Five miles that feels like fifty

I took Maya, Rugger, and Axel on a five mile hike today. It was a beautiful day and these three are all ready, willing, and able to do five miles or more. I had all three dogs in harnesses which are the perfect pulling apparatus. They knew that and took full advantage of it. Consequently, for me the five miles felt more like 50.

I could use different equipment that would give me better control and maybe I will in the future, or at least not take these three dogs together. I can't blame much of it on Maya, in fact, she was rather annoyed at them herself for not following proper protocol. It meant more exercise for me and I'm sure my arms, shoulders, and back will feel it tomorrow more than my legs. That's not a bad thing really, I need the exercise. It also meant more exercise for the dogs because they were pulling part of my weight as I was trying to hold them back. At one point I wrapped the leashes behind me and actually encouraged them to pull me when we were going uphill.

It was a good walk. They could have done five more miles, but it was enough to make everyone sleep soundly tonight.

It was best if Maya took the lead and set the pace, but she tired of the boys' behavior and spent
more time walking back by me. 

I usually crop the pictures to focus mostly on the dogs, but I'm tired tonight so I thought I'd show
more of them in large format to give a better sense of the surrounding woods. Of course, if you
are viewing the pictures on a smart phone or tablet, much of the effect will be lost.

It wasn't hot today but we were all ready for the water crossings for a drink and a break.

I'm pretty sure Maya would rather walk with Trooper, TJ, Sparky, or just me.
The two boys together were a bit much.

You can see that there is no slack in the leashes. This was an
uphill section and I have the leashes wrapped behind me so
the dogs are pulling me. It worked well until one of the decided
to stop to sniff or mark and the others kept going.

I should know what this is but I don't. The
foliage is very pretty, the blooms are not.

I sometimes bitch about driving a van, but there's nothing else that would be even close to being
as practical as it is for transporting dogs. These three fit easily in the back end, and there's two
crates behind them that would carry two more dogs if needed.