Sunday, March 14, 2010

Hill Walk

Yesterday, I took the dogs for a walk.  They really enjoy going for walks.  I enjoy taking them.  We went to the top of one of the nearby hills to some public land.  It's bunch grass and sage brush.  There are sage rats for the dogs to chase and all sorts of wild critters and smells.  The dogs think it is Club Med.  I drove up higher than normal, for my regular and secondary parking spots were in use.  The first by some guys with off-road vehicles, the second buy some gentlemen with guns...black guns.  I was not worried, because all showed signs of resisting the urge to shoot me.  Well, actually, what they did was point their barrels at the ground and take out the magazines.  I smiled and wished them a good day and drove on past.   
I drove about 3/4 of a mile further and the dogs and I got out and headed away from that direction.  We could still hear the gunshots, but we worried not.  The views were magnificent (see above).  The dogs and I found an outcrop of basalt and heard the familiar whistles of sage rats warning that danger (dogs) was in the area.  The dogs did their best to find the whistler and have him out for some fun and games (games, I imagine, that included some chomping and biting[dogs aren't THAT imaginative]).  Below you can see Gypsy inspecting different holes for sage rats.  You can also make out my truck in the distance, in the upper right hand part of the photo.


I love this next photo...Gypsy looks good!
Those darned squirrels/rats were in the rock that Toby is leaning against.  The dogs simply could not get to them.
That didn't bother them, though.  The dogs enjoy this kind of thing.
Below they look as though they are paying close attention to the whistles...and, well, they were.
Toby made sure there were no entrances on top of the rock...that's my 4X4 dog.
The views were spectacular! Did I mention that?  Spring is the only time the brown hills turn green for a short time and even then the brown remains.

I thought I would throw in a self portrait.  I love the way the clouds threw shadows across the hills.
I had hoped to find some flowers, but it is still too early to find the Phlox in bloom.  I DID find these little guys.
I think the dogs and I needed to get out in the fresh air!  I hope to do this more as the spring continues.

2 comments:

Lorrene said...

First I want to say that we do live in a beautiful part of the country. What beautiful pictures. And those dogs just found dog heaven. I have never seen such happy looking dogs.

Charissa said...

Pretty pictures. I love this time of year where cheat grass has a beauty before you know what it is. Looks like fun.