Today was a relatively cool, beautiful day, so I took Lyska and spent the day hiking at Sam’s Point Area of Minnewaska State Park Preserve. What a great day! Lyska is turning out to be a wonderful trail dog– she loves hiking, is friendly to other hikers without losing focus on me, walks nicely on leash, is willing to try new experiences even when they are a bit disconcerting, and naps quietly while I sketch. And she was interested but not reactive when we were watching a bear and her cub!
We hiked the Ice Caves Trail, which included very narrow passageways I could just fit through with my backpack, dark passages (I had to use my flashlight for one stretch), and a couple of ladders. I was so proud of Lyska, who hesitated about the ladders, but then went right up each of them.
At one point I was picking and eating blueberries when a young woman came along and told me where to find a great abundance of blueberries and blackberries. I thanked her and told her I like to pick berries around the time of my birthday. She smiled, reached into her pack, and, saying “Happy Birthday!” she gave me a jar filled with blueberries! What a wonderful, spur-of-the-moment kind gift! Tomorrow I’ll be making wild blueberry pancakes for breakfast!
To cap off a wonderful day, I saw a bear with cubs towards the end of my hike, and then a beautiful garter snake. What a day!
Second ladder, at the end of the Ice Caves Trail
