We love walking in the forest when we are at the cabin.  Except during the summer months.  The bug situation makes walking no fun.

We have quite a variety of pests.  There are black files, several kinds of mosquitoes, gnats, and deer flies.  The biting things start in May and usually wind down in August.  This year we had a bumper crop.  I think it was due to our cool wet summer.

The nasty flying things are particularly attracted to our brown colored dogs and the humans who happen to be with them.

But last weekend the temps dipped down into the low 50’s overnight which meant a beautiful morning with no bugs.  We headed out for a walk to one of our favorite spots on the Muskegon River.  It is an easy walk of about 1.5 miles round trip (according to my pedometer).

Thunder and Storm went on a walk/run around our little neighborhood earlier and visited with any neighbors who were out and about.  They did not mind being left at home for a bit while we took Freighter with us on our walk.

As we headed out, Freighter found some good things to smell.

Good Smells
Good Smells

We headed down the road.

This Is A Good Open Road To Run On
This Is A Good Open Road To Run On

Then turned to head into the forest.

Heading To The Forest
Heading To The Forest

This is one of my favorite little stretches to walk.  The trees seem to form a little tunnel around the trail.

On The Trail
On The Trail

Finally we made it to the river.

River
Muskegon River

Freighter goes on lead when we get here because there is quite a drop off to the river.  He could probably get down, but I am not sure how he would get back up.

Pretty Steep Drop Off
Pretty Steep Drop Off

The banks of the river are pretty overgrown.  As is typical of rivers, there are many trees that are on the verge of falling in.  They make for interesting pictures.

River Tree
River Tree…You Can Just See The River In The Back Ground

Hubby hunts wood ducks on this river, but he goes to an area where it does not have the steep embankments.  There is also a place closer to the cabin where we can take the dogs to swim in the river.

Freighter By The River
Freighter By The River

Thunder and Freighter are headed for the dog show tomorrow.  It is an outside show.  They are calling for some rain.  Hope any rain ends before our turn.  🙂

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much to SlimDoggy, MyGBGV Life, and To Dog with Love for K-9 Kamp and for the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!

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21 thoughts on “River Walk”

  1. Great spot to go romping around. Wish we could be off leash, but no change with our critter hunting noses! Good luck at the show and I hope you have decent weather, rain would be a real bummer!

  2. Oh dear don’t like the sound of all the flies and things. Sounds a bit like up North where things can be pretty charming except for the little biting things. Good luck in the show. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

  4. Hi Y’all!

    Oh wish I was there to take that walk with Freighter!

    Paws crossed for good weather and a Championship and Best in Show for Freighter. (Hey, you gotta think BIG!)

    Our rains have been mostly thunder boomers that are ridge runners. You can climb high and hit pouring rain and the sun is shining when you once more get to lower elevations. People think they are lookin’ at fog, but those are really rain clouds sittin’ on the mountains. The lightning in them has been known to kill people who are unaware what they are walkin’ into.

    Good luck y’all!
    Hawk aka BrownDog

  8. I love that last picture of Freighter! What a happy boy! This looks like a great place to walk–I love trails where the trees feel like a tunnel, too.

  9. Those are some beautiful photos!! Those nasty biting bugs love Delilah and me as well. It is one of the reasons I dislike summer so much.

    A few years back I got bit by a deer fly and got cellulitis. It was not fun. They are just as nasty as horse flies!!

    Good luck at the show!

  10. That looks like it would be a beautiful walk! It’s really buggy here in the summer, too. The only thing I don’t like about summer!

  11. Yes bugs can ruin a nice walk! Looks like we both had a great walk along a river! Love Dolly

  13. Insects are the reason we don’t take a lot of walks in the wooded areas. Now that it is cooler, though, perhaps we will. Looks like you all had a great time. 🙂

  17. Good luck at the show and I hope it doesn’t rain before you have your turn. And you’re not kidding about the bugs; they have a way of ruining walks for sure. Poor Laika doesn’t even like going out when the deer flies are bad, she spends the whole time trying to eat them.

  18. That looks like a beautiful place to walk, and yay for the bugs going away! That’s definitely one of the highlights of fall! Hope all is going well at the show.

  20. That looks like a GREAT place to walk. We have a ton of icky bugs down here in FL, too. Year round. Meh. I can’t wait for some cooler air. 50s would be heavenly!

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