Friday, July 24, 2015

Hiking Georgia With Dogs: Pine Log Creek Trail

Rocco pauses on the trail for a quick pic!
Last weekend Rocco and I  headed up north of Atlanta for some agility practice with our pals Johann, Gracie, Rach and their mum Leslie. Afterward we found this nifty little hiking trail not too far from the Canine Ranch agility field. 




The Pine Log Creek Trail System is located about an hour north of Atlanta in Bartow County near Waleska, Ga.  This hike is a little closer to Atlanta than the hikes we've been doing in the North Georgia mountains, and it was a good choice for it's convenient location near the agility field.


Just beyond the entrance to the hiking trails we happened upon this historical marker at the site where the Cherokee Indians settled prior to 1775. You can read about Pine Log Town's history here.

Back to the hiking trail, we headed out on the West Loop Trail which covers 2.58 miles, including a 400 foot climb over .7 miles. 


The beginning of the trail was a bit wider than the rest of the trail and the dogs were enjoying walking side-by-side. We were all on the move so it's kind of blurry!


This really cool bridge took us across the creek at the start of the trail. 


There were plenty of logs to jump over and to balance on... 


Making it extra fun for Rocco!


At the top of the climb, there was a bit of a view. I imagine you can see more in the winter.

Gall on tree bark

On the way back down we saw this tree with an interesting bark formation. After doing a little research I found this is known as a gall, which can be caused by bacteria, fungi, insects, environmental stress or genetic predisposition.


During one of our many water stops, we also stopped for a photo of all four pups -- Johann, Gracie, Rach and Rocco!

It was super hot that day, and even though it was heavily shaded we were careful to stop often for plenty of hydration for both the humans and the dogs.

The rest of the trail system includes a 1.54-mile East Loop trail while leads to a .03 mile Quarry Trail. We opted not to do the rest of the trails on this day because of the heat. And, we had already run agility early in the morning... so all of us were ready to head back home!


There wasn't a lot of running water on this hike, but this was one nice spot near the end of the trail. 

Before we headed back, we also took a good look for ticks. This was the first time I spotted one on Rocco this season, but we were able to remove all ticks before they attached.

Have you spotted any ticks on your pups this season?
We'd love to hear what kind of remedies you use. Let us know in the comments below!


The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With LoveSlimDoggy and My GBGV Life to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!). Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.



39 comments:

  1. This looks like such a fun hike!

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  2. What a fun hike with all your friends! I bet you love doing some "agility for fun" using things in the woods!

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    Replies
    1. Exactly! Rocco was bounding over branches when he wasn't balancing on them!

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  3. No ticks so far this year...maybe because it's so dry. Looks like a fun hike and four happy pups!

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  4. We haven't found any ticks this year! Glad you got them off Rocco easily. This looks like a great hike. Now that my brother's in Atlanta, I'm hoping Barley and I can visit and enjoy some of the awesome trails in y'all's area!

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    1. Oh, I hope you let us know when you visit! We can find a place to hike together. What part of Atlanta is he in?

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    2. I'm terrible with directions/geography--I think he's in Midtown, but I wouldn't swear to that :) I'll definitely let you know when we'll be in the area!

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  5. I'm so jealous Rocco that looks like such a fun time. I probably wouldn't have been able to handle the heat though! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks. Love Dolly

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    Replies
    1. Rocco handles the heat pretty well. I think it helps that he's not dark and his coat (and Cuban heritage) seems to protect him from the heat and sun.

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  6. Replies
    1. Very green! In fact, lots of my pics have a green cast, I noticed. I guess it's the lighting with all the greenery.

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  7. That looks like a great hike and the scenery is beautiful. I recently read about gall growing on a tree because this particular growth looked like a human face. LOL!

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    Replies
    1. eeeew! I started looking online for gall (actually I googled big bark thing on a tree trunk... had no idea!) and found some pretty amazing looking growths too! I found girdling and burl first and went from there!

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  8. That looks like a beautiful place to hike, and the 4 pups all look so happy! We have way too many ticks around here and we haven't really come up with a good solution yet other than daily checks and a good pair of tweezers!

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    Replies
    1. These were the first ticks we've seen this season. Daily checks are a good idea!

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  9. What a gorgeous group! A d that photo of Rocco on the bridge--adorable! I have not spotted any ticks on the dogs in a very long time. We use Seresto collars when we hike. We will be using them on our upcoming hiking trip to TN. But I still go over the dogs prior to letting them back in the vehicle or house, just in case.

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  10. Mr. N wears a Seresto collar. I've found one tick on him so far this season. I also found one on the steering wheel and I almost shrieked while driving.

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    1. Oh dear! Those ticks are nasty and show up in the oddest places!

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  11. Looks like a great time was had by all. And yes, we've had a couple of ticks this year, which is really unusual for us here on the plains.

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    1. We did have a great time! Good to hear ticks are unusual for you, at least.

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  12. Thankfully, I haven't spotted any ticks on our pups so far this season (knock on wood), but found one on MY left ring finger when pulling back into the garage after an early morning walk at a small park not too far away from us. I couldn't believe my eyes!! That nasty sucker was about to dig in, too. Needless to say, I prevented him from doing that.

    I found several crawling ticks on one of my client's pups, Aussie Benny. He lives in a woody area that's surrounded by pine trees and therefore pine needles, which obviously make great hangout spots for ticks. Yuck. Consequently, his owners just recently treated their yard for ticks and I haven't found any more on him since then (paws crossed).

    Your hike looks wonderful! Even though there wasn't a lot of running water in the creek, it must still have been enough to cool the pups off. Wet paws are great for cooling pups off in the heat :-)

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    1. One tick landed on me but I saw it immediately and got it off! Those ticks sure are bold! Luckily I haven't seen them around our house.

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  13. what a great place, so much fun and exercise and some really cool photos

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