Wednesday, June 23, 2010

First Hike

Yesterday Sandy and I went out for my first hike of the season.  There have been some summers where I have hiked quite a bit but that hasn't been lately.  I am woefully out of shape and hope to change that a bit this summer.


We headed out to Waterton National Park.  I love Waterton.  It has all the beauty of the other mountain National Parks but without all the crowds.  Although that might be changing.  I was shocked at how many people we saw on the trail.  It was a Tuesday in June and there were still lots of people.  But maybe that was just because not all the trails are in good shape yet so everyone was forced on to the same few trails.  Regardless, we had fun.


We went up to Bertha Falls and then further up to Bertha Lake.  It was a perfect first hike - not too hard, not too far and beautiful scenery along the way.



We were both only brave enough to bring one dog each and both Mira and Lacey can be a little shy, but they both did great meeting all the new people.  They also enjoyed rolling in the patches of snow we found along the way.

Lacey wore her little backpack and carried a few essentials for me - empty poop bags, Vector Energy bars and some goldfish crackers.  She generated quite the buzz as she went by people with her little saddle bags.

I think I'm going to have to invest a "proper" backpack for both her and Coulee.  The dogs had plenty to drink along the trail on this hike but it isn't always the case.  Hauling water for the dogs, plus for myself and carrying a camera, food, clothing, etc. is a bit much for me.  I could always leave the camera at home to make more space but what fun is that?


So thanks Sandy for hauling your butt out of bed on your day off and humoring me with a hike.  It was definitely more fun with a friend!

Oh and Mom.... This was the scariest wildlife we saw this trip.  So you can rest easy.  :)

6 comments:

WigglyZack said...

What a lovely hike you guys had. Zack has the same backpack although I haven't hiked with him yet. Paranoid about the bears!!! One day.....

Stephanie V said...

You make me want to get out on the trails again. How much can Lacey carry?

Paws on the Run said...

From what I've read, they can eventually carry up to 20% of their weight. So for Lacey, that would be about 6 lbs, and Coulee could carry more than twice that. I wouldn't put that much in the backpack that Lacey currently owns as I don't think it is particularly well built but I am planning on getting some better constructed ones for them.

Lindsay said...

That looks like such a beautiful area!

Kim said...

I have the RuffWear Pallisades pack for my dogs. It is very well made, holds lots of stuff and it has water badders like a camelpak. The pack is also removable so you can use the base harness on it's own or easily remove the pack when you stop to rest without having to take off the entire thing.

Looks like you had a fun hike. I love Waterton too :)

Kim

onecollie said...

so then maybe it is "me" that attracts the rattlers!!! :))