Spring Porkies hike in white.

Sandy looked at NOAA's snow map which showed the Porkies 100% free of white stuff.  With that thought, we headed west for our inaugural spring hike at the Porkies State Park.

We planned to park at the Government Peak trail parking area.
 But we found a barrier across the road which we drove around
 like others had.

Oh dear, this is why the park had the road blocked.

I spied just a tad of snow remaining on the road.

It was about 3/4 mile hike in to here.  Now we really start!

What a perfect day for a spring hike!
But we didn't expect to see any friendly hikers on the trails.
I don't get to socialize much you know.

But we did very shortly!
They petted me some. They had camped last night.

Best thing about spring or fall hikes is the unobstructed view.

Then we caught up with more friendly hikers!
They were from Rhinelander WI.

No leaves, no bugs and cooler temps.

This is near the Carp Lake Mine.

More snow! I didn't expect to see any today.

I love Carp Lake (aka Lake of the Clouds).

We spied pulk sled skag marks.
Speaking of pulks, I wish we were camping tonight,
 like we did earlier this spring.

The friendly Rhinelander hikers where going the same way as us.

This was our lunch stop.
I hope we see them again, they scratched me some.

Now we descend off the escarpment.

The bridge across the Carp Lake outlet. Water was high!

Hunting is always good here in the Porkies.

I took the water route.  I love water.

I was getting hungry, so I had to resort to having some lame kibble.

As we ascended the North Mirror Lake trail, we found more and more snow.
NOAA said there was none!  The 2 legged ones said it was tough going.

The wettest place in the woods is the trail.

Lotsa trees came down over the winter.

We could have had a ski adventure!

The maples are still bent over from snow load.

Trap Falls. I was so glad, I didn't get washed away in the torrent! It was very scary just sitting here for the photo!

Good thing we don't need to cross the river today...the log bridge is gone.

Imagine the crack when this one went over.

Hey! I found a perfect camp spot. Can't we stay?

Water's high, but down from what it was.

Back! The 2-leggeds did 2 miles on the road and 13 on the trail.
 I covered at least 5 times that. We had such a grand adventure.

Trim into Spring

Oh dear,  I got my springtime hair cut this past week and Arlyn forgot to post that!

Good-bye, luxurious butt hair. It took me all winter to grow this.
By spring, they say I look like a sheep.

All done! Sandy makes me stand on this table because
 it wiggles a little. So I stand still!

No more butt fringes!

Then I roll and roll. That feels good. 
Although I do like the cool short coat she gave me.

kids, snow, creek and hikes!

On Sunday afternoon, I got in some kid time!  They came with us to see Swedetown creek and shut gates,  plus see what the water had been doing.

Dominick and Anthony run ahead.

I love to run too.  I'll show them how fast I can be!
We took a ski trail that Arly grooms.

Oh good, now I cool off in my favorite creek.

I don't think Dominick and Anthony had ever seen
Swedetown creek before.

I love it when you pet me.

They looked at the map to see where we are.

We all dank water.   It was HOT out!

Ya Dominick, you can scratch me some.

Anthony likes to hug me, I love that.

Here's the gate we needed to dig out and shut.

We had SO much fun together.
To celebrate, I take another snow bath.

Last snow days? Ski adventures!

It got warm on Friday, so we went to romp around Tech trails!

I'm a trail mutt ya know, they do allow them here.

Oh this looks good.  And I see vermin!

I roll and shake off lots.

Then I run and run.

Trees came down this winter and sawing them left debris.
What wax works best with this?

It was around 60 out, so we grilled fish on the deck. 
It was our first meal on the deck!

On Saturday morning we headed to Perreault Lake and
skied around it.

At the picnic area, we contemplate the end of our
beloved ski season.

We have about a foot of snow remaining.  I hope it lasts.