Grassy trails

Alpha is taking me on a walk by himself.

It's always a little risky, since Mom isn't there to make sure we don't get into trouble.

But this looks like a pretty cool "trail".

As in mowed path through the field.

Good choice Alpha.  Good boy ;-)

Goin' for a walk

Come on! It's a beautiful day for a walk.

A little cold, but at least I have my double layer and winter vest on.


Awww, look at the nice woodland trail.

Let's get going.


Come on now.

Let's boogie! Run, run, run.

Muddy trail; colorful walkers

Well, it looks like it won't be a white Christmas over here.

We had 4" of snow a few days ago, but now it is all gone.

And we're left with some muddy trails as a result.

Fortunately, Mom and I are here to brighten up your day.

You are SO lucky ;-)

OK, we're heading home now

Well, that awesome vacation had to come to a close at some point.

So we're headed home, or at least back to the hotel


So that wraps it up for one more of our Alpine hiking adventures in Switzerland.

I hope you liked all of the scenery.

Mom and Alpha say next year they might try the Italian alps.

That is, if they haven't gone bankrupt by then (hee, hee).

Would probably make things cheaper, anyway ;-)

Switzerland is really pricey these days.

Yo! Snow! WTH?

Oh My God! Is it time for snow already? I'm finding this just a little bit rude.

Now I will admit it is kinda pretty. But ya know what? It can be as pretty as it wants to be in the Alps. For me, I'll take leaves over snow any day.

Oh well, at least one of us is smiling! Hey Mom, doncha think this trail is a little bit muddy?

So I think I'll vote with my paws. And my paws say: "Let's go home now."

Woodland walk

Wow. Doesn't Mom look good on our new woodland walk? Oh yeah, and moi as well ;-)


See, isn't this cool looking trail, with the overarching trees. We just found this one near our house.

We really need to do more exploring ;-)

Where are we headed?

So this trail just keeps on going.


Sure is beautiful. Not a bad place to be a cow I'd say.

Happy cows make yummy alpine cheese I hear. Though my parents can't let me taste it -- cheese is verboten on my diet.


Man, look at that. This trail is just like the energizer bunny ... it keeps going and going .... cut right into the side of the mountain.

Well-worn trail

This is on the walk down town. There's a grass field we walk through, and as you can see, it gets enough traffic that I don't have to blaze my own trail. That's not true on some of our other walks.

I can see pavement

Well, things are looking up ...

At least I can see some pavement now.

Spring -- here's hopin' you are somewhere around the corner.

Wonder what's over there?

So I was walking through the fields, and noticed some interesting smells over yonder. I wonder what's over there?


Only one way to find out. 'scuse me while I head off the trail.


Oops. Nothing here, and I am now in the middle of no where!


OK, well, I did make it back (quite a challenge in the crunchy snow).

Did you miss me?

Marking the trail

No, no, no, not THAT kind of marking the trail. Jeez, this is a family blog ya know ;-)

When you are hiking, you have to be able to follow the trail. So kind people mark it in some manner. They can use "blazes" on trees, but on granite, would have to paint the rock -- and this won't do you any good in the winter.

So they also build little "cairns" -- piles of rocks -- to mark the trail, like the one I'm sitting next to.

Here's a different kind of trail marking. There are many very old chiseled names in Mt. Kearsarge, but this one looks like a memorial for a friend. I guess I'm helping to keep Jake and Rob remembered.