Finally, the snow's gone! Let's walk!

Today was a big day for Scrappy. He got a shot in the butt (rabies), and we took the first really fun walk of the year.

We had to take the long way around to Scrappy's Landing as our usual shortcut was a bit wet.
The water, needless to say, was up. Just before the snow hit, we almost could've walked to that big branch.

Over the winter, we discovered that the south path from Scrappy's Landing had a couple of trees across it.

For the newbies around here, our greenway trail runs between the River and the old canal feeder. Their is an inlet cut that used to go from the river to the feeder to supply it water, but is now ended in a big swampy patch below the trail. Last time we were here, we could both cross on the ice. Today, not so much.

Didn't stop Mr. I-love-the-water from going right in.

He actually broke through the shelf at one point; he scrambled back up in almost a poop-crouch trying to figure out what to do next. Of course, I had JUST stuck the camera in my pocket and the light of re-emerging boomed out the picture. Considering I never could see the screen for the bright daylight, though, I think I did pretty good.

Next, da big black crow. He heard the camera (it has that faux-shutter sound when you snap) and took off, with Scrappy in lukewarm pursuit.

Next, we crossed the old wooden bridge(along the way encountering a piece of driftwood looking enough like a dog to Scrappy that he crouched down in front of it for half a second) , headed down the road, and went in the hidden entrance to the woods. As you will see, all those dry stream beds I wrote about last summer and fall aren't so dry anymore.

Scrappy's sole concern is checking out all the den-holes. Whether he has to drag me down into the ravine or not. I actually grabbed a tree once, telling him, "I don' tink so, mahn!"

Now here's what Stony Run Creek looked like our last disastrous venture through the woods.



And here's today. MUCH better.

And I'm sure we would have been in THAT, too, had Scrappy had his druthers.