Greetings, all! In this week's blog I wanted to update everyone on how the
research is going for my new Falcon Guide, “Best Dog Hikes Alabama”. It’s slow
going.
Of course, summer in the south is
not a great time for a black Labrador to be hiking so even though we were
scheduled to start the first week of July we had several off weekends due to
the high heat and humidity. But we’re starting to roll now. I took Archer T.
Dog on several “shake down” hikes to get him back into shape. We did all of the
Gulf Coast hikes and some of the Southern Region hikes that weren’t too
strenuous. I was hoping to be ready by now to start tackling some of the bigger
and more difficult trails in the Central and Northern regions, but…
Having said that there is another
wrinkle – Archer is having knee issues so that could hamper his scamper (credit
to Alan Sealls for that line). So, we’ll be treading slowly and softly for a
bit.
Other than that….
That make me chuckle. As I wrote
it I realized that every book I have written starts off with some major issues
that prevent me from getting started. It takes a while but eventually it always
comes together.
Archer and I did a great little
hike at St. Stephens Historical Park in St. Stephens, Alabama, on September 23rd.
The problem with the trails there is that while they take you to some beautiful
scenery and history they are also used by equestrians which cause a few spots
to be thick in mud. One area was so deep just after the trail head that Archer,
and I’m not kidding, began sinking chest deep. I needed to slog in and pull him
out. Poor thing! He was fine, a little shaken up, but now avoids mud puddles.
I had a few people email me this
week with basically the same question so I wanted to answer it in this week's blog: Do I know which trails will be included in one of my hiking books before
I get started? Honestly, no, I don’t.
Even though my publisher, FalconGuides, asks me regularly to do a hiking guide I still have to send in a
proposal that lists the trails I will include. The list includes dozens of
trails I have hiked before, several that I’ve always wanted to hike, and
several new ones that were just opened or that I had never heard of.
The original proposal for “Best
Dog Hikes Alabama” was approved on June 23rd with 40 preliminary trails. Since that time I
have revised the list at least 20 times and as I set out across the state and with the more I explore I will update that list over and over again until I am
satisfied with the trails I have selected – and I hope you will be, too.
That’s it for this week’s blog!
Don’t forget to visit my website which is currently undergoing a face lift for
the latest on new book projects, my latest articles, and my monthly podcasts
and videos. Talk to you next week.
