Graham Cave State Park

It was a way hot day to go hiking, and he started off by the river, which in Missouri, means lots of mosquitoes. You could see this little cloud following the dogs and I just kept hoping that the dogs weren't attracting them to me. I like this photo because is seems like William and Cella and surveying the terrain together. Does Marbre look scared? It might be obvious by the tail between her legs. She was and did not want to sit next to me on this ledge. I would love to know what kind of conditions this tree was growing in to turn out like this. This looks like I am being mean, but I swear I am not. Cella jumped off this ledge with no problems, and it wasn't too terribly high. Funny thing is once I got Marbre pulled off and to the bottom, she looks around all happy like "that was easy, no big deal". Mom came with us on the hike. She ended up with way more ticks than William or I did, not to sure she was too happy about that. We climbed down into this little cave, and William climbed to the middle of a fallen tree to get some good pictures...but they all turned out blurry :( Can you see the ferns? This was part of fern ridge. This is Graham's cave. We couldn't go inside because it was filled to the ceiling with rocks as a sort of preservation technique against bugs that were ruining the artifacts. Cella needed a boost so she could see over the railing, at least William thought so.

Pinnacle State Park

The thing about Cella, is she is fearless. She has no problems jumping off cliff faces...so William kept telling me, if she jumps, just let her go, don't try to hold on. I am always awed by the way trees grow. The fact that they can grow out of rock is just amazing. Then they get these funky shapes that I could just stare at forever. We made it to the very top! Don't the dogs look worn out? Marbre had to be coaxed to the edge for the picture. She isn't as dare devil as Cella. The view from the top. These pinnacles were made by the two rivers on either side eroding away at the rock over time. You would have to see an aerial shot to see it, but the top of these formations get to ten feet wide in places and stretch for a ways. An exhausted Marbre. Off of William's shoulder you can see the hole we climbed through to get out of there. We had to hand the dogs through, though this particular hole Cella decided to run around the huge rock (the others we had to lift her). I was proud of Marbre for handling the heights quite well, she didn't whine at all. Not extremely tall, but high enough to hurt if you fall off. Cella is a water dog every chance she can get. Marbre will play in the water, but never likes to go above her shoulders.