Hike with Scraps and Rags, Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch, Rockaway, NJ

With a day off from work on a beautiful Thursday, October 21, 2009 I decided to head up to the hills to capture some of the peaking foliage.  Kathy was working so this hike was going to be just me and the dogs, Scraps and Rags. After taking some stuff to the recycling center and grabbing a bagel we were off  to the woods.

I kayaked solo without any dogs yesterday, so I thought I would go with the dogs somewhere that I could snap a few good shots of the wonderful autumn colors.  I had two days off from work and I was making the best of them with respect to weather, recreation and the time of the year.

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We headed out around 11:00 to the Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch trail in Rockaway Township.  It is located 6.3 miles north on Green Pond Road from Rt 80’s exit 37 and then you take Upper Hibernia Road for 2.5 miles to this clearing in the road that leads to a trail head.  There is very little indication this is even the destination or even a park.  I mean it is forested around there but I could be walking into a hunting zone.

Kathy and I had hiked there around 5 years ago but exactly where everything would be was still a mystery.  I didn’t have a trail map like I did 5 years ago but I did have my iPhone GPS in case I got into trouble.

We parked and started down the trail and we soon saw Beaver Pond, a mushy pond with vibrant colorful trees on the other side.  With the sun at my back I was able to get and nice shot of the colors but the scum on the pond ruin a bit of the beauty contained in the reflections.

Finding the Hawkridge destination of the hike was difficult. The trail was blazed marginally at best and the fallen leaves obscured the direction of the trail.  We missed the trail turn at some point and hiked down toward a brook that we had to cross a couple of times.  On the way back, I found the turn-off I previously missed.  This was the finally accent to the Hawkridge.  In this area I saw my first person of the hike.  We past him and headed to the summit.  Once there we found two other people.

The Hawkridge is a large rock outcropping providing a clear view of the forested valley below with the Tourne several miles to the east and other hill crests further on.  the day was crisp and clear and you could see far.  In addition, the foliage was speckled with yellows, green, oranges and reds.  It was like multi-colored broccoli below.

So we hung for about 30 minutes on the ridge and the headed down.  Taking the easier utility path to the road and then back to the car.  All in all it was about a 3-hour hike.  The dogs were well behaved.  I had Scraps on a very light 4-foot leash and let him off it the whole time.  He sniffs, explores a little but keeps up with me where I hardly worry about him.  Rags I had on the 20 foot lead and it also worked well.  Both dogs were definitely pooped by the time we got back to the car that they both slept in the back seat on the way home.

Biking with Scraps and Rags

Ever since I got into bicycling after visiting Amsterdam I have always wanted an easy way to transport the dogs on the bikes as we travel to and fro ’round town. I have come up with some ideas and have had success riding with a dog in the past, but I only had one bike setup up at a time. Finally, in October 2009, 2 years after getting into biking, I have gotten both dogs riding on both bikes.

First we went to the 2009 Morristown Fall Festival with the 2-dog setup. This went really well. We were able to nicely walk through the crowded festival without too much Ragitude as I call it. On our way out of the festival Rags fell out of my crate as I lunged forward, but her harness held her in. I was just getting into the saddle when it happened, so we weren’t going fast when she was dangling by her harness and she didn’t get hurt. Nevertheless, it told me that I had to get a deeper carte or put some walls on the crate.

I found the solution to the shallow crate problem in the back part of my basement. I used the headrests from my old Jetta, and the spokes from them secured nicely into the lattice of the crate. Solution found for 2 of 3 sides and it’s a big improvement in safety and comfort. In addition, it is light, stable, soft and easy to install. I just need to find one more for the third side.

Our next trip was on Columbus Day when we took the dogs on a bike and hike to Dismal Harmony. That is a 5-mile bike ride each way and a beautiful hike through a classic Morris County type of trail. Fun stuff and I’m glad we can do it with the whole family. This time I had the headrests in place and the trip was a pleasure. The only real issue was Rags was barking the entire way there if Scraps was in her sights. It is just like when we kayak. Bark or no bark, we had a beautiful ride to Dismal Harmony where I video taped much of the ride and posted on the YouTube video below.

It was kind of surprising that Rags was acting with such Ragitude this trip because we had both gone on 2 long bike rides in the previous few days alone with the new crate/headrest system. We did a 20 mile ride and a 13 mile ride with no problems so her barking was a bit of a bummer on the whole experience.

We locked up the bikes and hiked for an hour and a half or so. Following along Dismal Harmony Brook allowing Scraps to prance up and down the rocks on the trail was lots of fun. Rags was on the 20 foot lead so she even got to explore a little. We shot a few pictures during the walk and then I continued shooting the video of the bike ride on the way home. This was a fun bike and hike with the dogs and I look forward to many more.   Afterwards we brought Scraps to Agility class for some practice there.

You can see our previous setup for biking with the dogs includes the large padded dog bed with built in restraint. This works well but it does cost $80, doesn’t work in the rain and it cuts of your ability to use panniers. Nevertheless, you can put it on and off pretty quickly and fits both bikes. We have been using this for the past 2 years I think.

For a little while I had a large rectangular milk crate on the back of the bike and I was able to use the light weight Container Store draw to make a nice cage. This worked great for safety but the dogs couldn’t stick there heads out of it. In any case, I abandoned the milk crate, it was too big to keep on the bike forever. We used it for a while.

With the winter coming we will see how many more dog trips we have but I am psyched we have solved this dilemma for now. I’ll be looking forward to the spring with lot of rides. I’ll try to keep you and me posted.

Scraps and Rags the Dogs Walk for Morris County’s Central Park Dog Park

 Scraps and Rags love each other at the dog park walk.

The bee was accepting donations.

On Sunday, October 19, 2007 Scraps and Rags, as well as Kathy and I, joined about 50 other people and dogs in a walk to support and find out information about Morris County’s newly proposed dog park.  The Park Started at the Lutheran Trinity Church, just north of Franklin Street in Morris Plains.  The plan was to meet at the church and walk about 0.7 miles through bucolic Morris Plains to the location of the new dog park in the new Morris County Central Park.  This is the park that is being established at the new property Morris county obtained from the closed Greystone Psychiatric Campus.  It is  pretty exciting and that is why Kathy and I want to support it.

Scraps and Rags walking to the new dog park.

It was a beautiful autumn morning in Morris Plains.  The trees were about a week past prime but due to the recent gorgeous weather, most of the colorful leaves were on the trees and not on the ground; and we do know that in Morris Plains the leaves inevitably fall to the ground.  In parts of western Morris County some are trying to stop this inevitability.

The sheriff has some big a$s dogs

The dog park will be the responsibility and owned by the Morris County Park Commission but they still have to get the park raised up on their budgetary hierarchy so it is still some time away from opening but they have a site which is 90% of the battle.  Dignitaries at the walk who I would like to thank for supporting the effort included Morris Plains, Mayor Frank Druetzler, Morris County Sheriff Ed Rochford, Morris County Freeholder John Murphy.  Also there from the Morris County Family were Dave Helmer and Denise Lanza of the Park Commission and and the Park Commission’s chairman Judy Schliecher.  Then let us not forget Morris County’s Recycling and Solid Waste Coordinators Kathleen Hourihan and your humble narrator Larry Gindoff.  There were probably some others that I am forgetting but let us not forget the real stars of the show.  The dogs and the beautiful setting for the park.

Build it and they will come. Come Rags. Come Scraps.

The walk started at the church and there must have been 40 dogs in all.  Usually I would be embarrassed by Rags in that situation but Rags was on her best behavior and so were most of the dogs.  I was impressed.  It wasn’t until we sat down to listen to the speakers that Rags misbehaved when a dog or two came over to sniff where we were sitting.  And even then, it wasn’t all that bad.  I think it really helped that we walked at a fast pace from home to the dog walk and that probably tired out Rags a bit.  I was even able to let Frank Druetzler walk Rags for a while and she handled that great. Scraps was on his usual best behavior.

Morris Plains Mayor Frank Druetzler walks Rags during the walk.

In the end kathy and I both donated money to the Morris County Park Alliance which is a non-porofit established to funnel money to the Morris County park system from some donners that cannot donate money directly to a governmental orginazation.  It seems that the Park Commisson needs to generate some donated money to help fund the dog park and that will give them the ability to push it over the edge.  Hey whatever it takes, thanks to all who are involved.

This was displayed at the dog walk.

2008-08-29 Morristown Critical Mass Bike Ride With Rags

Larry and Rags heading to the Critical Mass ride in Morristown, August 29, 2008

It was the last Friday of the month and in Morristown, NJ for the past year that has meant a critical mass bicycle ride through the streets of Morristown.  This month we took Rags with us in the cushy bike carrier as Kathy and I joined what must have been at least 200 other bikers in the ride.  This was the one-year anniversary of this ride and is coincidentally just over the one-year anniversary of me riding to work on my bike.  I feel connected to this ride as it has advanced along the same bike path as me.

Mayors Nace, Cresitello and Hussa are just a few of the Morristown Mayors who biked in the critical mass bicycle ride.

This was a giant ride including lots of dignitaries besides Rags.  Morristown Mayor Cresitello rode in the ride along with Denville Mayor Hussa, Morris Township Mayor Nace, Parsippany Mayor Luther, Morris County Freeholder and Wharton Mayor Chedwiggen and I’m sure a few others I didn’t know about.  We saw Rebecca Feldman who is a councilman of Morristown.  The primary theme of the ride was biking to work so people were encouraged to wear suits and work clothing.  I wore a tie around a golf shirt while Kathy wore a pink sports jacket. There’s probably a woman’s name for this type of sports jacket but I’m not sure what it would be.  Marty was there, Paul Miller, Steve the Saturday morning bike rider who I had no recollection of was also there.  There was “thay guy” and oh yeah, “that guy” and “we’ve seen that woman before.”  Everyone seemed to be at this ride.  I captured lots of it on video as I was hauling Rags around so enjoy it.  Unfortunately, since Rags was behind me and I was recording the ride I got like no footage of Rags.  You hear her barking a bit and people commenting about her.

Rags on the bike at the Critical Mass Ride in July 2008

Along the ride Rags would bark if Kathy was riding ahead of me.  Rags enjoyed looking behind me and seeing Kathy.  We stopped for Pizza at Milanos on the way home.  It was dripping rain a bit but not too badly.  We ate the pizza outside in it and then rode home.  Nice and quick through Morristown.

Since you miss the dog dfor the most part on the bike ride video, below is a video compilation of Scraps and Rags playing ball and playing in the agility park at the Denville Dog Park the night before (August 28, 2008).  For a little while Duke and Link the Dogs were there playing with them, but for the most part it was just Kathy, Scraps, Rags and a tennis ball.

The unofficial, undergound poster for this critical mass ride.

Rags barking at the neighbors prior to gogin to the dog park.