Over the river and through the woods...

One of the best reasons to live where I live is the beautiful hiking trails that are nearby to my house. Several trails in town are paved and my favorite one is on the other side of the Mendenhall River from where I live. There is a section of it that is unpaved and is called the "Horse Trail". Many residents walk their dogs on these trails, and I am no exception. While on the paved portion of the trail, you are required to keep your dog on-leash (but hardly anybody does... being a strict rule follower, I do). If you divert on to the horse trail about a quarter of a mile down the paved part, the dogs can go off-leash. Noni and Lijha love it. It is quite a good walk as it goes up and down hill a good portion of the hike. Once the trail merges back with the paved part, we cross the path and take the fishing access trails to go down to the river. Lijha loves playing in the water. Then we continue the loop back to the start of the horse trail (but on the river side) and head back to the car. It takes about an hour to do this hike and I've done it for 4 days in a row so far (yay me!).

I haven't really had time to fit this one-hour walk into my day, but I have made the time. Mostly as a weapon in my fight against fatigue. Getting myself moving helps my joints and keeps me active. I am very careful to not overdo it and completely exhaust myself. It is slow-going, but I have felt my over-all energy levels increasing day by day.

It doesn't hurt that the woods are amazing to walk in and the setting is so peaceful. There are hazards, such as bears, that I have to take into account. Bears have been spotted recently in the area of the hiking trail. However, I keep up a steady stream of conversation with my dogs (or if I happen to go with a friend, I talk to her, so I don't sound crazy). I've heard that constant noise alerts the bears to your presence and they generally stay out of your way. You have problems when the bear doesn't know that you are there and you take it by surprise. The dogs are also key because they can tell when wildlife are in the area. They haven't alerted to anything yet, so I think I'm safe.

Silver lining? Not only am I getting my exercise, but the walk tuckers out the puppies so I can focus on my homework after the walk without interruption. A tired puppy is a good puppy :)