Ed'n Lauky
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- Feb 15, 2007
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From the time he first arrived as a little four pound ball of fur, the plan was that, if ready, he would summit Pleasant Mt. on Thanksgiving Day. Pleasant Mt. was Duffy’s first peak, and it just had to be Lauky’s first also. He would be four months old at that point. We had gradually increased his walks. He had for some time been doing the millage and the walking time for such a hike.
Also, as an experiment we tried out the Shawnee Peak ski slopes. Initially the plan was to go up about as far as he was interested in, then turning around. In less than an hour we were at the top. It’s about a 1300’ elevation gain. Coming down was riotous. He charged round and round me, sometimes losing his balance and rolling. When we got back to the car he acted like he wanted to go back up again.
That was several weeks ago. Thanksgiving was still a couple of weeks off, but he was ready. Since it was hard to say what the weather would be like on Thanksgiving I decided to go for it on a beautiful Saturday morning.
We had walked many miles on snowmobile trails, but it was his first time to actually walk a hiking trail. Walk, is a term to be used lightly. He is still a puppy. As the French would say: “Il fait toujours pipi accroupi.” (For the Anglophones that means: “He still squats to pee.” He hikes like a pup also. Here, there and everywhere—in front of me, behind me, around me. I never was quite sure where he would be, but up he went.
We were going up the Ledges trail and hit the first open ledges in about 45 minutes. That is well below record time but a fairly good moderate pace. We paused there for some pictures. He stood up on the ledges like a pro and posed for the pictures. Then off we went to the top.
We were alone at the top. The altitude used to be given as 2020’ but the sign now says 2007’. It’s about a 1600’ elevation gain. The distance is just under two miles. It took us about 70 minutes. Again that is well off of some of the times he’ll be doing in the years to come, but not bad nevertheless. Just going in a straight line should make some difference.
There was some ice on the ground here and there but no snow at all. There is very little spruce on that mountain and the leaves were thick on the trail and very slick. This was especially noticeable going down.
Going down he seemed to have his nose to the ground and headed straight down the path. He seemed to be following the scent we had left on the trail coming up.
I thought when we got back to the car he would want to sleep, but he was all over the place—strapped in nevertheless. He did take a good nap in the afternoon.
While up on the top there was a magnificent view of Mt. Washington draped in her beautiful white wedding dress. I pointed it out to Lauky and said: “Do you see that mountain out there? Your big brother Duffy was king of that mountain. He’d been up almost every trail on it. Lauky seemed almost awed by the whole thing then he said to me: “Ah gee, do you think I can do that some day?” I said to him: “Don’t worry, my boy—someday you too will be up there—some day!
Lauky on Pleasant Mt.
Also, as an experiment we tried out the Shawnee Peak ski slopes. Initially the plan was to go up about as far as he was interested in, then turning around. In less than an hour we were at the top. It’s about a 1300’ elevation gain. Coming down was riotous. He charged round and round me, sometimes losing his balance and rolling. When we got back to the car he acted like he wanted to go back up again.
That was several weeks ago. Thanksgiving was still a couple of weeks off, but he was ready. Since it was hard to say what the weather would be like on Thanksgiving I decided to go for it on a beautiful Saturday morning.
We had walked many miles on snowmobile trails, but it was his first time to actually walk a hiking trail. Walk, is a term to be used lightly. He is still a puppy. As the French would say: “Il fait toujours pipi accroupi.” (For the Anglophones that means: “He still squats to pee.” He hikes like a pup also. Here, there and everywhere—in front of me, behind me, around me. I never was quite sure where he would be, but up he went.
We were going up the Ledges trail and hit the first open ledges in about 45 minutes. That is well below record time but a fairly good moderate pace. We paused there for some pictures. He stood up on the ledges like a pro and posed for the pictures. Then off we went to the top.
We were alone at the top. The altitude used to be given as 2020’ but the sign now says 2007’. It’s about a 1600’ elevation gain. The distance is just under two miles. It took us about 70 minutes. Again that is well off of some of the times he’ll be doing in the years to come, but not bad nevertheless. Just going in a straight line should make some difference.
There was some ice on the ground here and there but no snow at all. There is very little spruce on that mountain and the leaves were thick on the trail and very slick. This was especially noticeable going down.
Going down he seemed to have his nose to the ground and headed straight down the path. He seemed to be following the scent we had left on the trail coming up.
I thought when we got back to the car he would want to sleep, but he was all over the place—strapped in nevertheless. He did take a good nap in the afternoon.
While up on the top there was a magnificent view of Mt. Washington draped in her beautiful white wedding dress. I pointed it out to Lauky and said: “Do you see that mountain out there? Your big brother Duffy was king of that mountain. He’d been up almost every trail on it. Lauky seemed almost awed by the whole thing then he said to me: “Ah gee, do you think I can do that some day?” I said to him: “Don’t worry, my boy—someday you too will be up there—some day!
Lauky on Pleasant Mt.
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