Osprey Trail
November 5th, 2007The weather has cooled a bit so it’s a perfect time to take a hike in Florida. I chose one of my favorites places the beach hike at Honeymoon Island State Park. I loaded Ron (my 100 pound German Shepard) into the truck and off we went. In Ron’s previous life I believe he was a fish. He loves the water. I strapped on his backpack and the hike began. We actually made it about 10 feet into the trail when his pack slid off. The contents were not evenly distributed. A half gallon jug of water on one side and a pack of raisins on the other. I added a couple of my camera lenses into the raisin side to even out the weight. Off we go. I noticed a beautiful lone Black-eyed Susie calling me for a candid shot. I crept into the underbrush dropped down low to get an up close angle. Ron followed me into the brush for backup. I headed back to the path and felt a shark pain on my thigh. Ouch, every step I took hurt. I looked down and there they were. About 30 sandspurs had attacked my nylon shorts. It’s hard to descibe the pain that one small sandspur can inflict on a body. You try to pull them out and then they become lodged in your fingers. They hurt for hours. Ron had a few between the pads of his feet and he was able to chew them out. Onward we trecked. I forgot to mention that Ron is hyperactive and his sensory perception was on overload. He could smell the salty air and hear the gulls screeching. He was tugging on the leash causing the unstable backpack to lean from one side to the other. I noticed the backpack dripping water somehow the top had come lose and the water was leaking out. Another stop to attend to the backpack. Finally I gave up trying to be leader of the pack and unleashed him. I know it’s against the rules but he needed to release his energy. Off he went right into the warm gulf waters, backpack and all. “Oh please don’t roll in the water my lenses are in there.” After an hour long romp in the surf we headed back down the trail on the lookout for those deadly sandspurs.