The pups' first hike up Carr Peak with Zeke

What a beautiful winter day it was, with highs in the low 70s and partly cloudy.  I putzed around in the morning, walked Sweetie and Hansel, then drove off with Zeke, Gretel and Hansel after noon to hike up Carr Peak.  I had originally wanted to leave Hansel at home, but he's too slick for me: he pushed his way out and joined the other two.  The pups like car rides!

This later time proved ideal as that allowed most of the crowds in the mountains to disperse.  My alternate plan was to take the pups up Thompson Ridge if there were too many people on the trails.

My fears were unfounded, though. One car was leaving as I arrived at the Sawmill trailhead just before 1pm.  It was 54F with a slight breeze from the southwest.   I wore cotton clothes, jeans, and my grey hoodie.I was the only one on this trail and didn't meet others until I got on the main trail 3/4 mile up the hill.

I was curious how the pups would be together.  Would they run wild, chase things, and then not come back when I called them? Gretel has already proven herself to stay close to me. Hansel's suture had healed up and he was allowed to run again, but he instead stayed close to me. venturing off trail only a few times and never straying far.  Even Gretel, my adventurer, stayed close.  And Zeke, as always was right by my side.  These three dogs were a good hiking group!

There was no sign of recent rains in the mountains.  Only the spring was dry.  I didn't stop to water the dogs until we got to the peak, and here it was cold and windy.  I stayed only long enough to give the dogs something to eat and to give them some water. The clouds got denser the higher we got, keeping us all cool.  The blue sky at the start was an overcast grey sky at the peak.

I met one  group with three dogs coming down, just as we were in the single track through the aspen grove.  The dogs did well with no barking (another surprise).  The man told me I should take the dogs off leash, but I was unsure of how Gretel would behave.  I prefer my dogs on leash when around other people.

I didn't see much wildlife today.  Deer probably would have made the dogs take chase.  I saw ravens and a few other perching birds, but most were well-camouflaged in the browns and greys of the trees.  Only the pines stood out against the leafless deciduous trees.

The hike took us 3:26 hours.  I got back to my Honda at 4:30pm to a cloudy sky.  I didn't see the near full-moon until I was a mile from home.  Stars were coming out.  I did one more mile with Gretel later on under the moon light, then crawled into bed with a cup of hot green tea.

I used my new Motorola One Action phone to track my mileage and to take photos.  The photos came out ok, but nothing will be as good as what my old Google Pixel 3a did. I also downloaded the Strava app to track my milesage for this new program I signed up for: "Run the Edge" that keeps track of all the walking I do in 2021.  The goal is to walk 2021 miles by year's end.

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