Hi it’s Annie, the English Cocker here again. I want to tell you about the trip our family took to Connecticut and the mountain we all got to climb. Jack, Molly and I went on a long drive with our family and our camper to an RV campground in the northwestern corner of Connecticut. We pulled in and set up, then we all had a really good dinner. Everybody turned in early because we were planning on going for a hike the next day to someplace they called Mt. Frissell. My mom said it was the highest peak in the state.
Watering the puppies before our hike
When we got up the next morning, we went outside to play and have some breakfast. Then we all loaded into the car and drove for about a half hour. When we stopped and the car was parked, we got out in a really neat place: it was all woods and the road was made of dirt. Our family put our leashes on us and gave us a bowl of cool water before we started hiking. There was a path across the road and we saw some people walking down the path toward us with another dog. They were very friendly. I heard our mom ask them if the trail was something we puppies would be able to handle. The other people said it should be fine as their dog hadn’t had any trouble.
We crossed the road and started following the path. There were so many interesting smells and sights: trees, wildflowers, little animals scurrying through the woods that the puppies and I wanted to chase. But our family held onto our leashes so we couldn’t get lost.
The path eventually started to climb and pretty soon we were seeing lots of rocks. It was fun for me and the other puppies to jump from one rock to another. We don’t get to do that very often.
As it went on, there were a few spots where our family had to let go of our leashes for a short time because they had to use their hands to climb up on the rocks as well. That was fine because the puppies and I stayed right with them. We seemed to have an easier time than they did and could move a bit faster than our family. This was fun!
Finding wild blueberries
Eventually we found ourselves walking across the top of a rocky mountain trail. We spotted some short bushes that had little round blue things on them. Before I could stop them, Jack and Molly walked over and bit one each. Then they went back for more. I tasted one too. They were delicious! I heard my family say they were tiny blueberries growing wild in the sunshine on the mountaintop. Despite our family urging us on, we each gobbled as many as we could before continuing our climb. I looked forward to passing back this way again on our way down!
The rattler!
Soon I heard my family saying we had to be almost to the top. Suddenly Ryan yelled for everyone to stop. My mom and dad held us back while Ryan moved slowly forward. I heard him say there was something called a rattlesnake in the path right up ahead. Our dad tried briefly and carefully to encourage the rattler to move away, but he stayed put. My family said he seemed to be guarding a nest or something. We very carefully walked around him on the other side of the trail and 20 feet later, we reached the top of Mt. Frissell.
We took a few quick pictures, then scurried down past the rattlesnake and back to the blueberries where we munched again. My mom said we climbed like mountain goats. We had a much easier time than they did picking our way down the rocky path as well. It was fun!
It was a beautiful sunny day; a great day to go for a walk. 