midweek hike with milton

This year, Pioneer Day fell smack in the middle of the week.  There wasn't a whole lot we could do with that, plus H, who doesn't get it as a holiday, was unable to take the day off.  That left the responsibility for goofing off squarely on Milton's and my shoulders.  We took it very seriously, getting into the car by 6:30 a.m. to drive up Millcreek Canyon for a hike. 

On even-numbered days, dogs are required to be leashed and bikes are allowed on most of the trails.  That was fine by us: Milton's recall is not great yet off-leash, especially with distractions like squirrels and birds.  We were also early enough that we didn't encounter all that many MTBers.  We parked in a lot at the entrance to the Terraces road, then walked down the canyon road to the Burch Hollow trailhead.  Usually when we do this hike, we go up Terraces, across to Elbow Fork, across the road and back down the Pipeline trail to Burch Hollow.  This time we were doing it in reverse, to get the Pipeline section out of the way first since it is much less shady than the Elbow Fork/Terraces trail.

Milton hates having his picture taken

I don't know why I like this loop so much - there's a fair amount of up, and it's pretty steep!  Milton still pulls a little on the leash and I was glad to let him in a couple of spots, like the switchbacks out of Burch Hollow and the climb from Elbow Fork to the ridge.  That climb is relentless and, being in the woods with the creek, it was quite humid.  We stopped for water when we got to the ridge and the sweat was literally pouring off my face.  I had sweated through the straps of my backpack!

Once on the ridge, it was drier.  We saw just eight other hikers, all women.  Milton wasn't in the mood to stop for pats either: he was on a mission and that mission was hiking.  We cruised down the (again, steep) switchbacks into the Terraces picnic area, then followed the road out for the last quarter mile back to the car. 

The clouds kept it fairly cool, which was nice 

We were out for about 2.5 hours, doing around 6.2 miles.  Milton did great and was happy to sit in the shade by the car while I changed my boots and had a beer.  (Yes, at 9:30 in the morning.  It was a holiday!)