Dinosaurs and Dogs
Pre-Picnic Scouting Report and Pics (click here for Club Run & Picnic info)
Monday, May 12, 2003

by Sarah Brown

The dinosaurs greet us, Torridon knows she is faster than these, but is she faster than Scott?

My dogs, Torridon and Gwyn, and I made it out to dinosaur valley state park today for a pre run and general look around of the route I was planning for the picnic run in a few weeks.

It was a clear and pleasant start, I had a route in mind so crossed the river on the stepping stones and headed out round the pasture and up towards the gate that marks the start of the 'new' trails. dogs were having a blast, they definitely appreciated the clear and cool weather and chased each other up and down the trail.  from the gate we dropped down on sweet singletrack [the orange trail, it is well marked now], not tooo twisty, few rocks, thru a few trees and past what is left of the wildflowers. it is a little overgrown in places but I spoke to the warden and he said he plans to cut it back soon.  still passable with no problems.

I was surprised how quickly we cam to the junction with the next [white] trail.  we had found a few dried out streams with some really slimy water in for the dogs to cool off in, well they wouldn't want clean running water now !  we continued on the white trail, past lots of cactus which is beginning to bloom and should be out for the picnic.  I usually ride this trail and it seems much smoother to run it, altho it was noticeably less rocky, even if all the climbs are still there. and there are plenty of those.

The front of the pavillion, it extends under the trees.  there are taps and grills nearby and a basic children's play area with swings.  Steps to the side lead down to the river.

I wanted to get onto the green trail to head back in, but messed up somehow [be warned this is really easy to do] so had to backtrack about a mile, but that was ok as it is down one of the tributary streams, so the dogs had more water to play in.  and they had one of my sandwiches.  soon on the green trail, this is one of my favorites to ride and was fun to run as well. especially when it started to thunder and RAIN. hope you guys appreciate me getting soaked out there today!  torridon hates thunder so we seemed to be making a fast run up all the hills and were soon at the viewpoint and it stopped raining, even if she could still hear the thunder.  we dropped down the steep yellow trail and finished up back at the stepping stones.

the run took about 2 1/2 hours [ok I forgot to take my watch] but a lot of that time was letting the dogs drink/wallow and taking photos, oh and getting lost !  so I would think it will be a 2 hour run when we all go out.

make sure you mark your calendars as it should be a fun day, a bit of running [or hiking and looking at dino prints] playing and swimming in the river and a cookout. see you there June 7th.

Dino footprints (there are clearer ones); click here for more pics

Sarah

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