Thinking of friends

Yesterday and last Saturday, we completed the Ice Beds & White Rocks trails. These two trails (also linked to the Long Trail) are in Wallingford, VT that you hike down to see a natural phenomenon of year round ice and then hike up the side of a mountain to view the ice beds and white rocks from above. This was too much hiking for two out of shape people, such as ourselves, so we broke it up into two weekends.

The blurb about the hike is found at: click here

“The first part of the hike follows the Keewaydin Trail and winds around the northeastern edge of the cliff area. About 0.2 miles into the trail, a waterfall on the Bully Brook can be seen on the left.

The Appalachian/Long Trail junction is reached at 0.4 miles from the parking lot. At the junction, turn south (right) following the white blazes past the Greenwall Shelter spur trail, which is at about 1.0 mile. Continue south to a stone cairn, at 1.4 miles, which identifies the spur trail on the right that leads to White Rocks Cliffs.

The spur trail descends 0.2 miles to several beautiful vistas of the Route 7 valley, the Taconic Mountains, and the Adirondack Mountains in the distance. Please practice Leave No Trace ethics, such as carry out what you carry in.
- During the last Ice Age, glaciers scoured and exposed the Cheshire quartzite that makes up White Rocks Cliffs. Since that time, the White Rocks area has had a long history of human use. Native Americans quarried stone from the site for tools, and in the 1850s white settlers cleared the land for grazing. As the abandoned fields reverted to forest during this century, logging came to the area. Today, the White Rocks Cliffs have been set-aside as part of a National Recreation Area for backcountry recreation and to insure a continuous wildlife habitat.”

The newest addition to the family!

A bit peaky

As you all know by now, as per the barrage of text messages sent out, this lil’guy’s name is Kessler and he is a 9 week old Golden Retriever.

Yes my friends, he is named after the famous Dr. Julius Kessler that you have all come to know and love over the years.

We had a few other names picked out like Stashu, Bear, Furry Dog, Champ, Hero, Submarine, Pig-pen, and Charlapps. But this name is legendary!

We picked him up from a breeder in Ludlow, VT. He was the biggest, rowdiest, smelliest, dirtiest, full faced boy there was and it was a match made in heaven. He is getting his first bath tonight because he smells like a barn yard and we will post those disastrous pictures tonight or tomorrow.

My two favorite men!