I watched my dog closely as we walked the Fiery Gizzard trail.
She greatly loves to explore trails.
Loves to mark and sniff and investigate each bush.
To walk point and to lead the way for us.
She easily navigates over roots and most rocks, and hesitates only briefly before "going for it" on the larger rocks.
Surprisingly she hesitates at man-made structures - not a big fan of wooden bridges and has to be cajoled into climbing steps.
As with most people she has her own unique ways about her.
Her own independent personality that makes her uniquely Jamie and no-one else.
Over the years Jamie (as she has lived with me and my boys and my husband, and then only me, and then me and LC - and lived in Tennessee and then Alaska and then Wyoming and then Tennessee again) has proven to be a wonderful, sweet, adaptive, incredibly loving and incredibly loyal and devoted companion.
As I watched my dog happily walking with purpose on the trail yesterday, with tail wagging and bowed back legs and pigeon toed front legs I was again reminded of how deeply she has enriched my life...................
LC walking ahead of me over increasingly rocky trail..............
The bridge that I remembered from previous trips to Fiery Gizzard.
The trail I had taken on previous visits was much the same as what we had been walking ever since we had found the stream.
Sometimes flat and sometimes with short challenging hills, but always with a whole lot of gnarly roots and a whole lot of rock.
With drop-offs down to the stream and uneven footing, the going was challenging but very fun.
Once you cross the bridge and pick up the trail on the opposite side of the stream the surface is continually changing.
It begins open and flat and easy to walk.
Soon it changes to flat and root filled, and then steep inclines filled with rocks and roots.
Trail blazes at times becomes difficult to find but they are there if you take your time to seek them out.
At one point there is a gigantic rock garden. A balance-challenging surface of nothing but huge boulders.
More flat and root filled - more searching to follow trail blazes - and eventually the trail begins to lead away from the stream and wander further inland.
That entire and lengthy section of trail requires some stamina, balance and strength but it a whole lot of fun.
Beyond the rock garden the trail opens up and is less challenging, but it is also away from the water and not as beautiful.
Yes...........By the time my Mountain Boy and Jamie and I had found our way to the bridge, I was beginning to remember a lot about this area that I had not thought of in years................
Views of the stream from both sides of the bridge.............
Working our way down to the bridge I eventually looked around me, and then looked closely at the rock faces that were located all around us.
Hugely interesting, beautiful in a very rugged way, in multiple and seemingly never-ending layers..............
My Mountain Boy and my puppy resting while I took some pictures from the bridge.
From this point on, both LC and I were traveling trail we had covered before.
But it had been a long while and I soon realized that there were things I had forgotten............
Watching my every move..................
Trail getting rockier and rockier now that we were less than a mile from the truck..............
LC pointed this tree out to me.
It was very tall and obviously very old and either dead or almost dead.
As I looked more closely at it I realized that it was filled with small holes - holes throughout the entire length of the trunk.
Woodpecker holes according to my Mountain Boy.
Pecking to get the grubs out.
I looked at LC and wordlessly smiled at him because he often comes up with similar random pieces of information as we travel on trails and I enjoy them.
As I smiled at my guy he smiled back at me and then told me a joke related to the holes in the tree.
The joke included the words "more" and "holes" and "New Orleans" and "harlot", and I laughed at my favorite redneck who always seems to have a ready joke for every occasion...............
The old dead tree reaching far into the sky................
Jamie balked big time at these stairs.
After a few moments of encouragement she climbed them one at a time while LC led the way and I pulled up the rear.
I had watched my pup for a couple of hours wander trails, climb over roots and rocks, crawl underneath bushes, reach down to drink from the stream, all without problem.
But as she lumbered up the stairs I realized that she was struggling with them.
A little at a time she is developing hip problems.
In Alaska I often took her for hikes of 9 miles. I'm not sure that she could walk that far any more.................
One more waterfall, on a day that had been filled with waterfalls, taken from the stairs..............
Rock everywhere.
Ever since we had left the bridge I found myself time and time again thinking to myself "oh yeah - I remember this".
Various rocks. A waterfall. A wooden walkway. A bridge.
It was all coming back to me and the unfamiliar was again becoming the familiar...............
Including this huge and ancient tree..............
And this absolutely huge cave...............
I had an incredible time at Fiery Gizzard yesterday.
Now that I remember where this place is, and have been reminded of just how challenging the walking is and how beautiful the trails and the stream are, I want to explore it further.
But on a sunny, very warm, and very beautiful day the three of us spent a wonderful few hours in nature.
We stopped a few more times on the way home so that I could take pictures of.................
How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky? Anyone knows they are. How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute? No, you cannot explain. So you walk...............Author Unknown
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