Monday Pack Activities (6/12/2023)
Adventure Pack
Distant thunder set the tone for the day as the pack ventured out to the trails at Chautauqua and Gregory Canyon. Ruffers halted at the sound of a far-off rumble, but found the courage to keep moving with her packmates. We skipped the stop at the stream when we started up the mountain trail. There was plenty of cloud cover, and I didn't expect us to stay dry for much longer. As we made our way up, Bear and Avo chased each other down the branch trails that lead down to the water. When Ruffers, Dylan and I caught up to the branching point, Bear and Avo would come racing back and up to the next branch. Passing hikers chuckled at the pair of them, obviously having fun together. Dylan eyed me, warily, a short way up. I promised him that we weren't going past the bridge, and after a long moment of consideration, he complied and kept following. Thunder started growing louder and more frequent as we made our way back down. As we approached the Chautauqua trail head, the first, scattered hail balls began. We dropped off poop bags in the receptacle and hurried back to the car as the hail started coming harder and harder. We waited out the peak of this first wave of hail before the dogs headed back to their respective homes.
Variety Pack
We started later than usual, waiting for the hail and heavy rainfall to pass. The roads looked like we had just had a few inches of snowfall in the preceding 90 minutes. The underpasses along the Bear Creek Greenway were flooded, so we took the above-ground routes. Yoshi was in a playful mood throughout the walk and kept trying to get Buddy and Alfie to join him. Buddy didn't take much convincing. Alfie's composure also faltered on a couple occasions. We had to make an extended stop at one point as I settled everyone down and got their attentions. Thankfully, at least Lou maintained composure while her young packmates were working on their circus act. On the return leg of the walk, I saw a small arthropod crossing the path. My first thought was 'scorpion', but I was just as surprised to realize it was in fact a craw fish - and a pretty big one at that! Yoshi and Alfie were both intrigued by the creature. Lou and Buddy didn't seem to take particular notice. When we got near, it turned to face us and then twitched its tail to try to escape. The method was far less effective out of the water and its movement across the path was very slow. When we backed away to give it some space, I realized there was another, smaller craw fish on the path just behind us. Weird day.
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