Thursday 17 October 2013

18km/10 mile Hike

Hey pups! That's right, I did it- I walked almost 20 km and I loved it. Mom's school had a strike with the teacher so there were no classes going on- whoop! We took a bus ride to Farnham and wondered around for 10 minutes while Mom tried to figure out which way we were supposed to go- the map said it was near the railway station so Mom was looking for a sign that was pointing in that direction. She eventually found it and we found a board introducing us to the trail (North Downs Way). The first part wasn't the best way to welcome hikers to the trail in my opinion as it was a run down road but with our luck we met a delivery van. Ugh! However, there was a fun little stream we waded in.



Everything was pawsome- for the first 30 -45 minutes. Then we met the first problem- the lamely marked trails. National Trust: If you want people to walk your trails and enjoy them and not worry about getting lost in an area where they have never been before mark the trails properly!!! How much can one small piece of plastic saying North Downs Way cost? And you can just walk it yourself and screw it in!!! Daaamn! Sorry rant over. We lost a good 20 minutes trying to find the trail until Mom decided to just go to the road and walk along it until she saw an actual path. Thankfully it wasn't far and we went down it- it turned out it was the right way. How were we supposed to know if there were like two or three other paths crossing it?!?!?! Anyways, we settled down after that.

Should I go with this couple of stay with Mom?

We met a young bitch who had her first season- she was so adorable at seven months old!


See small, plastic, cheap!




We then hit a long stretch of trail along a road. It was through a peaceful village but woody trail always beats road, right? When we finally came back to the proper trail it was through the middle of a golf course and we found this very reassuring sign:

Ummm...OK?

We had a lunch stop and of course I had to have some of Mom's sandwich!

Give it to meeee!

And i had some of my own food

We went through a section which was heavily guarded by signs saying that it was private property and not to go off the trail...we're meek so we obeyed. 

Not the sign! Those were far more intimidating- all read and exclamation marked!




Spiky!

We had a couple of slight detours but Mom quickly realised and set us straight! We walked through a village where Mom stole borrowed some grapes and we found a church that has a pet service. In that same village there was an animal rehab centre for all animals including equines. We walked through woods and field until we reached familiar territory. By that time we were both half dead but happy, we hopped on the bus and high tailed it home.



I'm now dog tired but a tired dog (especially terrier!) is a good (and happy) dog!

Licks and Wags,
Dina

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that is a long way to walk! You will sleep the rest of the day away for sure! I wish we could have walked with you but maybe not the whole way! Aren't you smaller like me? Oh your poor achy paws, time for a treat and rest! Good job from keeping your hooman from being lost!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  2. Pawsome hike Dina. You'd think the NT would have it well marked with sign. Nevermind you had a great time. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. Sounds like a great hike Dina - our favorite kind, lots of different things to see and a lunch break in the middle! Perfect. Thanks for joining the Hop.

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  4. Hey Dina! We featured hiking too- perfect for this season! Check our post out!

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  5. Not quite as bad but we live by a park that has disc golf and I'm always worried that Mr. N is going to get hit by a stray disc. Tired terriers are the best!

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  6. Looks like an awesome hike. My mom has a talent for getting lost no matter how well a trail is marked! Glad you found your way around alright.

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  7. Well Dina first of all my Momz sez the same thing...a tired terrier is a happy terrier...Around here our Florida Trail is maintained and marked by volunteers and some of them are better and more conscientious than others so it can be hit or miss on trail marking...we've been temporarily lost more than once...that's why momz always has the GPS with us on our hikes (TIP: always remember to mark your car ...it's really embarrassing if you can't remember how to get back to it :) ) That's a great long hike you took...we haven't done that distance in a while, but I'm hoping that when the weather (finally) cools off for us we can get out for a nice long hike again

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  8. Goodness, what an adventure. Signs are always good to help find your way.

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