Four-Legged Trail Scouts

This week's post will be a treat for all of you dog lovers because the featured guests for the hike at Cincinnati Nature Center's Rowe Woods were Zoe and Lucy my brother's two Boston terriers. Also in attendance were Zoe and Lucy's "handlers" my niece Brenna and brother Bill, my nephew Ryan and my brother Joe.  Sorry you guys get second billing, but truly the dogs were a hoot! It was really different pulling into the parking lot this week.  The lot was almost full.  Probably because the temperature was about 67 degrees!!! Amazing for March in Cincinnati.  The sun was shining and spring was bursting. We hiked about 2.5 miles in one hour and 40 minutes.

This is a great place to go hiking. The trails are so well taken care of.  We hiked the Upland Trail and the Fernwood Trail.  Most of the path was laid with gravel and the trails were very well-cleared. The trail signs were also easy to follow which I'm finding is not true about everywhere we go. From the very beginning of the hike, Zoe and Lucy took the role of "trail scouts" (really because they always wanted to be in front.) Shortly after we started, Brenna and Bill started some "doggie shenanigans". Because the two dogs both want to be out front, Bill held onto them while Brenna ran ahead on the trail with a couple of doggie treats in hand.  Then, when she was out of site, she yelled for them.  I almost couldn't get a picture they took off so fast when Bill let them go!  Zoe and Lucy were excellent scouts - they sniffed out the trail to make sure it was safe, they trudged through the mud to show the way to go, and they tested the walking bridges for sturdiness. Well...sort of.  I really considered Zoe the leader because she seemed to be the one who was most insistent on being first.  Until we reached one bridge and we each walked right past her.  For some reason she was afraid to go over.  Joe ended up having to pick her up to get her across.

Something neat that we saw along the trail was the tapping of the trees for maple syrup! There were spiles (tree taps) all over the place in one area.  The park runs some workshops to help people learn how to select the right tree, tap it, and make your own maple syrup.  There are so many activities like this at the nature center. They have full moon walks, winter tracking hikes, and a salamander celebration when you can go to the park with your flashlight and see the salamanders migrate back to the pond between winter and spring. There is also a new PlayScape area for smaller kids with places to climb and small ponds of water.  It looked very popular.

I know that soon the the leaves will cover the trees so I really enjoyed how the sunlight came through the trees today and made interesting shadows on the forest floor. There is also starting to be a green covering on the ground and the landscape is changing quickly. Downed trees covered with moss and fungus were abundant.  Check out the picture of this week's "How Does That Happen?" There was a huge tree that was growing out of the ground in one direction and then sharply angles in the opposite direction. Weird!

There were some good hills along the Upland Trail.  We were all huffing and puffing!  Bill noticed that Zoe and Lucy were now trotting in "survival mode", so they had to stop for a snack and some water to keep their energy levels up.  It's important to make sure your trail scouts' basic needs are being met or danger could ensue!

This was definitely one of my favorite trails so far.  I don't know if it was the temperature, the sunshine, the company, or the furry friends who joined in, but it was a great time. When I came home I calculated that I have hiked 40.61 miles so far in 2012!  WOW! I can't believe it!  This was hike number 13 and I have 47 hikes to go.  I must confess that I am getting a little nervous.  Come April I will hit two hikes a week season in order to get all of the hikes in and I'm not sure I can always be successful with that.  We shall see....one week at a time, I guess.

Next week's hike is to Whitewater Memorial State Park and it's 4.3 miles.  Holler if you want to join in!