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.

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.

Another High Country Monday

You gotta stay on your toes up here in Boone because the days of the week really don't matter all that much when you've got a Food Guy with a flexible schedule. I spent last weekend kicking it at my lake house while the Food Guy was at a conference in Florida. From what I hear, I didn't miss anything at all by not going on this trip. Food Guy said it was flat, filled with people who never actually do anything, and boring. He did say he had a lot of fun catching up with his UGA peeps. I think he misses them a lot, but he sure seemed happy to see me when he got home, which is good. We rolled back into Boone late Sunday night, and some of his friends from Athens were staying at the house. Steven and Allison had been up here watching our house while we were gone, and they had planned to stay over on Monday. Being the gracious hosts that we are, we figured we'd better take them climbing.

Food Guy gave Greg a call and told him to forget about working during the day since it was going to be so nice outside. We met up at the hallowed halls of Edwin Duncan Monday morning, and took off for one of our favorite climbing spots: the Dump.

We rolled up there later than our usual 9 am arrival and the people tied in around 11, which is a respectable southern alpine start. It was a great day. I hung out with my doggie friend Alabama and rolled around in the leaves for a couple of hours.

Greg, Steven, and the Food Guy got some good climbing in before we had to leave. Son of White Trash and Homegrown were first on tap. Everyone got a chance to tie into the sharp end of the rope and get some lead climbing done.

Then, Greg decided to give Vodoo Child, a 5.11 with a desperate start, a try. He styled it while Alabama and I nervously watch Steven and the Food Guy spot him to the first bolt. He made it look smooth and then Steven and the Food Guy got in some extreme top-rope action in got to the top without any major problems. We got all of this done in time for Food Guy and Greg to stop back by the office, say hello to their work people, and make it appear that it was just business as usual in the Reich College of Education. I had to wonder if any of the other profs wondered why their hands were covered in chalk residue. Wait a minute, I guess that wouldn't seem weird since some of the classrooms still have actual chalk boards. Man, those guys have it figured out don't they?

Well, it's time for the Food Guy and me to go for a run before we head to the lake for Turkey Day.

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.