Red Rock

Alec had been begging to go hiking in the mountains, so we decided to try out a 'dog friendly' trail at Red Rock, before the weather could get too hot. Diapers on a dusty road sounded horrid, so James got to stay with Nana & Grandpa for the morning.

Alec started out strong-running and picking flowers, but after about 10 minutes wanted to be in the backpack...for the duration of the hike.

Although the weather was perfect for us, it was a little warm for the dogs (lots of tongues hanging out), so they'd run ahead to a shady spot and rest until we reached them. Here's Maggie, Milo & Molly acting casual:Tessie, Matt & Paul heading up the trail:Enjoying a pretty little grove we found.

A nice close-up of Toby's tongue, while he tries to beg snacks off Alec.

Milo and Alec resting. I was glad I'd had time to shave Milo down earlier in the week.

I think we'll try a trail at higher elevation next time, since we found loads of cactus bits all over the dogs afterwards. Poor Milo had a huge piece stuck in his tail that we couldn't get off completely until we got home and Maggie had small pieces all over her body.

Lower Cathedral Rock

We had a lovely family hike on Saturday morning. Ever since our last hike 3 weeks ago Alec shouts, "Hike!" everytime he sees mountains and we finally took the hint.We set off from the Lower Cathedral Rock trailhead at Mt Charleston and hiked up to the waterfall. Once there we could let Alec run around and explore some. He immediately found a little cave and dubbed it 'Bambi House'. So, we had to climb up into it several times (for some reason, once in it he was a bit spooked) and got some cute pictures. The dogs were on their best behavior and enjoyed all the other hikers desperate to pet them as Alec toddled along. A very nice break and family outing!