Brian and Fitz Roy Indulge In Some Male Bonding Adventures
Recently Sylvia traveled back to Peru for a family visit. This left Brian and Fitz Roy alone to fend for themselves. Fortunately, obedience training has paid off handsomely. Brian has overcome his separation anxiety and is now much better able to handle such situations.
This is the first time Brian, the Minister of Expedition Planning, has spent serious time with Fitz Roy without team Dog Whisperer Sylvia. The two did some serious male bonding together.
They went on a few walks in some of the area’s best natural areas…Wilkerson Nature Preserve, Forest Ridge Park and Green Hills County Park.
This is not our first hike in Wilkerson Nature Preserve, but it was only our second time to Hidden Rocks, and Fitz’s first. Hidden Rocks is somewhat less impressive than Durant Nature Preserve’s Whale Rocks, but still impressive. Climbing on the rocks is prohibited because of rare plant restoration. It certainly lives up to its name; the rocks are located quite some distance up the trail in the woods, and we saw no one there apart from a few squirrels.
We also visited Forest Ridge Park, just a few minutes from our house. This brand new park borders Falls Lake, and the lake is always one of Fitz’s favorite places to visit. This time the duo of Fitz and Brian walked a new trail, the Peninsula Trail, which is mostly a wide dirt road meant for hiking and biking. The last quarter mile is a more conventional trail that descends to the tip of a finger of land that extends well into the lake – IE a peninsula. The views here are the best we have seen of the lake so far.
Green Hills County Park has been in existence for some years now, but we have not visited since the park was fully completed…last time we were here Fitz did not even exist yet, and the park was still heavily under construction. It’s changed quite a bit and is now a fine place to visit.
The “Green Hill” that gives the park its namesake is actually the former Wake County Landfill, now fileld in and transformed into green space. This is one of the very few large hills of note in the RTP area, and the view from it – which extends all the way to downtown – is impressive. The hill will someday in all likelihood be wooded, unless it is kept mowed by the county. Currently it is fully open, just grass and low shrubs to the summit.
It reminds me a bit of Millenium Park in Boston, which was opened in the 1990’s on the site of what was Boston’s largest dump. It’s a very pleasant place to visit now with wide views of the Charles River.
There are other trails in the park to explore but not this day. We went back down to the car for a snack.
Sylvia has returned to us from Peru and with properly trained Brian we’re already planning our next adventure further afield!
