After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving Thursday at home, and most of the weekend inside, Sky and I decided to go for a short hike in Pisgah National Forest on Sunday afternoon. While it is not legal to hunt on Sunday, these are game lands and it is the height of deer season, so we both took no chances and wore our blaze orange.
Sky had a marvelous time and really needed to get out and stretch her legs. With the time change and it now dark when I get home, she is not getting much excercise during the week, never good for an active 2 yr old dog of any breed.
Max Patch, one of our favorite haunts, is in the background of this photo. We decided to walk one of the nearby horse trails for a change of pace, it was a great walk and we came across two different groups of people riding. Sky is very good with approaching horses and always lets me know there is someone else on the trail.
Back to the car after our walk, she would have liked to keep going but as you can see from the long shadows, the day was almost at an end and time to go.
Max Patch is on National Forest Lands, and is open for hunting, thus the orange jackets on the dogs.
It was very windy on the top at Max Patch as you can tell from the flag and my pony tail lol! No matter the weather, this is always a wonderful walk, and we soon got off the "bald" and into the woods where it was lovely and warm.
Janet Wilde has been a friend for many years and was Sage's breeder. We have many lovely memories of our dogs and time past, and enjoyed making new ones today. Janet is pictured with her male, Eddie, who is a 2nd cousin once removed if we figured it out right to our Sage.
We came upon this couple rabbit hunting with their beagles (yes, that's a real cute gal with the gun on the left!). It was exciting when the dogs caught scent and another member of their party was able to bag the rabbit. The gun shots really got our dogs attention and they wanted to join the hunt, guess they remember being bred originally for fur and feather! As you can see, there really is a reason for us to have hunter orange on the dogs in this area, and ourselves for that matter.
Our friend Jessica w/Sky's half sister from the Trixie/Zeke litter, Mia, came to visit last weekend and show in Novice A obedience at the Asheville trial. Mia and Jessica were super stars, placing 1st both days with scores of 193 and 193 1/2! Anyone who has ever done obedience with a 19 mos old Weim can appreicate the accomplishment this is. Good job Jessica and Mia!
As a reward for their hard work showing, we all took a walk on Sunday to Sam Knob, a beautiful mountain top just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mia and Sky took a moment to pose for the camera and survey the beauty of the Western North Carolina Mountains.
Another view from Sam Knob, it is a favorite hiking area and another group was approaching and caught the girls attention.
After descending Sam Knob, we continued our walk along the Flat Laurel Creek trail and eventually wound back to the parking area. We had a taken a short break near a creek and the sun came out late in the afternoon to catch this shot of Sky waiting patiently for us.
Lake Junaluska is surrounded by private homes and the Methodist Church Conference Center. It is located just outside of Waynesville NC and has a marvelous 2.6 mi paved walking trail around it. The down side is dogs must remain on lead (except for photo ops of course, lol!), the upside is it is less than 10 mi from our home. We didn't have time this afternoon for a mountain hike, so enjoyed our stroll around the lake. The lake is named for Chief Junaluska of the Cherokee Indian tribe, who is famous for inventing a written form of their language to better preserve their history and communication.
This area is a great place to socialize young dogs and old. Always lots of folks out walking their dogs, pushing children in strollers, joggers, etc. And then of course there are the geese, ducks and swans to catch any good bird dogs interest! Sorry Sky, not your bird!
Wow, now that's a big dog! This doggy topiary caught Sky's eye today. They always have this neat bush trimmed and looking good, and change the "collar" for each season.
Sky had to have a quick pose by the rose bushes that have been protected from our recent freeze and frost. This is outside of the lovely stone chapel at the Lake. Many a new bride and all the seniors from the local high school get photographed here each spring at Prom, it makes a wonderful backdrop for woman and beast alike.
We woke up this morning with a wintery mix, and soon had a little accumulation of snow on the ground!
Sky adores the snow and cold weather, I had an AKC obedience seminar to attend today so we didn't get to go play long, but she enjoyed racing around in the neighborhood for a short time this morning. I hope this is a sign of things to come, we enjoyed the snowy weather last winter season!
From l to r: Elvis, Margit Worsham, Earl Worsham, FC Peach of Norton Creek, Joe Moody, Ian, Furman Owen holding Emma, Anne Owen, Debbie Moody & Sky - a photographers nightmare trying to take a photo of dogs and squirmy humans! What a combo, yorkies to Great Danes - talk about diversity!
Sky is running for all she is worth, playing with Elvis, the Great Dane!
Elvis, having a blast chasing Sky near the house - what a beautiful playground for dogs and human alike!
Elvis was having a grand time playing "cutting horse" with Sky, everytime she would try to pass him on the trail he would "bounce" at her, cutting her off at the pass. Sky eventually would feign left and run right past his shoulder, but then come back and play the game on his terms again. We enjoyed watching them play their game!
We spent Sunday with Earl & Margit Worsham at their lovely estate on top of the mountain just outside of Gatlinburg TN. Sky had a wonderful time playing with the resident Great Dane, Elvis, on our walk toward the old apple orchard (pics of their play time to follow) Sky is exiting the formal English Garden, getting ready for our amble thru the woods.
The Worsham's have 2 flag poles on their property, one to fly the US flag, the 2nd to fly the Danish flag in honor of Margit's home country. The weather was outstanding on Sunday, crisp blue sky and lots of color left on the trees.
Sky on our romp toward the old orchard, that is Elvis in the background, more pics of him later.
