Carrigain for FL48, October 10, 2009

[una_dogger]

The Day Begins for Terra like any other day in the mountains...

<watches and wonders> Are their eyes open yet? Yup! <Jumps on bed><gentle kisses and snuggles>

<watches and hopes for> FOOD! YES! <crunches, slurps, more crunches, licks bowl, inspects for stray kibble>

<waits, watches> Backpacks!!! YAY! <wiggles, whines, wags stubby tail>

<jumps in back of car> <watches out window with doggy amazement>

<wonders> Are we stopping? This place seems familiar? DOGS!

<whines> Lemme out, lemme out! Emma! Tuckerman!!!! LEO!!! And People who give me FOOOD!!!!

<sniff, turn, sniff, turn, playbow> TREATS! <sits obediently begging, crunch crunch crunch ,more sniffing, more greeting> TOYS!!!! Is it my birthday?? Can't this flexi lead go longer than 16 feet???? What are we waiting here for?? Lets HIKE!!!!!

<leash off, running> Are we going to Vose Spur again?? STICKS!

<sniff, roll in leaves, romp, chew stick, run with stick, run to front of crowd, run to back of crowd, playbow, sniff, pee, sniff, pee some more, settles into trot, sniff, pee, sniff, pee....>

<notices> She's new! Hello, I'm Terra, and I'm a herding dog...Nice to meet you, Miss Martie! <romps, catches up to MichaelJ again>

Five miles later...
<wonders> Are we there? I've never been here before? Lauky my buddy!!! <sniff, sniff>

<notices he's new> Your name is Sheep!!? I LOVE sheep!!!<sniff, sniff, wiggle>

<extremely happy> MORE PEOPLE!! MORE TREATS!!!!!<sniff, greet, crunch, gulp, crunch some more, gulp, sniff, wiggle, sit for treats...move to next human, sit for treats...>

We start back....

<sniff, pee, romp, playbow, chew stick, roll in leaves, splash in stream, repeat>

<recognizes> Car! <falls into contented sleep>

~The End of a Perfect Doggy Day~



Acknowledgements:
Thank you to :
Kevin, Judy and Emma
The Feathered Hat and Tuckerman
Pat, Audrey, Marge and Leo
Rolly, son, friend and Baxter
Cath and Miss Martie
Ed n Lauky
Bill and Sheep
MntDave and Coco
LRiz
Rocket21
Tim and Val = ADKnBVI
Peakbagger
Ajtiv =Al Sr, Al Jr and Fiona
MichaelJ
Jazzbo

And the many dogs and hikers we met along the way who shared the trail with us this day

Congrats to my little buddy, Terra, on achieving her AMC Four Legged Four Thousand Footers patch with all her friends; a great way to celebrate her sixth birthday. <smile>

If I have left someone out, I apologize!!!! It was a wonderful day and I am very grateful to have shared it with you all!

 

[Bill and Sheep]

Nice report! I posted a few photos from the day at:

http://www.sheeprocks.com/photos/carrigain_20091010/index.html

I think 80% of the shots are of various dogs begging for treats but that kind of sums up the day once we reached the summit!

 

[The Feathered Hat]

Tuckerman, in his way, is still talking about the best day of his life. I've never seen him have more fun than he had on Saturday with everyone and, of course, with ALL THOSE DOGS.

Speaking as his Big Boss Man, I really appreciated everyone's patience with Tuck. He's a year old now but still sometimes acts like a puppy going crazy. He can be rambunctious, but everyone was great with him. Thank you.

Some photos from the great day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99682097@N00/sets/72157622560942046/

What a pleasure to see old friends again and to meet so many new folks. It was a truly wonderful day for me, too.

Congratulations, Terra, and Happy Birthday!

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

It was indeed a great day in dogdom. We met old friends and a great number of we had never encountered before.

There was Emma with that magnificent coat--it's obvious a great deal of time is spent keeping her groomed. Then on the way down what do we meet?--an Emma look-a-like.

There was the lithe frisky Tuckerman, with his build he'll be able to handle any trail.

As for 'Sheep' no dog was better named. It was hard to convince Terra she didn't have to look after him.

We had met Rolly before, but never Baxter the beautiful boxer. Speaking of beautiful--there was Martie the coy, eye catching Doberman.

We missed Leo, but hopefully that day will come when we will get to meet him. Back at the trailhead we did get to talk with Dave and Coco for a good half hour. Coco is an absolute sweetheart. What an absolute darling.

Then there were the two legged hikers that the dogs were herding along. The last time I met Jazzbo was over two and a half years ago on a winter hike with Duffy.

Guess what Rocket actually does hike. I have read his near daily trail reports but had never run into him, then--there he was! He really does hike.

LRiz was there running on a low dose of only seven to ten cups of coffee.

Of course the "maid" of honor was there--Terra. What a magnificent trail dog.
I was able to watch her for a while as she ran back and forth along the trail, looking for this, smelling for that but always keeping her eye on Sabrina. She was also as obedient as you would expect both from an Aussie and a dog belonging to Sabrina.

Sorry we couldn't stay with the entourage any longer than we did, but every time a dog came running by Lauky tried to take my arm out of its socket. We're still working on our current segment of "The Taming of the Shrew." Lauky is making progress though and he very throughly enjoyed himself.

 

[una_dogger]

Thanks, Guys!
It was great meeting you, Bill and Sheep!
Tuckerman is such a sweetie and he's so very well behaved! You've done a great job with him, Steve!

Ed I was thinking that one of those bungee type leads might help things on both ends of the leash Lauky will always be my little Fireball, I hope he is never fully tamed! You two are a great team and I was very touched to see you on the summit waiting for us.

I have been home sick today, so I went ahead and filled out Terra's AMC paperwork. While going through our records, I came up with these statistics for Terra:

With respect to the AMC Four Thousand Footers:
First peak: Zealand, August 2004. Has climbed Zealand a total of 4 times now.
Most climbed: Lafayette, at six climbs, three were full ridge traverses, one winter traverse.
Total of NH4K climbs, ending with Carrigain = 91. (now at 93)

Number of NEHH climbed = 92

Number of ADK 46 climbed: 39

Number of NE67 climbed = 61

Miles of Long Trail continuously Backpacked = 100

Miles of Maine Appalachian Trail continuously backpacked = 120

That all adds up to alot of good times and companionship.

 

[una_dogger]

Of course the "maid" of honor was there--Terra.

Its funny that you say that, Terra's "real"/registered name is
ASCA/AKC MontRose Maid of Good Earth. Although, we just like calling her Terra around these parts.

 

[MichaelJ]

I was able to watch her for a while as she ran back and forth along the trail, looking for this, smelling for that but always keeping her eye on Sabrina.

On the descent, sure, but on the ascent she was up front and pretty much abandoned Sabrina, not matter how many times I told Terra to "find her." Alas, her idea of the extent of the "the herd" is somewhat reprogrammable.

 

[una_dogger]

On the descent, sure, but on the ascent she was up front and pretty much abandoned Sabrina, not matter how many times I told Terra to "find her." Alas, her idea of the extent of the "the herd" is somewhat reprogrammable.

He's right, I opted to hike with Leo the puppy for as long as his parents felt was appropriate for him, and that left me at the back of the pack. I didn't see Terra for some time, but I did dognap Tuckerman for about a mile to get my dog fix; and I had Miss Martie there as my guardian angel for most of the ascent.

One thing that was great about this hike, aside from the dogs, was the very generous way that everyone looked out for *all* of the dogs as if they were there own...that was really special and quite unique, I thought.

 

[Silverfox]

Way to go Terra

what a great way to spend your birthday!!

sorry to have missed this event...

 

[KPMMBM]

Congrats to Terra. although it wasn't one of her 48s, I did get to hike with her this summer and enjoyed her company. it is encouraging when she goes ahead and then comes back with the "come on you guys catch up" look on her face!

 

[Steve-o]

That's great Sabrina !
I bet it was more exciting for you than your own finish.?

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Terra's big day!

We had a blast! Great seeing you all, and great to meet a few new people and dogs!

Low light, foggy, wet conditions and constant movement by the dogs. Those are my excuses for not having better photos of the dogs and their people. Lame excuse for not better documenting Terra's big day. Luckily, other's had some success and I'm sure there's more to come.

Great hike despite the weather. You'll have to bring Terra back for the views!

Some more pics here:

http://ghostflowers.smugmug.com/White-Mountain-Hikes/Carrigain-101009/9953077_5fqDn#679596953_pZFiz

KDT

 

[una_dogger]

Thanks so much Kevin, I was waiting to see that group shot. Its a keeper! Just bought one and it will be hung on my "hiking wall" above my desk where I can look at it often and remember the day.

 

[Darl58]

Great fun hike to you all and congrats to Terra...what a fun way to finish!!

Love all the pics of the dogs getting to know each other...!

 

[audrey]

Leo had a wonderful time romping with the big guys before he had to leave...yes, Emma's one of the big guys to him, never mind she's only half his weight.

It was nice to meet new muzzles and we wish we'd been able to be at the celebration and meet everyone else.

Congratulations Terra...we're going to have to have a special time for you in our back yard.

 

[MichaelJ]

This hike was so much fun! It wasn't the best weather up at the summit, but it didn't matter, the dogs had a fabulous time anyway enjoying their special way of hiking (run, pee, swim, shake, roll, eat, poop). Huge congrats to Terra! I can take credit for a few peaks for her, but the driving force really was Una_dogger's passion for hiking and desire to have Terra on equal footing for her 4-legged accomplishments.

My photos from this hike

Dog treats for all! Pass those cheddar/bacon ones over here...

 

[w7xman]

Virga sends along her congrats!

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Virga sends along her congrats!

Another great name for a dog (just discussed today in my weather course).

Sorry that I could not be on Carrigain for Saturday's event, but good seeing Terra (and you too, Unidogger and Silverfox) during our Osceola loop on Monday. We did not see the moose that Terra scurried up.

 

[1HappyHiker]

A very entertaining report!

 

[Bobby]

Congrats, Terra! See you in April!