Question of the week: how do you tire out an eight month old puppy?
Answer: Start by prepping her with a 5 mile jog. Then load her in the car, drive her out to the far reaches of the Applegate Valley (go far enough that you're in California), and let her loose on a trail that climbs up through open oak forest and thickets of madrone and just keeps on going. Stop for a drink at the small stream crossings, but keep her moving until it's time to turn around. Even then, pick up the pace back to the trailhead and make sure you cover at least 7 miles. Once she gets back in the car she will wheedle her way onto her dad's lap and fall asleep, dead to the world. Mission accomplished.
We took our time on the hike out because the woods were full of all sorts of strange and wonderful flora, such as these mysterious things pushing up out of the ground. They look like pine cones...
...but grow like mushrooms. Very bizarre.
Through the stands of madrone, mountain mahogany, and some rare species of chestnut were giant specimens of douglas fir, sugar and ponderosa pines, and so many other types of trees that we were bamboozled. Carl here gives you a sense of scale.
Some sort of succulents!
Happy pooches waiting for us to quit checking out nature and get on with the hiking.
Luna the pine-cone queen was in hog heaven - this one was as big as her head.
Beautiful pink flowers that are everywhere in the woods right now.
Some pretty white ones - there are pink ones in the Ashland watershed, but I've never seen this color before.
A giant dead snag - we enjoyed the way the branches looked silhouetted against the sky.
And we have no clue what this thing is. Aliens?
Carl hiding out from all my plant enthusiasm.
One of these days I'll get a plant book and find out what all these things are. Until then I'll just revel in their beauty and enjoy my pooped puppy.
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