Wednesday

The Dog Rambler E-diary

top 08
February 2012
Walk Dogs on walk

Half and half walk

Length

6 miles

Cyrano, Dylan, Finn, Jolie, Phoebe, Solo, Tim

The half and half was half woodland and half sun kissed farm tracks. Saulton Wood was the start. Long shadows criss-crossing the many paths and tracks cast by the tall trees reaching for the sallow sky. The sunlight brightening the tops of the trees, grading to darker on the woodland floor. Many gaps where trees had succumbed to the January storm. On the main tracks the fallen comrades had been sawn up and moved to log piles beside the tracks. On the less well used tracks they were still there as we soon found out. Bustling from the car the dogs jumped over the first of the puddles. A deep frozen one beside the gate. Another cold but sparking day. Solo and Dylan did not jump the next one instead they slid about on its solid surface. They would not repeat that later on. Phoebe did, however, falling through a thinner section of ice on a long puddle trapped in the ruts of the track. With Phoebe and Finn already in a tangle and Tim yapping about them we came across four fallen trees. Solo showed us the way picking up what is fast becoming a path around them. Cyrano snuffled about the trees, looking for a good to stick to show me.

Jolie bounded back and forth not sure whether to race off ahead once passed the trees or to keep an eye on me. Dylan was keeping a low profile as we emerged onto a main track heading for an exit from the wood and into the farmland. First he had to tackle a large fallen tree trunk. Making quite a meal of it the others came back to encourage him on.

He watched as Finn, Jolie, Phoebe and Tim raced each other along the track between green shooted fields. But he was not for joining in. Cyrano still had a stick and he was soon joined by Solo. In the distance the white dusted slopes of the Lammermuir Hills rose to a long ridge meeting the sky. Off white clouds were gathering. Gauze thin just now, faintly stifling the light from the sun. The ground still hard underfoot. No sign of a thaw setting in. We followed the track as it turned at right angles between the fields. Shifting our view from the Lammermuir Hills to the southern edge of the wood and rolling farmland beyond. Then another turn to reveal a tumble down cottage, transformed inside into a little garden and lawn. Behind it the growing height of the trees as we headed back toward the middle of the wood. Once in it we set off for a small path weaving between the trees. Access to it was hampered by fallen trees and spread-eagled branches. We were doing well and just about beyond them I noticed Tim was not with us. It turned out he was still back on the path and was refusing to come this way. We had to head back to one of the main tracks. As Phoebe and Finn were again looking like they were tearing each other to pieces he rather sluggishly followed behind not far from Dylan. Cyrano was hooked on sticks even though I refused to pick them up and let him fulfil his desire to chase them. No matter how close he dropped them to me. Jolie looking for a bit of fun hurtled in to join Finn and Phoebe leaving Solo with his pendulum tail to take us back into the darker sections of the wood. The sound of chainsaws still clearing trees had us diverting again onto other tracks. The dogs having to show their agility jumping a broad tree trunk as we made our way back to

our outward track. This swung us back around to the car park where we were just able to jump into the car before a women let her two out of her car. Nick

Photo slideshow from the walk

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