He can do it!

So on Wednesday we had treatment #2. It was not looking good for the home team - Leo had no energy, the poops, and still had a swollen shoulder node. But this weekend - well, Sunday - was just glorious. And I mean glorious - 70, sunny, light breeze. On Saturday, Leo had been, well, pretty darn good! He had energy - it was coming back - and was eating like a champ. His stomach issues seemed to have abated a bit (granted, he was eating chicken and rice and pumpkin), and I need to go on a Geology field trip. So, off we go!

Stop 1 - basalt! There's a parking lot behind me.

We went to the Watchung Reservation, a place where I send students for their field trips.  I needed to get some pictures and do some recon, and it was seriously picture perfect. I grabbed a self-guided geology tour guide book and walked along, past this basalt outcrop (look, jointing!) and into the carriage trail

 We stopped at the Puddingstone boulder for a little selfie action.  Well, actually, some timer action, along with this nice little tripod-thing that I have for my old 5mp camera (seriously, it's almost worse than my phone!)

The puddingstone boulder, which is a famous named glacial erratic. EO for scale. 

Glacial erratics. These ones are sedimentary, but nothing like what's around here. ICE ICE BABY.

The hike was good, but finding all of the stops was certainly a challenge. The red shale and red sandstone were hidden behind some branches - and I knew what I was looking for!

Red sandstone and red shale. EO for scale. 

 The stream channel on the left, however was a perfect example of the cut bank and point bar. The cut bank was steep (overly-so), and the point bar was growing out (it wasn't even vegetated!) The stream channel had boulders, cobbles, sand and mud - all of 'em. It was really a great example of how a stream migrates and moves, as well as the idea that the stream is really built to handle larger flows, rather than it's "normal" flow - or, as in days like today, low flow.

Stream, cut bank, point bar, rounded stones - you know, all that stuff I teach in GEO 100.

After the hike, we took off and started walking. Leo wanted to GO, so I let him! We went probably another 2 miles, in addition to the one and a half to two we already did, then circled back to the campground portion of the reservation.

Leo wants to hike, not do this picture thing. Selfies, at our age?

 Leo took advantage of me letting go of his leash to go off running through the empty campground, trotting through the grass and having a grand time. He even threw himself on the ground for a good roll on the lawn, just for kicks.

This is before he galloped away, trotting through the grassy field like some kind of border collie. Oh, right.

 Watching him run was a bit much for me. He was just so damn happy. Made me think - did we do right by him? We didn't have a yard. We didn't have a place for him to galavant and all that. But he hiked, and went to the park and camping and had long walks and all that. But yeah.

A Moment.

 I pulled myself together and asked some very nice people to take a picture of the two of us. Of course, right here it looks like i'm strangling him. Almost - he was desperately trying to get some kind of something in the grass right in front of him that may or may not have been food but dammit he was going to try.

SIT STILL DAMMIT SERIOUSLY DON'T EAT THAT... Cheese!

It was absolutely perfect. The weather was great, EO had a good time, I got out of the house and did something relatively related to what I do. The reservation was very nice, and there were a ton of people taking advantage of the beautiful day, and a lot of folks with dogs. And I hope they all realize how awesome it is to hike with a dog, because it is the best thing ever.