Long Path to Long Mountain

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/3/2019	2 miles				13.4

Map:NYNJTC Harriman North
Parking: Parking lot off of Route 6
Directions: https://www.nynjtc.org/hike/long-path-long-mountain-summit-harriman-state-park


Today I returned back to hike up Long Mountain. I did this hike last weekend without Glen and Trek. Today the weather was nice (almost felt like spring), so Glen and Trek came along. When we got to the trailhead, I noticed there was a lot more snow there this week. Neither of us brought our microspikes. That was a bad mistake. We started out, with Trek on leash, and Krummholz off leash. Krummholz was jealous of Trek and pulled like crazy. Today I at least came prepared with treats. A one pound bag - so I would be sure not to run out. I worked on changing directions, but that didn't work so well. He'd keep pulling the opposite way. And he was so high/distracted, he wasn't interested in my treats. Luckily no other people around to watch my pathetic attempts to teach loose leash walking.

At the summit we were rewarded with a nice view. We could see people ice fishing in the lake below us. We continued down the other side of the mountain - this part I remember from last week was tough. There had been lots of solid ice last week, so I had bushwhacked around it. This week was worse. Now there was snow covering everything, so you couldn't see where there was ice under it. I started falling. A lot. I eventually decided the only way I was going to get down the mountain was with Krummholz off leash. Ack. I don't quite feel ready for him to be off leash - but luckily we had the trail to ourselves going down the mountain - so I didn't have to worry about him running up to people or other dogs. Other than once when he started running back up the mountain, he did fine. I practiced recalls with him, and they were much better off leash than when I had been trying them on leash. Trek also sets a good example for him. I continued to fall. I managed to hit the back of my head on a tree once when falling. Not a good day. No more winter hiking without microspikes along. Near the end of the hike I put Krummholz back on leash. He was slightly better about not pulling. And then at the very end, we worked on loose leash walking like we practice at home - basically feeding him every 3 steps. He finally had settled down enough that he could do it.

We are starting to practice random recalls in our yard. I have him on a long line just in case. I make sure to carry treats on me. So far he's doing great, and it transferred over to our hike today. I need to figure out this loose leash walking thing better though. I need to figure out incrementally more distracting areas to practice in.