Afternoon at Eno River Quarry
Some friends of ours live at Eno River State Park, the husband being the head ranger over there. Today I finally got around to taking marimonster up on one of her broadcast invites to join her and Elena, age 8, to swim at Eno River Quarry. Their dog Rosie is Snatcher's favourite companion, so I brought him out for some puppytime. Our friend malcolmboru also came out.
The quarry is awesome. I mean, lookit this thing! And it's just a 15-minute drive from our house. Yay! Gary, unfortunately, did something to his back a few weeks ago and has a few more chiropractor visits in his future, so he sent me forth to bring back a report, and here it is...
I stayed out of the water this time, as it was an experiment to see what would happen with the dogs. Everything went as I expected it would. They pretty much lose their minds when they see each other, so walking them any distance requires a lot of stamina just keeping them from pulling your arm out of socket. There was much tangling of leashes and getting leashes tangled around anyone within a 20-foot radius. The whole 3-minute walk to the quarry sounded like an extended obscene phone call ("PantpantpantPANTPANTPANTPANT!")
At the quarry we confirmed that Snatcher is not and may never be a water dog. We think he's a greyhound mixed with some sort of pointer. The vet always pronounces him 100% healthy, but we can't ever keep enough meat on his bones. He has the greyhound gait and he does the bird dog point as he constantly sniffs around. He runs, he points, but he is not keen on being in the water. Especially water where a grown adult can't touch bottom just a few feet from the bank. Rosie, on the other hand is part lab and spent pretty much the whole time in the water, happily towing Mari around by the leash attached to her waist. They'd even equipped her with a doggie life jacket in case she suddenly got tired out in the middle of the quarry. Mook went in up to his ankles to cool off a bit, whimpering occasionally because he wanted to be near Rosie. She was disappointed that he wouldn't come in, but finally left him behind to heed the call of the water.
There was a fair number of people out there; enough so that it didn't feel lonely, but not enough to where it would feel crowded. The water was dotted here and there with people on floats. A few families, a few couples, and a few small groups of high school and college students. There were even a few dogs out in the middle the quarry floating happily on the rafts with their owners. The sounds of conversation drift over the water along with the distant splashes of people jumping off the cliffs on the far side of the quarry. June-August is a great time to go. I heard one guy say that the water was freezing just a month ago. Today everyone jumping in the water for the first time remarked on how perfect it was. There's a layer of warm water on top, with cooler water a few feet down, so you can pick your temperature. Next time the dog stays home and we can finally check it out for ourselves.
The quarry is awesome. I mean, lookit this thing! And it's just a 15-minute drive from our house. Yay! Gary, unfortunately, did something to his back a few weeks ago and has a few more chiropractor visits in his future, so he sent me forth to bring back a report, and here it is...
I stayed out of the water this time, as it was an experiment to see what would happen with the dogs. Everything went as I expected it would. They pretty much lose their minds when they see each other, so walking them any distance requires a lot of stamina just keeping them from pulling your arm out of socket. There was much tangling of leashes and getting leashes tangled around anyone within a 20-foot radius. The whole 3-minute walk to the quarry sounded like an extended obscene phone call ("PantpantpantPANTPANTPANTPANT!")
At the quarry we confirmed that Snatcher is not and may never be a water dog. We think he's a greyhound mixed with some sort of pointer. The vet always pronounces him 100% healthy, but we can't ever keep enough meat on his bones. He has the greyhound gait and he does the bird dog point as he constantly sniffs around. He runs, he points, but he is not keen on being in the water. Especially water where a grown adult can't touch bottom just a few feet from the bank. Rosie, on the other hand is part lab and spent pretty much the whole time in the water, happily towing Mari around by the leash attached to her waist. They'd even equipped her with a doggie life jacket in case she suddenly got tired out in the middle of the quarry. Mook went in up to his ankles to cool off a bit, whimpering occasionally because he wanted to be near Rosie. She was disappointed that he wouldn't come in, but finally left him behind to heed the call of the water.
There was a fair number of people out there; enough so that it didn't feel lonely, but not enough to where it would feel crowded. The water was dotted here and there with people on floats. A few families, a few couples, and a few small groups of high school and college students. There were even a few dogs out in the middle the quarry floating happily on the rafts with their owners. The sounds of conversation drift over the water along with the distant splashes of people jumping off the cliffs on the far side of the quarry. June-August is a great time to go. I heard one guy say that the water was freezing just a month ago. Today everyone jumping in the water for the first time remarked on how perfect it was. There's a layer of warm water on top, with cooler water a few feet down, so you can pick your temperature. Next time the dog stays home and we can finally check it out for ourselves.
