Hardesty Trailhead
Willamette National Forest
Oregon
"Come on guys, lets go!" |
Hardesty Parking Lot |
We recently discovered a new place to take the pups! It's called Hardesty Trail, and aside from being a mostly uphill hike it wasn't hard at all.
And as a plus, we went on a gorgeous Oregon fall day! Chance of sprinkles but we don't let that stop us!
The leaves are changing colors here in Oregon, and it's starting to get misty and foggy in the evenings & mornings.
I love misty/foggy weather it's soo pretty. Sometimes I get tired of it, but right now I think it's beautiful.
It was our first time at Hardesty, and we went pretty late in the day so we didn't go very far.
Mostly we just wanted to test out the weight in our backpacks with some gear. Dante did great with his new Groundbird Pack! That review is HERE.
We went about 4 miles round-trip to the 5835 Junction.
I love my boys! |
Loved this silly sign, it's like..."Well duh.." |
Little buddy we found! |
I love salamanders! |
My little log hopper! |
Ziva loves logs so it's super easy to get her up on top. All you have to do is suggest it and she's there in an instant!
We discovered that this is a very popular trail for mountain bikers! And i'm sure would make for some great bike joring with the dogs. We'd just need to watch out for other people because parts of the trail get kind of thin.
I've noticed that many people seem to stop training when they are hiking...they just let their dogs do whatever they please.
We are a little different, our dogs practice even on our hikes. Hikes are a great training opportunity because of all the distractions - birds, salamanders, squirrels, chipmunks, smells in general and unusual noises like rain hitting leaves, or branches cracking and squeaking in the wind.
When we find a good spot we do allow for some off leash time, but it is all dependent on how many people we've seen out, other dogs, and the area. The last thing I want is to be encountered by a badly behaved off-leash dog, and we certainly don't want our dogs disturbing people who may or may not like dogs greeting them. And even though their off-leash recall is pretty darn good, they haven't been around enough wild animals for it to be 100%. If a deer darted past Dante would probably give chase, he'd come right back but... it's just not a risk I want to take. I would be heartbroken and searching forever if they were to get lost in the woods, and then knowing it was something I could have prevented would probably kill me. I've heard this exact scenario happen many times, sometimes the dog takes days before he finds his way home. But if you're a long way from home, then how will he find his way back? He won't. Either you will find him, someone else will, or he'll be forever lost.
To make up for this we always have rewards for the dogs during our hikes, we take sniff breaks, they log hop, rock hop, and of course get lots of love and play time when we get home!
Playtime after our hike.
Always practicing! That's my girl! |
And That's All Folks!
But we can't forget!
Dirty dogs must wash their paws!
Cool salamander. I think my dogs would have tried to eat it though!
ReplyDeleteI bet that is a popular trail with mountain bikers! That profile looks like some great downhill and the trail surface looks nice. Is there a way they can shuttle to the top or do you think they ride?
Nope no shuttle, you have to work your way up. :-)
DeleteDante definitely tried to eat the salamander, but we wouldn't let him. LoL, he sure was excited about such a little critter! I made sure Mr. Salamander made is safely off of the trail.