Things I didn't know

Raisins and grapes are poisonous to dogs! This was brought to my attention by my mom! Onions are also bad for dogs.

More info here:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

Duck Farm

Shepherd? Pitt? Greyhound? Dane? Lab? Yes?

Dang ears got cut off.

Huntin' Wabbits.
(I haven't the heart to tell him that I sincerely doubt rabbits with an IQ over zero would set up shop in a dog park.)

Yes, they were totally bribed with raisins for this picture.

Duck Farm

She's listening to XM broadcast while she runs. Built-in antennas, you might say.

Here my camera really shines, while Sonar gets really dirty.

Kayak mostly sniffs, harder to catch him running.

The quintessential Pariah Dog. (International Mutt)

Duck Farm

Snowball, likes to bite off more than she can chew. (American Eskimo Dog, 5 months)

Playtime!

Kayak has been trying to play, but mostly he just scares other dogs.


Please view this picture while humming the William Tell Overture.

Yin-Yang

Okay. Before we go any further with the two hours I just spent with my dogs and camera, we first need to clear something up. Sonar is as tall as Kayak. But she weighs about 10-15 lbs less (based on lifting her, I have no scale.) 

New Camera

Fujifilm Finepix S5200

So cooool. 

Labor Day Weekend

This is the last photo I have of Sonar before the LCD screen on my camera was inadvertantly crushed by a church pew. The picture was taken 18 days ago. Until I get a new camera (soon...) you're just going to have to believe me when I say that she's EVEN BIGGER. 

Avalanche Lake, Adirondack State Park, New York

 

How We Really Felt

Day 2 Hike Avalanche Pass
 

Looking cool on Day 2 of Hike (Avalanche Pass)

 

A Lay of the Land

Avalance Pass Pictures (from Day Two of Hike)

1. The slides on Mt. Colden














2. The slide on Colden with pretty clouds.


















3. Hitch-me-up-Matilda.


















4. This is a special section of Mt. Colden, called the "Trap Dike." It's that real rocky spot near the center of the photo. If you climb partially up on a different trail, you can climb the rest of the way to the top of Mt. Colden on the rocky-cliffy part. You can do it without ropes and fancy climbing gear, but you do have to be careful. There's water flowing down it all the time because it's a waterfall, but it turns to a trickle in the summer. I know, it sounded crazy to me too, the first time I heard about it. But apparently it's really cool.

MSV Part IV (Day Two of Hike): Cautiously Optimistic

Beginning our day with leaping flames in the lean-to (see Part III...) we resolved to make this day more fun than it had been so far, and we looked forward to the famous portion of our hike: Avalanche Pass. To get to Avalance Pass from our lean to, we slogged through some ugly woods hiking. Slippery rocks, sticky mud, ladders, and dark, damp woods characterized this section. By 'characterized' I mean that's all there really was. Both of us were in agony from the previous day's punishment, and trying to keep Oscar on a leash to follow the DEC's rules was making us insane, and him as well. In any case, we finally reached Avalanche Pass, where we were confronted with a rather large, unexpected, unbelievable surprise. No, it wasn't a bear.




















What you see pictured above is of course Dooley and Oscar. They are posing by a state-installed wooden walkway that is bolted to the side of cliff. Nifty. This structure is called a Hitch-Me-Up-Matilda and the name comes from some story of a woman (Matilda) who was too big of a wuss to cross them. Matilda was a very confused person because these structures are perhaps the easiest part of Avalance Hell. I mean Pass. Now, when Dooles and I were doing the research on this trip, we of course read about Avalance Pass, and looked at pictures. And these pictures mislead us. All showed the hitch-me-ups, but nothing ever spoke of the REST OF AVALANCHE PASS. The hitch-me-ups consist of about two 50ft long sections. The rest of this absolutely brutal trail is gigantic boulders, ladders, rocks, caves, trees and a general torture chamber if you are wearing a full pack. And hiking with a 10-month-old, 85 lb puppy.

We emulated famous pictures everywhere by snapping shots of the Matildas. But let it be known: I took these pictures out of spite, not because I thought the world needed MORE photos of the gosh-darned things.

Totally Barbified.

My aunt loves to take pictures of her dog(s) in front of the gorgeous flowers that she grows. I of course didn't grow these flowers, but at least I got the picture taking and the posing dog part down. Staaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy. 

Dissed

Genghis has noticed that he's the only member of our family zoo that hasn't yet been pictured. Sorry Genghis. And.... nice cape. 

MSV Part 3: The Death March

There are 3 pictures of us actually hiking in this first 24 hour period. Two did not turn out. This one is not exceptionally spectaculr photography, but it relays a very important point: this day hurt. A LOT. We got on the trail late, just as a thunderstorm was scheduled to hit, with a raincover that CLEARLY did not cover Dooley's pack. Our packs were insanely heavy, laden with food. The forest was dark, wet, and uninviting, as well as gloomy and unsettling. We hiked for approximately 3 lifetimes before finally coming to a lean-to that had three people already in it around 7:30. Overjoyed to see a lean-to, Dooley went to get water while I cooked dinner. Looking back on the day, we ate very little on the trail for four hours and we had sat so long in the car that it was probably hard for our muscles to handle it. To prove this point, I woke up around 4 am, my back in agony and my hamstrings so tight they were pulling my back into an arch. Dooley here is clearly lacking in blood sugar, and even the dog is exhausted. My camera was tucked away most of the time to keep it protected from the forecasted rain. It didn't start to rain until we were going to bed around 8:00pm, and even then only a light mist.

Luckily, the people we stayed with were COMPLETE MORONS. They seemed like normal people, until they started talking. They cooked too many rations of their food and gave some to us and the dog (which was nice.) But when bedtime came, they wondered aloud: "can we just put our bear canister under the lean-to?" Um, how about NO! Dooley and I exchanged terrified, exhausted looks. She began telling tales of bears coming to camps that had garbage dumped in the lean-tos, etc etc. They finally threw it about 20 ft in front of the lean-to, no matter how many times we tried to tell them that this was probably not a good idea. We welcomed Oscar between our sleeping bags, saying it was because of the rain. Yeah right. It was because of the bears. We awoke once to pee outside together, when another person was up peeing as well. We peed directly behind the lean to, congratulating Oscar as always for his security measures. Besides waking about a million times as my back creaked and moaned, we slept alright.

Dooley awoke in the morning to leaping flames in the lean-to. The moron patrol had set their stove on fire IN THE LEAN-TO. They accomplished this by leaking fuel out of it and breaking the laws of the forest preserve (no stoves in the lean-to) and the stove instructions (do not use indoors; light match BEFORE turning on gas.) It was still misting outside, and Dooley and I just stayed in our sleeping bags until the other people had finally left, around 9 am. Sure it was a late start, but we didn't really want to get ourselves killed by the morons. Besides, it took a while to figure out how to sit up when my back wouldn't bend forward. 

My Summer Vacation Part 2

Meet Oscar.
Alias: Oscariffic.
Age: 10 mos.
Weight: 85 lbs.
Occupation: Duck Chasing, Bear Scaring, Mountain Climbing, Running Next To Bike. Greatest Aspiration: To make out with girls. Greatest Fear: Water (but he's getting better at that! He can swim now!)
Breed: Shepard/Lab Mix
Cuteness Level: EXTREME

Oscar was our protector and main source of constant entertainment during the trip. It is a well -known fact that bears HATE dogs, so every time Oscar peed around our campsite, we congratulated him as if he had just installed electric fencing around our lean-to. His presence snuggled between our sleeping bags got us through some rather hair-raising nights.

Conversations around 1 am went as follows:

Dooley: "did you hear that??!!"
Beck: "No, but neither did Oscar, he's still sleeping."
Dooley: "good point."
Beck: "what did it sound like?"
Dooley: "I don't know."
Beck: "well, at least it might not be a bear then."
Dooley: "mmm-hmmm."
Beck: "riiiight."
Dooley: "bears hate dogs though."
Beck and Dooley: "Gooooood Boooy Oscar!"
Oscar: "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
Dooley: "Wait, that was the noise!"
Beck: "What?"
Dooley: "The dog!"
Beck: "Snoring?"
Dooley: "Yes!"
Beck: "Let's hope it doesn't sound like a bear mating call."
Dooley: "Oh great." 

My Summer Vacation, Part 1

Planning for a backpacking trip takes a considerable amount of foresight, both in preparing for the worst-case scenario and the day-to-day needs of any vacation. Luckily, we live in close proximity to Bass Pro Shops and Sports Authority. Kayak was of course, close at hand to assist me in packing. Being a dog, though, he didn't really understand what the big deal was with all the clothing.

Not everything here made the final cut before we hit the trails, but it pretty close. We cut mostly redundant items, and the radio. We chose 25 ft of rope instead of 50, though, after the trip, I think I'll take two lengths of 25 ft next time. Rope is just wicked useful, and really not the rate limiting step when it comes to weight. After packing all my stuff and 5 days worth of food for two people (or what I thought was 5 days worth of food for two people.) I kissed all the animals goodbye and Gaurav drove me to the airport. Then I kissed him goodbye, but not before I had to give him my matches and lighter, which weren't even allowed in checked baggage. As I passed through security, I couldn't help but be concerned that my Indian boyfriend was now walking through the airport with fire-starting devices in his pockets.