After we let the dogs check out the reservoir on the lookout stump it was time to continue our walk.
Come on mom let's go!
The trees here were "pruned" last year. Hold that thought.
We decided to do some recall games next. There is a nice long stretch
with no potholes or anything dangerous for them to get hurt on when
running fast between mom and dad. Dad walked way up and then it was time
for recall fun! This game is one we try to play on every off leash walk
we do together. There are no distractions and it is great fun for the
dogs. You will notice Jenny or Birdie don't think they need the
practice, but Tim, Skip, and Liza say weeeeeeee........ let's get some
treats!
After a few recall passes and the dogs were getting tired from running we continued our walk and came upon this scene.
Oh no, a lot had happened since we had been here last just a couple of
weeks ago. The road we were walking on was all muddy, there were bare spots with stumps where lush trees and underbrush had been, and we were pretty
sure what was to come...
I sure hope they come back at least and get the logs they left behind, can you count the rings to see how old this tree was? It is pretty hard to do they get closer and closer together toward the outer edge.
As we continued I wondered what was up around the bend, I had a feeling something would be very different.
Oh boy, the road was all muddy and there was MUCH more light coming through than I knew was supposed to be there.
Dave was now walking by a bulldozer with a grappling hook on the back, this wasn't good.
As I turned the corner and saw what was before me my stomach dropped. This area that is now "pruned" was the very first place we ever went chanterelle hunting. A friend had guided us all through the woods up and over logs and it had been a very memorable experience. As I took this all in I wondered how long it will take for the forest to grow to the point where it could sustain chanterelles again and all the other living things that had a home here.
The area we walk is the Sultan Watershed and it occurs to us that these trees and forests must be very important to purifying the water that runs from the hills into the reservoir, they also were great earth stabilizers and we really wished selective cutting would have been used instead of clear-cut.
On a lighter note the dogs weren't phased by this at all! In fact all this mud and earth that had been turned up made an old familiar place into a whole new environment for them. They had lots of things to sniff and pee on and also to climb on.
Jenny doesn't mind the mud at all.
Skip getting a sniff from a high point.
Tim was not wanting to hold still for mom to take his picture of his muddy paws, poor guy.
My shoes were getting stuck in the mud so we decided to just turn back. Normally we do a loop but we will have to wait for everything to be cleaned up and the road to be leveled and re-rocked before we can do our loop again.
As we headed back the way we came I decided I needed some more beautiful photos to finish up this blog post. I didn't want it end it on a depressing note. I just hope they aren't planning on pruning the whole area...
When we stopped to see what Birdie had been interested in we noticed she hardly had dirty paws at all! She must have been much more careful about where she was stepping than the other dogs and who's surprised? lol
And thankfully there still are some places where the chanterelles can thrive, we did find quite a few as we walked along.
I managed to get a picture of the crew, not a great one but it will do. L-R Skip, Jenny, Liza, Birdie, Tim
Here's a couple of cute videos of Jenny motoring along. Remember she is at least 15 years old and yet she motors along with a spring in her step! Ratties never get old.
As you might recall we did a lot of initial work with Tim around being off leash, here are a few of blog posts about how we prepared him for this privilege.
Well Tim continues to do his "check in" when we are on our walks. He doesn't get a treat each time but he does get a treat when he least expects it and this behavior is something that has stuck with him for over a year!
In this video I just happen to catch him doing a routine check in, what a good boy!
I will end this post with a soothing photo of the reservoir. Such a magical place this is, I hope it continues to stay that way as much as possible.
The Pacific Northwest is known for our rain but this last summer we had record breaking lack of rain. There are many reasons this is not a good thing but one benefit was that all summer long when we wanted to take the dogs for a walk on our trails in Sultan we were always assured we would not have any puddles or wet areas to maneuver. Birdie especially loved that as she is not a fan of getting her paws wet.
We are now well into Autumn and the rains have arrived, and they seem to be making up for lost time. We have even spotted snow on the high peaks, a good thing if this trend keeps on into winter. We need our snow pack badly.
The other day we headed out for a long walk and what we came across was the old familiar puddles and ponds on our trail. But the dogs needed to get out and so did we, so we went for it. Most of our walk was heavenly as usual, with a twist, but that is for Part 2 of this story.
Jenny-Boo and Birdie. Jenny could care less about any of the water or mud, she is always up for motoring, Birdie is looking at me like "mom why I am going to get my paws wet when there is a perfectly warm and cuddly crate awaiting me back at the car?"
Liza-Bear says "Giddy-up everyone there are so many birds waiting to be flushed out I just KNOW it!"
Tim says "I am really excited to be on this walk but I will try to keep my paws dry just a little longer".
Jenny says "My mom and dad don't call me 'Land Bruiser' for nothing, let's do this thing!"
Skip who normally doesn't care about his paws getting wet was going to try to mimic Tim and stay on the edge to keep them dry.
After a long wait Birdie actually decided to go for it.
Pretty reflections in the puddles...
Dave likes to keep the side streams cleared out so the trail doesn't get completely flooded, there was too much to do this time but he had to just play in the water one time for good measure.
This whole area was completely dry just a couple of weeks ago.
Tim was having a blast and he knows this trail really well. This is where we turn off to cross the stream and go up the other side.
Skip crossing the stream and now he is getting into it.
Jenny and Tim go across without a problem
Heading up the little hill and again Tim knows exactly where to go and he is so excited to be on a little hike.
Birdie decided she is going to enjoy the exercise, her warm crate awaits her when she returns, it's all good.
Lots of water in the Sultan reservoir, this pond had gotten really really low over the summer, lower than we have ever seen.
I decided to film turning down the little side trail in hopes of getting the dogs on video running to their favorite lookout stump. They didn't disappoint me, Liza is always in her element when there is water and maybe some sort of bird that *might* be involved. The other dogs check out the lookout stump too.
Liza is everyone's favorite Min-Pin, she is definitely a Min-Pin in temperament, not a Rattie, but she is a very cool Min-Pin, we just love this girl.
I got a great shot of Miss Birdie's watercolor ears. She has the prettiest ears I have ever seen.
Liza is sure she will see a duck or something if she just watches long enough :)
Part 2 will see some changes, and some changes aren't always welcome. Stay tuned for what we saw next.
Wow it has been since July 3rd when little Kia was adopted that I have posted to my blog! We have had to take a long break from fostering but I am still doing Adoption Coordinating for New Rattitude.
Due to some major family/personal stuff my husband and I have been dealing with over the last few months we decided we needed a quick mid week getaway to the OR coast. It was JUST what we needed. It was off season, mid week, and the weather was perfect, we needed to just relax, recharge our physical and emotional batteries, and not think or do too much.
We left Liza and Birdie with their personal petsitter who was soooo excited to have them for a few days. They got to sleep in bed with the family, which ever person they each chose. Liza always chooses the college daughter and Birdie always chooses the mom and dad's bed, thank goodness the dad is a good sport and the whole family just dotes on those two girls.
Skip, Jenny, and Tim came with us. Jenny is getting pretty senior but she still loves a good adventure. Skip is always such a good traveler and this being Tim's second vacation in his life and he did great!
As I mentioned, we really wanted to relax and not think or do anything, (well there were long walks on the beach or in town and eating, and there were coffee drinks in the morning and cocktails in the evening involved...but you know what I mean :), so part of the not doing was not even taking a ton of pictures. But I took a few so I could share with you our little getaway and after all it really was time for a blog post wasn't it?
Our first morning we decided to drive a little south to the town of Wheeler, we have discovered the Handy Creek Bakery for Eggs Benedict for breakfast, a splurge we like to eat on our vacation. Nehalem Bay can be seen from the bakery and after we ate we decided to get a closer look at this serene waterway.
We heard some folks in the bakery talking about crabbing, and we saw some boats out with crab pots they were tossing in.
Hi mom I thought I would photobomb your picture.
Skip checking out the water's edge, Liza would have loved this place too, we missed her.
I could have watched this waterway all day...
Little Jenny was cruising around too, she doesn't like to miss anything.
Before jumping back in the car to go to our next stop we did some nosework with Skip and Tim. They were so happy to be doing that as we hadn't been doing it with what is going on at home these days. Jenny got to search for treats and she liked that too!
We decided to head over to Nehalem Bay State Park to walk along the beach on the other side of the bay from where we were above.
As luck would have it, we were the only one's out on the beach! It looks like it would be freezing cold but it was nice, low 60's so not too bad at all.
Tim was much more comfortable on this trip than our first OR trip back in May. Last May he didn't always think he wanted to get out of the car, but this time around he was eager to jump out to see what we were going to do next. Such great progress!
Someone built a cool driftwood fort.
Look at Tim's body language, tail up and he is alert. He was having a blast out on the beach and driftwood.
Sweet Skip he is always up for anything. He is a great little travel partner.
The water on the left of this pic is the same water, Nehalem Bay, where the photos were taken from Wheeler, this area is on the other side of that bay.
Tim was really into sniffing something, I have no idea what it was :)
Tim strutting his stuff :)
Pretty boy, giving mom a great pose.
Yup we had a great few days with more of the same. We took everything
really slow and that was exactly what we needed. I think we should do it
again...
