I don't know if she heard something (I didn't) or possibly scented on something like a bear, coyote or wolf? Who knows.
In any case, we had to turn back after less than a mile of hiking. It was probably a good thing, though, since we were both crawling with ticks by then.
Wisconsin is getting really bad with ticks. Seems like we can't go anywhere between April and November without having ticks on us. May and June seem to be the absolute worst months, which is a shame because by then we're just dying to get out on the trails.
But there's a new tick disease that's got me a little worried because there is no cure and it's popping up in our area. I'm starting to think that between Charlie's fearfulness on trails recently and the constant threat of tick diseases, that we might be better off switching gears this summer and spending more time kayaking rather than hiking.
I've been planning on buying a kayak this spring and am just waiting for my tax return to make the purchase. Charlie and I love being out on the water and it's been a few years since we've had a kayak, so maybe this will be our "thing" this year.
I'm sure we'll still be out on a few of the "less wilderness" trails on a few weekends here and there (where ticks are less prevalent), and we definitely have a couple of camping trips scheduled, but since we live so close to the Wisconsin River, we could take the kayak out every night after work. That sounds like a ton of fun to me!
