History Hike
Today Gretchen and I went east to do some hiking with Sean, his son, and Yoshi at Valley Forge NP. Gretchen had never been to VF, so we were happy to make the journey. CJ, on the other hand, was still feeling the effects of yesterdays hike, so he stayed home to rest.
We (and everybody else around) decided to do the Mt. Misery trail. From the parking lot on Yellow Springs rd., we went north on the Valley Creek Trail and came back around on the Horse Shoe and Mount Misery trails.
Things started out a little rough. Yoshi was obviously excited to see Gretchen and go hiking again, but still felt some competition. There were some scuffles, but things eventually settled down - sort of.
We tried some fetch in the creek, but found out it was too deep for Yoshi. She ended up on the far side and ran up to the road - a busy road. To get her back we tossed another stick. Luckily she decided, though deep, the stick in the creek was more fun then the road. Catastrophe averted.
With that experience in mind, we decided to keep to the trail till the road got farther away from the creek. We hiked a ways throwing a ball down the path for the dogs to chase and fetch. They were running all over the place chasing the ball and each other. At some point they ran towards the creek again with Yoshi in the lead. At the edge Yoshi stopped. Gretchen tried, but didn't make it. You could see her squatting and pushing into the ground to slow down, but she had too much speed. The soft ground gave way and she literally popped over the bank and into the creek - 4' below! We couldn't hear it or see it. She just disappeared over the bank. It was kind of funny, but kind of scary. She was still scrambling up the vertical bank by the time we got over to her. Maybe next time she won't run so hard toward an edge like that.
We finished up the Valley Creek trail and started up the Horseshoe trail to the summit of Mt. Misery. There were dogs and people all over the place making us kind of nervous about Yoshi and how she would react. She did great! She was actually happy and making every attempt to be social, though sometimes too social. If she saw other dogs before we did, she was off to greet them - much like CJ still does.
About halfway up the Horseshoe trail is the ruins of what I was always told was "The Rootbeer factory."
After doing a little research, I'm still not totally convinced, but it's likely this was the first Hires Rootbeer facility from the late 1800's. It's built into the side of the mountain over a spring, so it's certainly possible I guess.
The dogs getting a factory tour.
Overall it was definitely a good hike. The dogs thoroughly wore themselves out with two deer chasing adventures and all their friendly play.
I'm tempted to do French Creek (quiet and remote) next week, but the socialization aspect of Valley Forge really seemed beneficial. Maybe we'll do something like Ridley Creek State Park to get the best of both worlds.
- b
We (and everybody else around) decided to do the Mt. Misery trail. From the parking lot on Yellow Springs rd., we went north on the Valley Creek Trail and came back around on the Horse Shoe and Mount Misery trails.
Things started out a little rough. Yoshi was obviously excited to see Gretchen and go hiking again, but still felt some competition. There were some scuffles, but things eventually settled down - sort of.
We tried some fetch in the creek, but found out it was too deep for Yoshi. She ended up on the far side and ran up to the road - a busy road. To get her back we tossed another stick. Luckily she decided, though deep, the stick in the creek was more fun then the road. Catastrophe averted.With that experience in mind, we decided to keep to the trail till the road got farther away from the creek. We hiked a ways throwing a ball down the path for the dogs to chase and fetch. They were running all over the place chasing the ball and each other. At some point they ran towards the creek again with Yoshi in the lead. At the edge Yoshi stopped. Gretchen tried, but didn't make it. You could see her squatting and pushing into the ground to slow down, but she had too much speed. The soft ground gave way and she literally popped over the bank and into the creek - 4' below! We couldn't hear it or see it. She just disappeared over the bank. It was kind of funny, but kind of scary. She was still scrambling up the vertical bank by the time we got over to her. Maybe next time she won't run so hard toward an edge like that.
We finished up the Valley Creek trail and started up the Horseshoe trail to the summit of Mt. Misery. There were dogs and people all over the place making us kind of nervous about Yoshi and how she would react. She did great! She was actually happy and making every attempt to be social, though sometimes too social. If she saw other dogs before we did, she was off to greet them - much like CJ still does.
About halfway up the Horseshoe trail is the ruins of what I was always told was "The Rootbeer factory."
After doing a little research, I'm still not totally convinced, but it's likely this was the first Hires Rootbeer facility from the late 1800's. It's built into the side of the mountain over a spring, so it's certainly possible I guess.The dogs getting a factory tour.
Overall it was definitely a good hike. The dogs thoroughly wore themselves out with two deer chasing adventures and all their friendly play.I'm tempted to do French Creek (quiet and remote) next week, but the socialization aspect of Valley Forge really seemed beneficial. Maybe we'll do something like Ridley Creek State Park to get the best of both worlds.
- b
posted by JenBob at
4:34 PM
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