The past 48 months=768 mountain hikes

 

 

This morning, I fed Bailey some arthritis medicine and just after lunch we headed for a short, somewhat steep hike on Bald Mountain. We met up with a number of friendly dogs and friendly people while tiptoeing up and down over slippery, leftover winter leaves.

Back in April of 2019, I downloaded a hiking app known as AllTrails. Since that time, I've kept track of most every hike I've been on. I remember forgetting my phone once or twice; I also recall leaving the app on as I drove down the street! On the AllTrails app, I looked like a speedster. Pretty funny. The bottom line, however, is since I got the app, we've hiked 768 mountains in the past 48 months and one week for a total distance of 2300 miles on hiking trails and approximately 1000 miles on neighborhood walks, totaling 3300 miles in the past 4 years. 

Now, we were not cranking out as many hikes in Bailey's first two years of life. He'd go running with me on mountain trails. I do have them listed in my calendar but haven't counted them up yet. But let's just guess that starting when he was 1.5 to 2 years old, we did 40 mountains each year for 2 years and then started upping the mountain count. A wild guess has us at 2000 total hikes and 3340 miles of neighborhood walks in his almost 13 years. I need to do better research and open up my computer calendar. Nevertheless, we done some walking! Yay! \o/

Trucking along

Shagg Pond

Old Dog, Shagg Pond

Speckled Mountain

Treat? 

Old Guy

Bald on the left, Speckled on the right

Searching for Missing dogs

 

We went for our late-morning walk today and heard the news that a couple of Bailey's fur friends took off last night from their yard and headed into the woods. An elderly neighbor of the missing dogs shared the news with me, so I promised we'd head off looking after lunch. And we did... hiking up toward Joe Pond. After trucking through mud and flicking off ticks, we headed back to the dogs' home, and heard barking  inside the house. It seems the elderly neighbor hadn't gotten the word that the dogs returned last night on their own. Ah well... at least they're safe! Now that the dogs have experienced the freedom bug, I'm hoping the family decides they need to tie them up in the yard. Normally, they have free rein.  

April 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21

Sunday River from Mystery Mountain

April's been an OK month for hiking. Over the first 3 weeks, we've taken 7 hikes, one hike every three days. Spring is always difficult for hiking because I have to rely on microspikes. I'm not a fan of snowshoes; without them, it's easy to fall through deep snow--what we in the hiking world call post-holing. For me, post-holing can cause hyperextensions of one or both knees. I've got that right now. Wicked fun. Not. This season also affects Bailey with slips and post-holing, too. He's a good sport, especially if treats are involved.    

Two days ago, Bailey and I hiked Whitecap's Yellow trail, our first full ascent of Yellow since December. In the winter, we stay on Orange primarily because there aren't any cliffs like on Yellow. We do hike up Yellow on the snowmobile trail, but that's not as fun as hiking Orange. We also hiked Mystery Mountain, our first time up since December, too. That's where I landed my first tick. 

Yesterday, we hiked Mystery Mountain-Plus, what ends up being close to 4 miles. I wore a knee brace like an old guy because of a hyperextension. Bailey just kept his head down and plowed through. Just like life sometimes... put your head down and keep on trucking. 

Looking for the summit treat. Fair enough. 

Bailey at the summit of Mystery Mountain. 

Spring Hike on Whitecap

The in-between time, winter/spring to spring/summer, can be tough hiking. Varying terrain, from ice to snow to dirt, means paying attention so you don't post-hole (fall through soft snow with your boot). Today, we did Whitecap at a pretty slow pace. What we usually hike in 2 hours, took us 2:45. But! The temps were almost 70 degrees, so we loved it. 

Click photos to enlarge. 

More Black Mountain

Mt Blue taken from a new glade on Black Mountain.
Remember to click photos to enlarge. 

What a grand day on Black Mountain. Spring hikes in the snow can be rejuvenating. I'm gearing up for the firm, dry trails on Whitecap and other mountains. At the rate the snow is disappearing, dry trails won't be long. 

I'd love to learn how to take selfies without 
having to stand on my head. 

Bailey hammering up the Woods Trail.  

Bailey at the summit.