Tag: @pippaandnigel

Friday morning, I awoke to a beautiful pink sunrise through the trees in the campground at Chewacla State Park. It was a lovely way to start the day.

At lunchtime, we started to walk towards the dam and falls, but there were construction or quarry trucks beeping, so we headed to the other side of the lake towards the creeks for some peace and quiet. We decided to take the Troop 30 Boy Scout Trail on the opposite side of Moores Creek, than we had hiked, the previous evening. It was a very challenging, technical trail on the steep river bank and side of a mountain. The trail was up and down and very rocky with lots of roots too. Loved the scenery along the rushing creek, but not a big fan of the treacherous trail. I think the Boy Scouts were trying to do us in. We found a big flat rock in the river, we thought would be a good spot to play with the puppies. Sadly, after one toss, Nigel’s ball got swept down river and Pippa got stuck, hunting in the riverbank. Wiley had to reach in and pull her out, because her harness was stuck on roots underground. Daddy saved the day, pulling a red clay covered puppy out, thankfully, without her wiggling out of her harness and leash. Whew! It would not be good to lose a puppy in the riverbank. We have had that happen with Nigel before, and it was not fun. After two hours of him popping in and out of holes in the river bank, he finally, got tired and sat on a rock down river for Wiley to come get him. Thus, our puppies are always on leashes. That and all the times Nigel has run away at campgrounds after hikes, when we were exhausted, and he should have been, but we then had to chase him and catch him in a strange place, fearing we’d lose him and never see him again. Nigel is the reason we can’t have nice things! LOL!

Continue reading Winter Wanderings Day #5, Chewacla State Park, Auburn, AL

Was so happy to wake up at beautiful Chewacla State Park in Auburn, AL in private, wooded, campsite #31. Grateful for Wiley, who drove through the dark in dense fog and slow traffic, as I slept in the back of the van, to get us here, the previous night. When I awoke, it was not raining and was warm, so everything I was hoping for. Thank you, Chewacla!

 

At lunchtime, we took the puppies for a hike from the campground across the road to the lake. We hiked around the lake past the fabulous CCC bathhouse and cabins on the Falls View Trail. We spoke to a fisherman, who like us, was removing his long sleeve top, under the full sun. It was actually, hot, but I was not complaining. We hiked down past the dam, along the rushing falls and river. We then hiked up and over the mountain to get to the quieter, shallow part of the river, so Nigel could play ball and Pippa do some hunting. Nigel was over the moon with the shallows and rocks, that were such fun for him to jump through to retrieve his ball. Pippa enjoyed hunting on the steep river bank. She got half her body in a fallen tree, snorting and digging to get something, that may or may not have been in there, but she believed it was. We’d seen a lizard earlier, so her switched was flipped. She thought there were critters in every hole and fallen tree. That’s my huntress! After a little bit of play time, we returned to Happy for lunch and to get back to work.

Continue reading Winter Wanderings Day #4, Chewacla State Park, Auburn, AL