🐾 Davy’s Big Adventure at Bays Mountain with Kimchi!

Hi! I’m Davy, and even though my big sister Amber hikes way more than I do, I still love going out on the trails with Mama. Last weekend was extra special because Mama took me to Bays Mountain—and my girlfriend Kimchi came too! Her mama, Auntie Joanne, came along, and it was the first time Kimchi and I ever got to hike together. I wanted to show her one of my very favorite dog-friendly hikes.

We started out on Lake Road, just walking and sniffing and having the best time. Then we got to this place where you can go, like, FIVE different ways. I don’t know why humans need that many choices, but it looked super cool. Auntie Joanne had been up the mountain by the quarry before, but I wanted to show her and Kimchi the coolest hike ever, so we went straight onto the Back Hollow Road Trail.

Back Hollow is quiet and shady and smells amazing. There’s a creek back there where Kimchi and I got our paws wet—she splashed me first, but I pretended I let her win. We found an old house and a barn (I think that’s what they were). I even went inside the barn a little bit until Mama spotted a HUGE bee nest hanging from the ceiling. I didn’t see any bees, but Mama and Auntie Joanne said we had to leave. Total bummer, but I listened because I’m a good boy.

After that, we walked through a little valley where the hills were so steep I felt like I could jump from one side to the other in one leap. Kimchi probably could too, even though she’s smaller than me. We stayed on the trail, except when we chased squirrels. (They started it.)

One of my eyes started bothering me while we were hiking. It got kind of hard to see out of it, and I heard Mama and Auntie Joanne whispering about “swelling” and “vet,” but I didn’t want to stop. I was having too much fun showing Kimchi around.

Eventually we climbed up a hill and switched onto the Cross Ridges Trail. Mama says that trail is way longer than the part we did, so I’m definitely going back to do the whole thing. I’m a trail dog now—I’ve got goals.

Cross Ridges took us down to another creek, and of course Kimchi and I splashed again. Then we turned onto Front Hollow Road Trail, which made me feel like a real explorer because we did Back Hollow and Front Hollow in the same day. How cool is that?

Front Hollow led us up to Ledbetter Gap, and once we crossed the gate, boom—we were back on Lake Road like magic. We followed it all the way to the dam. I LOVE the dam. There’s lake on one side, road on the other, and water running down the road side like a waterfall. I don’t know how it works, but it’s awesome. And we get to walk right on top of it. Double awesome.

The only bad part was when we had to go back to the car afterward. Kimchi stayed to hang out for a little bit, but she was tired from our big adventure. I think she liked hiking with me, though. Now she knows my favorite trail, and maybe I can show her more soon. Amber has hiked every trail at Bays Mountain, and I want to do that too. Maybe Kimchi can come with me every time.

Love, Davy