Birthday Hike

I don't have much time today, but I wanted to get this post up before the weekend to show you all these lovely pictures.  Seems like a lot of people have been gone this summer from their blogs, and that only gets worse on the weekends!

The weather gods finally convened and gave me a good afternoon for hiking this Thursday, one day before my birthday, which is today.  My sis, Marge and I all hopped in to the car around 3.  We knew we couldn't stay too long, but a later afternoon hike was better than nothing.  The majority of these pictures were taken by her.

We made the short trek down to Walker Pond.  I really wanted Marge to wade in the pond, but the banks are unbelievably muddy - they're practically quicksand.   She perched up on this rock instead.  Not a great pic, but look at all of that mud behind her!

Definitely not ideal for swimming.

We gave up on that idea for the moment, and looked up as a blue heron soared over us.

One more pose along the trail (look at the mud on Marge's legs!) and we left for yet another body of water.

We had her pose in the woods, too.  Do you recognize these ruins that Marge is standing on from a post last year?  We visited them the first time we ever went on a hike, which, unbelievably, was almost a year ago.

We reached paradise.  The lake! You could feel the temperature drop a few degrees as we approached this several-acre lake.

We did get Marge to wade in this water.  She got her legs, face and body wet, which helped to keep her cool.  I saw a few sandy banks in the distance - you might be able to spot it in the above picture, over towards the right - I'm thinking that they might be a little bit better for wading.

We had company, too.  These guys were friendly (mostly, they were looking for me to drop bits of dog cookies in to the lake for Marge).  Any one know what kind of fish they are?

Marge posed on the little wooden barge that they keep on the lake for fishermen, with the beautiful scenery behind her.

We meandered along the lake for a bit more.  Marge took one final dunk, wet her face (and blew bubbles with her nose) and then we decided to head back.

It was really nice to take an hour to get away from it all.  It was the best birthday gift I could have received - a nice day out and a dog who was able to fully relax and enjoy her wooded walk.