My last post mentioned a light snow in a walk in the woods and that I wasn't able to take photos. Well, the next day (Wednesday) there was snow in the forecast so I made sure that the phone would come with me.
In the morning Peg and I took a short drive to walk the dog in a local park before the snow came although the first flakes fell on us there. I've always found it difficult to get good pictures of woods but here's a snapshot:
After lunch the snow had fallen enough for me to try more photography. I debated with myself about taking the dog. He's getting old and I've noticed that on second walks in a day all I have to do is pause and look back and he's all too eager to start running home without me. I took him. We walked from home:
After about fifteen minutes of walking in the suburbs we hit the edge of the woods where there is a dirt road that is the remains of an early 19th century turnpike:
The dog was all too ready to return home at this point but I took him off the leash and he followed me instead of making me try to catch him before he got home.
Here's a small stream that heads to the river:
Shortly afterwards we took a dirt road that was covered with ice and then snow. I put grippers on my boots but they didn't work well because the snow got packed underneath and kept the metal edges from getting to the ice. Unlike the other day, instead of the dog, it was my day to have legs flying everywhere. I did manage to stay upright though. Then we turned into the woods again:
We were now in familiar territory and my old dog became a puppy again, running back and forth along the trail. Walking along I would see three tracks ahead of me in the fresh snow and an occasional glimpse of the dog as he came back to see if I was still coming.
We walked down to the river and then on and up to the area that we had walked earlier in the morning:
The trip back was sloppy though. The snow turned to rain a few hours before it was forecast to. All in all, it was a two hour hike. The dog got a bath to warm him up but crying and lunges showed that he only wanted to get out of the tub. The next day his legs were really sore. He hasn't yet learned that living in the moment can lead to some other moments that you really don't want to live through (but then I guess peregrinos haven't either or else there wouldn't be so many bars along the camino.)
Here's another, older, picture of our dog in a happy snow-dog moment. He also has a mountain-dog personna but he is happiest as swamp-dog.
