Yesterday's hike

[Doublebass73]

I took the labs snowshoe hiking yesterday up a 4000 foot mountain. Those dogs would happily do that every day if I didn't have to work. It was cloudy so there was no view at the top but there was plenty of snow to play in.

[DDZ]

Nice Pics! Where is that?

[Doublebass73]

It's the Crawford Notch area of New Hampshire.

[Bob Riebe]

SWEET

[BUGEYE]

Dogs are the nicest people.
Beautiful area BTW.

[Doublebass73]

Dogs are the nicest people.
Beautiful area BTW.

They sure are, I could happily live out the rest of my life with only dogs as companions.

[powderman]

Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing. I really miss being able to do that. CHARLIE. 

[ironglows]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

[Lloyd Smale]

looking at those pics with the eyes of an old lineman id bet you had some outage in your area from snow on the lines.

[Doublebass73]

Those photos with the wind driven snow are all on a mountain above a certain elevation so we really didn't have any power outages from the last storm luckily. The snow from the last storm was actually on the lighter side but the wind on that mountain is typically heavy so it cakes the snow on the trees over time from multiple storms.

[Doublebass73]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

They always know. If my dogs see my grab my shotgun they get excited or if they see me grab my hiking backpack they get equally excited.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive seen those types of conditions so much when i was working that its lost its beauty. Dont mind snow but my stomach still turns when the snow is heavy on the tree limbs and power lines. Even after 13 years i still cringe when a lightning storm hits.

Those photos with the wind driven snow are all on a mountain above a certain elevation so we really didn't have any power outages from the last storm luckily. The snow from the last storm was actually on the lighter side but the wind on that mountain is typically heavy so it cakes the snow on the trees over time from multiple storms.

[BUGEYE]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

[Doublebass73]

Yes, I remember winter camping in NH as a college kid. Nice thing about it was no bugs.
I still think about the 150 souls who lost their life on Mt. Washington. Then there's the case of the young Russian woman, a Master of the Universe in NYC, and experienced mountaineer who thought she'd ascend The Presidentials from the north of Rte 2 only to run into harsh Artic conditions and her maker.
.
.TM7

I remember her story, she made the fatal mistake of not turning back when she had the chance. She took a chance against the world's worst weather and paid the ultimate price for it. Somebody wrote a book about her journey, I forget the name of it. There was a young guy a couple years ago who trying to ascend Huntington Ravine on Mt. Washington in the winter and paid the ultimate price as well.

[Doublebass73]

ive seen those types of conditions so much when i was working that its lost its beauty. Dont mind snow but my stomach still turns when the snow is heavy on the tree limbs and power lines. Even after 13 years i still cringe when a lightning storm hits.

Those photos with the wind driven snow are all on a mountain above a certain elevation so we really didn't have any power outages from the last storm luckily. The snow from the last storm was actually on the lighter side but the wind on that mountain is typically heavy so it cakes the snow on the trees over time from multiple storms.

Heavy, wet snow is the worst. I love snow and don't care if we get light powdery snow all the time but I despise the wet stuff. It's miserable to snowblow or plow. Today we got 3 inches then it switched to freezing rain so the crust on top is like cement. I'm not looking forward to clearing it, I'd rather deal with 2 feet of powder.

[Doublebass73]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

That's a good thing to do. I think when I'm retired I'd like to rescue some elderly dogs, give them a good home for their final years.

[BUGEYE]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

That's a good thing to do. I think when I'm retired I'd like to rescue some elderly dogs, give them a good home for their final years.

Be prepared to spend some money.
One of ours costs $100.00 a month for her meds.
Luckily the other one doesn’t get sick.

One thing you could do is train retrievers for folks who don’t know how or don’t have the time.
Believe me, you would be doing those dogs a big favor.
I hunted one time with a man who whipped his dog for not holding a point, it was obvious that he knew nothing about training a dog.
Just a thought.

[BUGEYE]

For the last 15 years of my Delta Airlines career, every day that I went to work I checked the weather on Mount Washington.
It was amazing to find those conditions on that mountain.
I dealt every day with winds and temperatures aloft, which sometimes were calmer than Mt. Washington.

[powderman]

TM7. I'm sorry to hear of the passing of your wife, first I heard of it. CHARLIE. 

[Doublebass73]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

That's a good thing to do. I think when I'm retired I'd like to rescue some elderly dogs, give them a good home for their final years.

Be prepared to spend some money.
One of ours costs $100.00 a month for her meds.
Luckily the other one doesn’t get sick.

One thing you could do is train retrievers for folks who don’t know how or don’t have the time.
Believe me, you would be doing those dogs a big favor.
I hunted one time with a man who whipped his dog for not holding a point, it was obvious that he knew nothing about training a dog.
Just a thought.

I've thought about that too, I enjoy training my retrievers. I just hunt mine so they don't have any titles but I do run mock hunt tests occasionally to see where they need work. Both of my dogs can run triple marked retrieves with a blind retrieve. They need a little work with diversions but they do well overall. They both hunt upland as well.

There are a lot of idiots out there who know nothing about training dogs, that poor dog had no idea why it was being whipped. It does a lot of harm to give a dog that much force if it doesn't know what it's being punished for.

[Doublebass73]

Some years back my wife (RIP) , me and our dog left Pinkham Notch for Tuckerman's Ravine to make the final ascent of Washington on the Lions ridge trail (I think it was called). This was end of September.  At the base of Tuckerman's we were turned back by wardens who said wind up the trail was 75 gusting to over 100. So gladly turned back.

And another  year we climbed Mt. Jefferson on the Caps Ridge trail. Balmy 68 in the parking lot but up on top it was 30. Then a white out came on us. There was 6 in of snow in 20 minutes. If you know the Caps Ridge trail  you can fall off the mountain in several spots. That was a nerve wracking slippery descent.

Best to be prudent in the Presidentials, or be well prepared and experienced.
.
.TM7

Yes, they call the Lion's Head. I haven't done Jefferson yet but I'm working on my 4000 footers list. Jefferson is one that I'll wait until mid summer for, I'm not a fan of winter hiking on mountains you can fall off of. That's a heavy whiteout you dealt with, people don't realize just how bad the weather can get in an instant on those mountains.

[BUGEYE]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

That's a good thing to do. I think when I'm retired I'd like to rescue some elderly dogs, give them a good home for their final years.

Be prepared to spend some money.
One of ours costs $100.00 a month for her meds.
Luckily the other one doesn’t get sick.

One thing you could do is train retrievers for folks who don’t know how or don’t have the time.
Believe me, you would be doing those dogs a big favor.
I hunted one time with a man who whipped his dog for not holding a point, it was obvious that he knew nothing about training a dog.
Just a thought.

I've thought about that too, I enjoy training my retrievers. I just hunt mine so they don't have any titles but I do run mock hunt tests occasionally to see where they need work. Both of my dogs can run triple marked retrieves with a blind retrieve. They need a little work with diversions but they do well overall. They both hunt upland as well.

There are a lot of idiots out there who know nothing about training dogs, that poor dog had no idea why it was being whipped. It does a lot of harm to give a dog that much force if it doesn't know what it's being punished for.

On the rare occasions that TV has retriever trials, I try to watch.
And I'm always amazed at blind retrieves.   I enjoy seeing a dog stop swimming and look over his shoulder for any corrections.
As a teenager I owned a flat coat retriever who was never a good water dog because he was smarter than me and took advantage of it.
This is not my dog but he looked just like this one.

[Doublebass73]

  I too enjoy those walks in a "winter wonderland"..   Even though I don't take them as often as I used to.

  I have this old dog I just adopted..  She watches closely, If I put my jacket on, or move toward the door while putting my hat on..she starts prancing !
  At that point, I may as well pick up the leash, too!

Off the main topic: My wife rescues dogs that other people don't want.
They are appreciative of the good food and warm beds.

That's a good thing to do. I think when I'm retired I'd like to rescue some elderly dogs, give them a good home for their final years.

Be prepared to spend some money.
One of ours costs $100.00 a month for her meds.
Luckily the other one doesn’t get sick.

One thing you could do is train retrievers for folks who don’t know how or don’t have the time.
Believe me, you would be doing those dogs a big favor.
I hunted one time with a man who whipped his dog for not holding a point, it was obvious that he knew nothing about training a dog.
Just a thought.

I've thought about that too, I enjoy training my retrievers. I just hunt mine so they don't have any titles but I do run mock hunt tests occasionally to see where they need work. Both of my dogs can run triple marked retrieves with a blind retrieve. They need a little work with diversions but they do well overall. They both hunt upland as well.

There are a lot of idiots out there who know nothing about training dogs, that poor dog had no idea why it was being whipped. It does a lot of harm to give a dog that much force if it doesn't know what it's being punished for.

On the rare occasions that TV has retriever trials, I try to watch.
And I'm always amazed at blind retrieves.   I enjoy seeing a dog stop swimming and look over his shoulder for any corrections.
As a teenager I owned a flat coat retriever who was never a good water dog because he was smarter than me and took advantage of it.
This is not my dog but he looked just like this one.

Flatcoats are very impressive dogs, I saw one run one time. It was way faster than my labs, I couldn't believe the speed. I agree that blind retrieves are amazing to watch. It's the most difficult thing to train with retrievers. I spend the most time training blinds, you have to walk a fine line though. The dogs get bored with blind training so you have to keep the sessions short and sweet.

[BUGEYE]

Flatcoats are very impressive dogs, I saw one run one time. It was way faster than my labs, I couldn't believe the speed. I agree that blind retrieves are amazing to watch. It's the most difficult thing to train with retrievers. I spend the most time training blinds, you have to walk a fine line though. The dogs get bored with blind training so you have to keep the sessions short and sweet.

Rover and I had a great place to duck hunt.   It was a borrow pit grown up with cattails and we would hunker down on the north side and get'em landing or taking off into the wind.
If I shot a duck, Rover would just sit there until the wind pushed it to shore, then he'd trot around the pit and retrieve it.
See, he was smarter than I was.

[Doublebass73]

Flatcoats are very impressive dogs, I saw one run one time. It was way faster than my labs, I couldn't believe the speed. I agree that blind retrieves are amazing to watch. It's the most difficult thing to train with retrievers. I spend the most time training blinds, you have to walk a fine line though. The dogs get bored with blind training so you have to keep the sessions short and sweet.

Rover and I had a great place to duck hunt.   It was a borrow pit grown up with cattails and we would hunker down on the north side and get'em landing or taking off into the wind.
If I shot a duck, Rover would just sit there until the wind pushed it to shore, then he'd trot around the pit and retrieve it.
See, he was smarter than I was.

He was, he knew better than to go in that cold water.

[BUGEYE]

Flatcoats are very impressive dogs, I saw one run one time. It was way faster than my labs, I couldn't believe the speed. I agree that blind retrieves are amazing to watch. It's the most difficult thing to train with retrievers. I spend the most time training blinds, you have to walk a fine line though. The dogs get bored with blind training so you have to keep the sessions short and sweet.

Rover and I had a great place to duck hunt.   It was a borrow pit grown up with cattails and we would hunker down on the north side and get'em landing or taking off into the wind.
If I shot a duck, Rover would just sit there until the wind pushed it to shore, then he'd trot around the pit and retrieve it.
See, he was smarter than I was.

He was, he knew better than to go in that cold water.

That’s right, but me and him were the best of friends.

[Doublebass73]

Flatcoats are very impressive dogs, I saw one run one time. It was way faster than my labs, I couldn't believe the speed. I agree that blind retrieves are amazing to watch. It's the most difficult thing to train with retrievers. I spend the most time training blinds, you have to walk a fine line though. The dogs get bored with blind training so you have to keep the sessions short and sweet.

Rover and I had a great place to duck hunt.   It was a borrow pit grown up with cattails and we would hunker down on the north side and get'em landing or taking off into the wind.
If I shot a duck, Rover would just sit there until the wind pushed it to shore, then he'd trot around the pit and retrieve it.
See, he was smarter than I was.

He was, he knew better than to go in that cold water.

That’s right, but me and him were the best of friends.

That's what it's all about. It's fun to hunt and hike with my dogs but more importantly the unconditional love can't be beat.