San Elijo Lagoon

Several of my buddies are bulldogs...and because of this they can't do super long, or super strenuous hikes. They don't do well in the heat either, so they often don't get to join us on our hikes.

It was super chilly in Sandy Eggo recently though, perfect bully hiking weather!

We hit the San Elijo Lagoon, up in the Solano Beach are of Sandy Eggo. Its about a 30 minute drive from my house, and right along the coast so its usually cooler.

Riley instantly found a disgusting water bottle, hiding among the reeds, and filled with disgusting algae and mossy water. He decided it was the BEST thing in the whole world, and carried it for the entire hike.

It was a gorgeous day out, and there were lots of water birds in the lagoon.

Riley really did fall in love.

This sign made Mom laugh...check out all the bird poo on it! Apparently the birds wanted to make sure we got the message!

When the hike ended, Riley's Mom had to bribe him to leave his treasure behind. I'm guessing he pouted the whole way home!

Mission Trails Walkabout

Sundays have become our hiking day. Mom has a goal of trying to hike a different place every Sunday, maybe not a new place that we haven't been to before...but at least to get out hiking!

So, a couple of Sunday's ago we hit Mission Trails Regional Park again. This was from several weeks back...Mom just has been slacking about posting to my bloggie. If you are on FB, you might have seen these pictures already.

This time we started on the South side of the park by the visitor center and did an out an back hike of about 5 miles.

Along the way, Mom and her friends always keep an eye out for 'photo ops'. Sheesh. Can't we just hike?!?

Mirabella, the Kerry Blue Terrier, is the best of all of us. Her 'stays' are rock solid, and she can climb like a cat!

I'm kinda limited cuz I'm pretty top heavy and whenever I try to jump up on something that is too tall, I easily fall backwards and Mom's paranoid that I'll hurt myself so she never even lets me try.

That means I never get to climb trees! She's absolutely no fun!

Blue Sky Reserve

A couple of weeks ago we got to do another hike with our Leash Your Fitness family.

It was a beautiful day, so we had lots of people join us on the hike.

We hiked at Blue Sky Reserve in Poway and since it had just rained the night before, eveything was still damp and smelled delcious.

Mom, of course made me pose on rocks and such. Sheesh...hurry it up, will you! They are leaving us behind!

Even though Blue Sky Preserve is just a short 20 minute drive from Sandy Eggo, it feels like we are in the middle of nowhere. Big trees cover the path, and some of them still had some pretty color on them.

I tried to tell Mom that picnic tables are for eating...but she thinks they are for posing.

Once we got a little ways away from the main trail, we got to run around off leash. Technically we are suppose to be leashed, but those of us who have good recalls were allowed to run around a bit. Our humans are always on the lookout for rangers, cuz off-leash tickets can be expensive!! They also keep an eye out for other humans & their dogs. As soon as they see someone else coming they call us back and leash us up. They know not everyone wants doggies running up to them when they are out for a hike!

We hiked all the way to a big lake. Some of the doggies got to go down to the edge of the lake and swim a bit, but Mom was mean and wouldn't let me get wet.

 

I sure love our hikes!!

Penasquitos Canyon, Foxtails & Creepy crawlies

Last week, we met up with some people & doggies from the Sandy Eggo Off Leash Meetup group and went on a great hike thru one of the open space preserves here in Sandy Eggo. Its called Penasquitos Canyon and its a big park, with lots of trails for hiking, mountain biking & horseback riding. We saw 2 horses while we were hiking...boy are they big!!

This past winter was a pretty rainy one for Sandy Eggo, so that means everything has been growing like crazy.  Now that it hasn't rained in a while, everything is done growin and is drying up. All the tall grasses have turned a pretty golden color, but they have also gone to seed which means one thing. Foxtails!!

Mom says these guys are evil. They are super pointy and only like to travel one way once they get in a doggies fur, or ear, or even their nose!

Mom kept me on leash the entire time, but I still managed to almost get one in my nose! All I did was go out in the field a little bit to investigate a smell, and WHAMMO! I started sneezin like crazy! Sheesh...I musta sneezed about 20 times in a row, but luckily one of those sneezes musta gotten the bugger out, cuz after that I was fine. PHEW! She was pretty worried about it for a while...most of the time when a foxtail goes into a doggies nose it requires some sort of sedation to get it out! That would NOT have been fun!

After the foxtail scare, she made sure to keep me on the trail at all times.

In the middle of the preserve, there's a small little creek. Its surround by lots of trees and plants, cuz I think they really like the water! Mom says there are often deer and other wildlife that hang out in that area, cuz its one of the only water sources around. During our hike, we saw a bunch of bunnies (which are everywhere!) and we even got to see a cyote! He ran off as soon as he smelled all us doggies, but boy did it get us excited! Good thing we were all on leash!

There were even some areas away from the creek that were fighting hard to stay green & flowery. It was a super nice hike!

or at least that's what Mom thought back then! This morning, she was petting me & givin me lovins, when she felt something different on my side. After closer inspection, this is what she found!!

A grody tick!! EWWWWWW!!

Mom's not sure how long its been there, but it didn't have a very good hold of me, and wasn't full of my blood but it was still super icky! Mom quickly removed it and plopped it into a capful of alcohol. Die you little parasite! Die!!!

Now, both Mom & I have the creepy crawlies. Even though she checked me out super good...I still feel like I got one on me! YUCK!

Blue Moon Hike to end 2009

Tonight was a Blue Moon. It din't look blue to me at all, but what do I know?

Mom says a Blue Moon is the 2nd full moon of the month, or the 4th full moon in a season. Either way...the moon was huge tonight and very bright!

Mom and her friends decided it would be the perfect way to start New Year's Eve....so we were off to Cowles Mountain, a local mountain near San Diego that is perfect for a moonlight hike. Cowles Mountain has well maintained trails and a great view of the city in all directions.

The trail was dark and I got to wear my flashy light. We had a pretty big group with 2 other doggies, but one of the doggies (a 8 month old boxer) didnt like me so I wasn't able to play with them at all.

It was a fun hike though. 1.5 miles to the top.

Marker at the top of Cowles Mountain

My adoring fans can be found everywhere...even at the peak.

Me & Mom at the summit...see the blue moon in the right corner?

By the time we got home, I was pooped. I was so tired I din't even want to eat dinner...instead I just found the most comfortable spot in the house and passed out.

don't bother me..I'm sleepin!