Lura Thoughts

Hiking the Mesa Trail at Chautauqua

Today was absolutely gorgeous in Boulder, so I decided to take the dogs to my favorite hiking place, Chautauqua Park.  I couldn't believe it when it actually got up to 65 degrees by 8:30 when I started.  I was feeling a little overdressed in jeans and a sweatshirt!  Of course, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.  You never know what the weather is going to be like here.

Mesa Trail is a nice one at Chautauqua because it's not as steep as some of the others, but you can still get a good workout.  The road leading from the parking lot is steep and hot, and there's no shade, but once you get to the trailhead, the trail is cool and shaded.  You can travel a long way on the windy Mesa Trail.  It will lead all the way from the parking at Chautauqua to NCAR, and even further south to Eldorado. 

The dogs don't care about the view of the Flatirons or the blue sky, they just run around and smell everything.  They missed a fox that escaped while I was taking their leashes off.

Hiking with the dogs is a different prospect than just taking them to the park or to some of the other trails that we go to.  For Chautauqua, I have to bring a backpack that will hold their leashes, lots of water, a water bowl, and of course, since there are no trashcans along the trail, you have to pack the dogs' waste out, if you get my drift.  I find that I don't care to carry a baggy full of poop too far, so it's nice to have a pocket in the backpack that has been designated just for bagged poop.  Now I just need to remember not to lend this particular backpack to the kids anymore. 

One of the nice things about hiking in the off-leash areas with the dogs is that the other dogs that you run into tend to be pretty well-mannered.  Chip and Scout also like the other hikers.  For Chip, every stranger is a potential BFF.  He basks in their compliments. 

If you go up to Chatuauqua, you can tell why Colorado has such a low rate of obesity when compared to other states.  You see people of all ages just out on a walk there, going on long hikes with packs, and often there are those who do trail running up there. I can never figure out how the runners do it, mostly because the hills are steep, the air is thin, and there's lots of rocks on the trails, as well as dogs trotting along the trails, all creating several obstacles for the runners.

At the bottom of Mesa Trail, near the trailhead, there's a little stream that's about the dogs' best chance to get a drink and get a little wet and cool.  The dogs always get a second wind after splashing around in it.  The snow was still melting a bit, too, so there was a little bit of mud along the lower areas.  Lucky me, the dogs careened through there, splashing mud everywhere, including on my face, arms, and shirt.  I didn't include a picture of that.  I did decide, though, that stopping for something to drink on the way home was no longer an option.

The nice thing about hiking in Chautauqua is that when we get home, the boys are all tuckered out!

Intruder Alert!

I think I've mentioned my two yellow labs.  Scout is the youngest one, and he will be celebrating his one-year old birthday on April 11.  When asked if the dogs are smart, I like to say that they are very sweet.  Nothing proved me more right than the other night when Scout was walking by a kitty statue that we've had on the cabinet for years. 

  We've had Scout for eight months now, and until recently he and the statue have been living together quite happily.  As Scout walked by this statue, he did a double-take and commenced with heavy barking at the statue.  When he finally settled down, I think a little embarrassed because of our laughter, he laid with his head on top of Chip and growled lowly at the statue.  We all feel much safer now.

East Boulder Trail at the Teller Farm Trailhead

Well I decided to be crazy today and go to a new trailhead completely unseen and unknown.  I've driven by the sign for the East Boulder Trail at the Teller Farm Trailhead a million times on Arapahoe Road, so I looked it up here and saw that it has an off-leash area and a 2.2 mile trek from Arapahoe to Valmont, so I decided to go for it. 

What a mistake!

It's not a particularly pretty walk, although I can't say much because we didn't see most of it.  From the map, it looks like we made it maybe halfway before deciding to turn back.  It's just that so many of the hikes in the area are so pretty, this one paled in comparison. 

Mostly, though, the problem was with the cows.  There's a huge cow patty about every three feet, which translates to yummy goodness for the dogs.  I had been warned on the Marshall Mesa trail not to get too close to the cows, too, because they could seriously injure a dog if the dog gets between the cow and its calf.  Of course, about halfway up the trail, there were lots and lots of cows.  There are signs all over that say not to allow the dogs to chase cows or there will be big fines, and to put your dog on a leash as you go by the cows.  I decided not to even go near the cows, and just when I turned around to go back, I watched as both of my dogs were happily sprinting about a half mile away to check out these interesting creatures.

I have two dogs.  The oldest at 2 years old is Chip, and I have a lot of training in Chip.  We did the regular obedience training, and then we did the complete off-leash training with Chip.  He just did super with the classes, but I've seen a couple of times where the temptation was just too much for him.  The second dog is Scout, Chip's half brother.  Scout is only a year, and we only did the basic obedience training with him.  Scout comes to me every time I call him.  I think Scout comes to me because he's a sweet dog and he loves me and wants to please me.  Chip comes because I have treats.

So here I am with the dogs in a dead run towards the cows, and I immediately call them back.  Scout, the youngest dog with the least training, comes skidding to a stop, turns around, and with his ears flapping in the wind gallops joyfully towards me.  Chip just looks confused.  Should he stay or should he go?  After all, I was calling him, but those cows were calling out to him, too.  He'd look at me..."Chip!  Leave it!  Come!"  And then he'd look at the cows.  "No, come!"  He'd look at me.  What to do?  I got Scout on a leash and started running away from Chip, which decided the matter entirely.  If I'm running the other way, then so are the treats!   

With both dogs safely back on leash, we headed back to the car.  At least with them on leash, I didn't have to worry about more stopping for those super-yummy cow patties. 

Looks like I've got to go back to square one with the off-leash training with Chip.  And I'm crossing the East Boulder Trail off my list of fun places to take the dogs.

Taking a jog at Dry Creek

I'm a little bit of a wuss, so I don't like to go for a run, or in my case a painfully slow jog, if the weather is less than 40 degrees.  This morning it was beautiful out, and a warm 41 degrees with sun and very little wind, so I decided to go for it.  I like running with the dogs in areas that they can be off-leash,  that way I spend less time untangling leashes and more time actually running. 

The name Dry Creek is a little misleading, as this picture shows:

Be ready for your dogs to get wet and muddy!

The nice thing about Dry Creek is that there is a nice trail, although it's not a particularly long one.  The views of the Flatirons are beautiful, though.

The trailhead to Dry Creek is in Boulder on Baseline just east of Cherryvale.  Be prepared, though, because a lot of people walk there, and on a nice day parking can be tough.  Also, there will probably be a lot of dogs there. 

Hiking at Marshall Mesa

I own two yellow labs, Chip and Scout, and now that the weather is nice and I've trained the dogs to (mostly) listen to me, we've been hitting the trails.

This morning we went to Marshall Mesa.  The advantages to Marshall Mesa are that it is absolutely beautiful, there's an excellent 3ish mile hike that has some hills, so you get a pretty good workout, and the trails are well-maintained. 

The trailhead starts at the corner of Highway 93 and Marshall Road outside of Boulder. The trail starts by going by a whole colony of prarie dogs.  Being there for the first time earlier this week, I didn't know anything about the prairie dogs, and just went into this whole thing blind.  It turns out that there is a $100 fine if your dog chases the prarie dogs.  Whew!  If I had known that, I might not have gone.  Luckily, my dogs didn't seem that interested in the yappy little critters, and we did just fine.  Also, this is an area where they graze cattle, and I've heard that if the cows are out, either don't go or put the dogs on leash, as this can create a dangerous situation for the dog.  Also, it's not too pleasant to watch your dog eat the cow patties.  Talk about bad breath!

The trail also goes by a stream, which my dogs just couldn't stay out of.  As soon as they leapt into the stream, they got a surge of energy which caused them to attack each other, hop around like bunnies, and race up and down from the path into the stream and back out again.  This is not a good trail if you don't like your dogs to get muddy.

Tuesday morning when I was just leaving, a Park Ranger had pulled up into the trailhead parking lot.  He sat in his truck overlooking the prairie dog colony, and I just knew he was looking for a dog to go after the prairie dogs. 

The best thing for me about Marshall Mesa was that I felt like I got a good hike in, and the dogs just seemed to have such a fun time.  When they come home and take a big nap, then I know we've had a good hike.

Goodbye to Another Friend

I haven't blogged about Louie yet.  We lost Louie right after Christmas, which is a tough time to lose any old friend.

Todd rescued Louie out of the intersection in Louisville, CO, at the corner of Pine and Highway 42.  He was a tiny little thing then, obviously born in the wild, and had apparently gotten into the warmth of a car and found himself going for a ride.  He jumped out of the car, right in front of Todd, when it stopped in the intersection.  It was a cold, rainy day, and Todd stopped traffic in all directions to rescue the little grey kitty.  He grabbed him and tossed him into his car, then turned around and brought him back to the house.  Louie howled for days, not used to people.  He finally calmed down, but he was always our troubled kitty.

As a kitten, he had ringworm.  Then at some point he developed kidney stones, and we had to change his diet.  Then as he got older, he somehow developed a massive jaw infection.  He wouldn't take pills, so we had to inject him with antibiotics twice daily.  People would look at us a little strangely when they saw this array of needles laying on the counter.  Once the infection cleared up, it wasn't long before we discovered that Louie had hyperthyroidism.  He was suffering from weight-loss, and he would run crazily through the house non-stop.  Again, because you could lose a finger trying to give him a pill, we had to have his medicine made up special from Pharmica in Boulder into a goo that you applied to the inner ears.  I was warned when I picked it up to be very careful and not let it get too much on my own fingers, because it would have the effect of lowering my metabolism, as well.  My doctor told me that that was the strangest reason that she had ever heard for somebody wanting to have their thyroid checked regularly.

Louie also just hated the dogs.  He told us this by peeing on their beds whenever he possibly could.

Finally, poor Louie was diagnosed with arthritis in his hips and more kidney stones.  In the end, he just seemed very uncomfortable, and we spent a long time trying to treat his pain.  He would let us know when he was especially uncomfortable by peeing and pooping in innapropriate places, sometimes right in front of us.  Changes of meds often would make him comfortable for a week or so, but then we'd be back where we started.  Eventunally, his quality of life just seemed too poor, and even my housekeeper noticed that he had lost a significant amount of weight, and we knew the end was near for little Louie.

Louie was my pal, sleeping right next to me most nights when he felt okay, and jumping onto the computer anytime I wanted to get some work done.  If I ignored him, he would get up on the counter and meow angrily at me until I petted him.  Nobody would describe Louie as sweet, but he was a cutey as a kitten and a constant companion as a cat.

And now Louie is finally at peace. 

Goodbye, Old Friend

Last week, I lost an old friend.  I met Sammi first when my husband, Todd, and I stopped off for coffee.  We were living in Lancaster, CA, at the time, and working at NASA.  It was a 45 minute drive to get to work, and Todd always had to drive a mile into town to buy coffee.  He had two favorite places to stop -- McDonalds and Spudnuts.  In order to get coffee before making it in to work by 7:30, we had to be on the road by around 6:30.

We decided to stop at Spudnuts that particular morning.  It was a chilly October morning, and I was about 6  1/2 months pregnant with my first child.  Sammi was sitting outside the donut shop, looking small and cute.  The donut shop attendant asked if we wanted to take her -- she had been dropped off by a trucker who rescued her out of the middle of the intersection, and he brought her to the only place that was open.  They couldn't keep her at the donut shop, though, and the guy was concerned that she'd run away.  So we took little Sammi and dropped her off at home before heading on in to work.

Sammi was an extremely sweet little thing, and we were very surprised when our first veterinarian, Dr. Uno, told us that she had a very bad temper.  Not our sweet girl!  That was our first inclination that she didn't like vets.  Sammi had a long life of terrorizing vets.  At Centennial Animal Hospital, I remember watching as the vet and two techs tried to get blood from her, and all I saw was her feet flying through the air like propellor blades.  They were unsuccessful. 

Sammi loved to steal pens and dobies, the little pads that you scrub pots with.  Eventually we had to stop buying dobies because we couldn't keep one more than a day or two, and when we moved, there'd be 20 of them under the couch.

Sammi slept with us in bed and jumped into our laps whenever we sat down.  We began to suspect that she liked us more for our body heat than because she liked us, but we didn't care.

She finally got too old, too frail, and too sick.  Sammi was put down when she was about 15 1/2 years old.  We sure loved you, Sammi!