Lucky Find

   I have to credit Taylor for this one... We were walking on the rocks along the shore, trying to make our way back to the trail, when Taylor suddenly lurched—he had found a ribbon snake! It was slender and quick, and did NOT want to be eaten by a portly Shiba, so it took off. I struggled to keep up with it. It finally circled the trunk of a small tree and turned to stare us down. While Taylor held it there, I went behind the tree and nabbed it!

   I've always loved snakes, ever since I was a young child. I think they're beautiful and fascinating. I don't think I'd handle the poisonous variety, but I don't see many snakes, so I can resist handling the harmless ones. (The worst part is that they spray musk all over your hands in an attempt to scare you away... Gross! But these lil' guys are too small to bite you.)

This snake is a little feistier than I thought—watch your nose!!!

A snake bracelet. A snakelet.

Rafael takes his turn, with Taylor supervising closely:

By the time Brett got it, the snake was more docile:

Heeeeeere's... Asher!

This was actually surprisingly suave for a puppy...

Joni caught a still shot of the goofball in action:

To which we say:

Picnic Lunch at the Creek

   After a fun hike, some of our crowd elected to go into Weston to have lunch, and the rest of us (Maureen, Kate, Renee, Joe, Rosie, the Shibas & me) had a picnic at the creek along the North Ridge trail. Apples, cheese & crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, and chips tasted great after our morning adventure. And the dogs were very glad to get a little more time running around like idiots on the leaf-covered creek banks.

A rare treat for Taylor: I let him off-leash!

Rosie was also off-leash, and galloped around like a wild puppy. So hilarious!

Aki and Taylor took off along the creek... with me following along:

The rest of the group stayed behind to enjoy the view:

My pups disappeared under a series of bridges at the north end:

Someone else had been here, too!

   I was genuinely worried for a bit, but after calling them, they both emerged down the bank from the picnic area again, joined me, and stopped for a drink:

   Taylor looked SO TINY in the scene. He was happy as a lark, running up and down the bank:

And in the end, they all zonked out.

Hiking Weston Bend State Park

   After we ate our breakfast & got up & moving this morning, we drove out to the parking lot near the Overlook and the trail heads for West Ridge and Harpst Valley. These are beautiful hikes through deep woods, with a narrow, winding trail that snakes up & down along the bluffs and the Missouri River, then circles back through a pretty valley. The loop is about 3.5 miles. I was afraid we were too late for the height of fall color, but boy, was I wrong!

   Tom marvels at the smallness & cuteness of the Shibas. (Those Shibas will follow Joe anywhere!)

   Heeeeeere, Aki! She is very good & trustworthy when offleash in wooded areas, so hiking is a special treat for her to run and explore:

   Mr. Taylor is not so trustworthy, so he stays on his leash and practically drags me the whole time, because he wants to be lead dog. Very useful on the uphill climbs, not so useful on a rocky, tree-rooted path! Hello, shaky camera!

   Carolyn took a nice family photo of us, while Maureen dangled a bag of carrots to get the dogs' attention. As you can see, the dogs soon DEMANDED to have some carrots...

The sharks are circling...

The prettiest part of the trail:

Frank makes like a monkey:

The river, finally back in its banks after this year's terrible flood:

Aki looked very proud (and also goofy) in her pack:

   Most of our group (Allyson, Scott, Lucy, Shibas & me not pictured). Joe, Renee, Maureen, Kate, Rosie, Mike, Tom, Frank & Carolyn:

   Carolyn spotted a Wooly Bear Caterpillar on the bike path (more brown is supposed to indicate a mild winter). The guys eventually become Isabella tiger moths:

Rosie looks dashing in her REI pack:

Water break!

   No idea what's going on here, but it's my favorite pic from the whole weekend!

Hiking Time!

   Joe wrangles the Shibas into the minivan to set off for our hike. We started out at the Overlook...

 Lovely view of the Missouri River:

Backpacks all around:

Renee, Joe and Rosie:

None Too Worse For Wear

   The weather this weekend has been nicer than I can remember it being at any time in the last...3 months or so. No exaggeration. We've had such a long, hot, muggy summer, and it finally broke. 75 degrees... YEAH!!!
   Since I've been ill for over a week, I haven't had the energy to do much, so my poor pups haven't been walked in days. So I decided to take them over to Shawnee Mission Park to walk the wooded trails. The trailhead is near one corner of the lake, so I had a nice view of the fishermen, canoes, kayaks, and sailboats taking advantage of the cooler temperatures and the holiday weekend.
   Here's the thing: Shibas have a ton of energy to begin with. And they get very excited on wooded trails. And they get very, very excited to get out when they haven't had any exercise in a week. So essentially they dragged me for the first mile--a very brisk walk. And they kept pulling, so I picked up the pace to a jog, then a full-on run, following their lead. I felt like a sled being pulled by two wild dogs in a suburban Iditarod. They were totally in their element. It was exhilarating running down the narrow, sun-dappled paths, breeze blowing and the dogs head-over-heels with delight. My cough is nearly gone, and finally the sensation of taking nice, deep breaths has returned to me. Aah, fresh air.
   The problem was that these are hilly, winding, narrow, rocky, tree rooty, mountain-biking trails, so you really had to watch where you planted your feet. (You also had to watch for kamikaze guys on mountain bikes flying toward you down the trail.) We made it 2+ miles and were almost back to the start, at a full gallop, when I tripped over one of the leashes, nearly caught myself, then hit the ground--hard.
   I shook it off, but my arm didn't fare too well. As I landed it skidded across a rough tree branch whose bark was the equivalent of a cheese grater on my flesh. Tree: 1, Jen: 0. Ah, well. A small price to pay for a gorgeous afternoon in the woods!

Camping cartoons a-comin'

   As soon as I can get them scanned, that is. For now, please enjoy this note, which I left on my chair at work to tell them where I was:

   All kidding aside, this scenario might be real for those in the Cleveland area. My aunt's friend, Roger, took these photos of bear tracks about 20' from his house: