool here in Boone (it's usually in the 70s or 80s) but the fur coat can get pretty hot sometimes.

Brian stayed till around 4 and Steven had driven up from Athens around 3. The people hung out while I took a nap. A little while before dark, the Food Guy and Steven woke me up and told me it was time to go for a run. We loaded up the truck and headed up to Price Park and went for a run on the Boone Fork trail. The BFT is a 5 mile loop that is one of the coolest trail runs anywhere. It follows the Boone Fork and has some of the most varied terrain in the area. There is even a ladder to go up around one of the steeper sections. It was a fantastic run.

This morning Food Guy and Steven took me for a run on the Greenway trails, and then we headed back up to Blowing Rock to get some climbing in.

It was threatening rain the whole time, and I could hear some thunder rumbling in the distance. It all worked out pretty well, and it didn't rain on us until we got back to the truck. Steven and the Food Guy both got to climb lots of problems and we hiked the whole loop to get a good look at all of the boulders.

It was another great day here in Boone. I'm glad the Food Guy had a little company because it made it a little easier for him to get a bit of a rest. He's been running in the am and riding his bike in the evening. If you ask me he's been at it pretty hard. But that's probably because I'm still re-adjusting to life after spending a bunch of time lounging around at the lake. The Food Guy and Steven will probably head up to the parkway to find a good trail to run if it's still raining in the am. If not, it sounds like some climbing is one tap. I'm loving exploring all the new places around here. Gotta love summertime.