life on the ridge pII

if you haven't already figured it out, the one thing about this town that i absolutely love, adore, value more than anything else is the forest. and one of my favorite times of the year to explore the woods is the fall, when the temperatures cool, the leaves change and slowly drop and the air is crisp with that slight and ever so perfect breeze. today, i decided to do something different and hike with a group - of the human variety as opposed to canine. we headed out to allen seeger at about 11 - made our way out 26 in search of the paved road that makes it way back to the natural area parking lot. it was strange on many counts - one driving to the forest on roads (and not fire roads) 2 - driving in the forest (not being on a bike!).
for many different reasons, we never quite made it to seeger, but we did make our way up boal gap road to hit the mid state, down little flat to north meadows and then bear meadows and back.. this was one stretch of the mid state that i hadn't done - the rocks that make rothrock. where hiking shoes go to die... on the way we passed a cyclist - on foot. it seems like no trip to the woods these days is complete without seeing someone that either is - or usually is on a bike.

it was a warm day and chaya drank up both of my water bottles. seems like it's time to invest in a pack that also carries extra water for ME.

on the way home i had calls from ruk and luna about dinner... what the hell - i figure if you've already spent an entire day not studying - what's a few more hours? this was a perfect excuse to not study a little longer. we ate, got ice cream at DQ and watched the ducks and trout fight over fish food as the sun was setting over spring creek. it was a beautiful way to end a perfect day. home i went to a tired pooch and my ever growing pile of books. i even managed to get a good 3+ hours of studying done. i guess that's acceptable for a leisurely sunday.