Bellicose Bumpkin

Here are a few pics from a recent camping trip to DAR State Forest. This is one of the best places I’ve ever camped at – keeping in mind that I don’t go camping all that often. The sites were big and well separated. The whole place had (I think) only 50 sites. The firewood was cheap (3 bundles for $10). Good trails. Nice clean lake. Clean bathroom/shower facilities.
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We did a lot of hanging out by the pond and had a ball throwing a stick into the lake for the dog. Slaney was running right up to the edge of the water and leaping out into the water as far as she could. She’s turned into quite a water dog.
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On the last day we hiked up to a fire tower – which offered stunning views of the area.
Here’s some video of the dog fetching a stick and swimming. It’s kind of long – about 7 minutes and the best jump is about 5:40 in. Slaney is still kind of new to water but every time we come to a lake she expects .. no demands .. that a stick be thrown into the water. She has a really funny quirk with sticks. It drives her nuts when a stick gets sandy and she’ll bark at the offending branch and often use her paws to roll it back into the water to rinse it off. Slaney is very good with her paws – a trait that comes from her boxer heritage I believe.

Back in August, the family did some tent camping in North Conway, New Hampshire and I’ve been meaning to post a few pics. Usually we go with some other family but this time went by ourselves. We stayed at the Eastern Slope Campground and had a site right on the Saco River. Nice.

One day we drove up Rt. 302 to Crawford Notch to do what I think is a little known hike up Mt. Willard. The entrance to the trail is behind the Crawford Notch Railroad Station across the tracks. It is(I think) 1.5 miles each way. The trail runs up a reasonably steep but not difficult incline to the top of Mt. Crawford – elevation 2804 feet. You are rewarded with stunning, and I mean stunning views of Crawford Notch. I would say that this is one of the most scenic vistas I have ever seen. As far as difficulty goes, my eight and ten year old were able to do without (much) complaint. The whole thing took maybe 2.5 hours including time at the top.

Enjoy the pics.