Lost in the Woods

I made my fearful dog look as brave as a superhero today.

I don't always do the best in stressful situations.  Don't get ideas and start saying my personality makes Marge the way she is (it doesn't!), but I can be an extremely nervous person sometimes.  I black out every time I get blood drawn, I get myself so worked up when getting injections or dilation drops at the eye doctor.  I can be pretty extreme sometimes.

Though I posted yesterday that I thought we'd go to High Rock Park over the weekend, my longing for the woods got the best of me and I decided to head out there with my sister and Marge today around 3 PM.  We originally were going to head up the same trail as last time and hang around Walker Pond, but there were screaming children in a neighboring backyard but I didn't feel like listening to them as I hiked and I don't think Marge wanted to, either.

So, we meandered up near the very beginning of Lake Ohrbach, which we had the luxury of seeing the very first time we went to the park.  But, since we'd never been that way around the lake before, I didn't want to get lost, so we didn't go far.

Here's Marge catching a whiff of that rare woodland breeze that sometimes comes through every once in a while, with the marshy parts of the lake behind her.

I then decided we should check out the Green Trail.  It runs right along with the Yellow Trail at some points, but bypasses the spot that left us extremely confused last time.  It runs in a loop, so despite a rocky beginning of not knowing exactly where we were going, I figured we'd be fine.

We walked on, and then the trail got really narrow and dark.  We were all set to go back, but since the trail winds up at the same place that it started and was rather short, I figured we'd be fine to plug on. 

And onward we plugged.  We bordered a road at one point, and figured out how to get to Moses' Mountain, which we hope to do soon.  

We entered the homestretch, I was feeling a little nervous since the woods apparently get dark pretty quickly.  It was about 4 PM at that point, and since the sun was obviously still up, but lowered, the shadows made it kind of hard to find the trail markers.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a large, graceful creature run by.  I thought it was an offleash dog and instinctively looked behind where it was running for an owner, but thenI  exclaimed to my sister, "OH #$%^! A DEER!"  

This, of course, scared the poor animal even more (my sister says she saw antlers, so it was a buck) and he continued to dart out of sight.  Marge thought it was the most peculiar thing in the world.. she wasn't expecting something so much larger than a squirrel or chipmunk to come darting through the trees, but she tried to run after it, nevertheless.

We found our way almost all the way back to the beginning of the Green Trail that we were still on.  But, for some reason, we couldn't find where the trail went next, wound up going in a circle, and found ourselves going the wrong way.  

At this point, I was really scared.  I felt my legs get all wobbly, even got a little lightheaded at some points.  I tried to call my boyfriend, and tell him to come pick us up on the road we were near.  But, he didn't pick up, either due to bad reception or simply missing the call, neither of us are really sure.

I then told myself that trying to backtrack on the Green Trail again, when it was already this late, was pointless, and I had a hunch that the part of the Yellow Trail we were nearby would take us back where we needed to be, so we hopped on that.

Of course, it couldn't just be a straight run.. There were downed logs in more than one spot, which meant finding the next part of the trail was challenging.  There were lots of twist and turns which left me scouring every tree for that ever important yellow trail marker square. I wasn't looking for anymore challenges, although Marge was still enjoying herself thoroughly, hopping over every log like it was nothing more than a twig in her path.

I finally recognized a spot that I remembered from a previous visit, and knew we were close to where we needed to be.  Once I saw the little red shack from the parking lot up in the distance, we made a bee-line up the path and headed straight for the Oldsmobile.

I snapped this picture of Marge before we left, as a reminder of our scary-for-me but fun-for-her adventure.  

I need to find a better set of nerves.  We were barely lost.. it's not like we were off the trail completely, and we had the luxury of a main road nearby, but I still acted like we would be stuck in the woods forever and that no one would ever find us.  Guess I should remember this any time I question why dogs like my Marge sometimes react irrationally to things.. humans apparently do it too!

(Lastly, a thank- you to our good friends Martha and Bailey Basset for their acknowledgment of us in passing on this award. It's supposed to be sent to five people who've rescued a dog or work in rescue, but since I was the one who needed rescuing today in the woods, I'll pass it on to whomever wants it! Thanks a bunch, guys - it means a lot!)