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Note: In this installment, Trudy, the Miniature Schnauzer, reports on her traverse of the AT in New York in the autumn & winter, 2001. Here's the latest. Happy Holidays! I thought winter was supposed to be cold. I was looking forward to not having any more ticks for Momma to pull off me. That really hurts! But it was not to be--at least, not for the first week of December. In fact, it was so hot that when I walked (ever so gracefully) to the end of a log so I could drink from a delicious lake, and then fell in (like a total klutz), it didn't even matter, because the warm sun dried me out as quickly as in the summer! The daylight hours were just as short as they usually are at this time of the year, though, leaving me really bored every night. I mean, my parents called it a day by 4:30 and were in their sleeping bags by five! So it was a good thing I had that mouse to keep me busy at Telephone Pioneers shelter. I snuffled and snorted and tried my darndest to evict it from its fortress in the stone fireplace, but around 2 a.m. I finally gave it up. Fortunately, there were plenty of other animals for me to get all excited about--wild turkeys, Canada geese and the holy grail for dogs: deer. Now don't get misunderstand--even though I'm off leash when I hike, that doesn't mean Momma and Daddy let me chase these critters. What they do is let me cry my little shrieks of frustration that I will never be fast enough to catch Bambi, and they keep walking. Wherever they go, I go. I already was abandoned once, and I will do everything in my power to prevent it from happening again-even if it means not chasing deer. Besides, they don't call me "Trudy the Trail Terrier" for nothing-I like to stay on the trail, and I'm really good at finding it when my parents get confused! There were others "chasing" deer in New York, and they caught them. We heard gun shots the whole time, and we even saw blood and hair on the trail where hunters had dragged a deer carcass out of the woods. They might not be allowed to hunt in the actual trail corridor, but they use the A.T. to get in and out of the woods. We all wear blaze orange at all times when we hike, and so far we have been fine. New York has a lot of big rocks. I loved hopping up the rocks in Maine and New Hampshire, so it was fun for me. At Cat Rocks and Eastern Pinnacles, which are a really neat purplish-red color (or so I am told), I made hay of the steep trail and felt like I was on top of the world. But there was one little spot called the Lemon Squeezer in Harriman State Park that I did not care to crawl through, even though my parents picked their way down it with no problem. It reminded me of Mahoosuc Notch in Maine, where I was deeply humiliated after having to be carried half the time because the rocks were so big. I hate to be carried! So I opted to go around that big old crack in the rock and scampered down a huge boulder, which was way more exciting anyway. I met a really nice dog named Amico (meaning "friend" in Italian) at a house where we stayed. Despite his superior age and size, Amico allowed me to play with his fuzzy toy squirrel and drink his water. I admit I was a real bully at first, and my yapping almost broke his eardrums, but eventually we made friends. My only excuse for being such a tyrant is that I'm a mini-Schnauzer, and we think we're "all that." It's not as if my parents don't correct me when I get dog-aggressive. They do! But mere mortals, and most dogs, are no match for me! I guess I get away with it because I'm small and cute. It's not really fair, but there it is. Now, I thought we were on a hike, but one day my folks took utter leave of their senses and decided to take the bus to New York City to visit Momma's sister. Momma put me in the pet pouch and zipped me into her coat so they could sneak me on the bus. Only later did I find out they snuck me into the Bear Mountain Zoo, also. Boy, was I mad I didn't get to see the bears. When we got to Times Square I couldn't even walk, I was so scared of all the people's feet, and the noise! We got on the subway (I was still hiding) and we were mushed in so tight that no one could see me anyway, but Momma's a real worrywort and kept me zipped in. Finally we got to Aunt Kate's street and I noticed that all the trees were encased in concrete. I couldn't figure out if we were inside or outside, so I refused to pee or poo until the next day, when Momma had to carry me to the park because the sidewalk upset me so much. At the park, I saw a dog, and then I smelled about a million dog messages and I realized that it was okay to do my business. After that, I was able to walk on the pavement, and even go to bathroom on it, just like all the other NYC dogs. But boy, was I glad to get back to the woods. The best part of all was that it had snowed while we were in the city. I love snow! And there were no more ticks. |
Katrina Aid
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Copyright 1996-2005 Jim Greenway Questions? Suggestions? Broken Links? Let me know. SARTECH I(tm), SARTECH II(tm) & SARTECH IiI(tm) are all trademarks of the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR)
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