Fall Leaf Ride/High Bridge Trail State Park

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Saturday Haley, my DH and I went on our annual "Fall Leaf Ride". This was the first long ride for Haley and he did ok with it.
Hurry up! I'm ready to go!

It was a beautiful Fall day. It had rained the night before and everything was fresh and clean. The Fall colors were beautiful.

Along the way we saw a pasture with cows close to the road and stopped for a photo op. When Haley saw the cows he started barking but the cows were much more interested in me taking their picture and this one just had to pose for me.

We got to our destination, High Bridge Trail State Park. This park is a trail in an old rail bed with a 2,400 ft long bridge 125 feet over the Appomattox River and is open to hiking, biking and horseback riding We parked in a parking lot 1 mile from the bridge.
First highlight of the trip was that we me a beautiful chocolate labradoodle named Jasper. We were getting ready to walk to the bridge and Jasper and his people were going to lunch and then were going to do the trail. Haley and Jasper hit it off right away and wanted to have a romp right there and then!
There were lots of people on the trail, both on foot and riding all types of bicycles. Haley has had very little experience with bikes but wasn't fazed by them. ( We saw no horses.) He had little interest in other dogs with the exception of Jasper.

The bridge was very tight with people on bikes and dogs coming and going. Haley was on his best behavior and for this country doodle not use to crowds he did well in the tight space. The views were beautiful from the bridge.

Appomattox River

We got to the other side and turned back the way we came. We then met some people who stopped us to ask it Haley was a golden doodle. They had lost their 15 year old Golden Retriever this past year. We talked for quite some time finding that we had a lot of things in common. Haley even rolled on his back for belly rubs from them (something he rarely does).

We continued on and ran into Jasper and his people again.

When we got to the end of the bridge we were stopped by some goldendoodle owners who asked about Haley and we talked with them for some time. All of the doodle owners were invited to join DK. Hopefully they will.
We stopped for a photo op at the end of the trail.

The people in the background are the Golden owners who lost their dog this year.

We got back to the parking lot and the State Park employee's attending the lot asked all about Haley. Then we headed home. It was beautiful with the late afternoon sun. The sun set was pretty making a beautiful end to a wonderful day.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Great pictures.....sounds like a wonderful day!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Thank you for all the photos of fall color and best of all of Haley! It sounds like a truly wonderful day!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Beautiful photos Anne of what sounds like a special day. I am used to being the center of attention when out and about with the dogs" otherwise I am cloaked in anonymity : )

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

What a beautiful area to spend the day! The photos are gorgeous!

[Miss Ellie]

Gorgeous photo and I just loved your blog.  The fall colours are just incredible...and Haley is so handsome!

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Thanks every one.  I was happy to share the day. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This sounds like a fun day.  What  beautiful country. Of course my favorite pic is the last one - Haley with his tongue hanging out!

[DJ & Chance]

Gorgeous Fall photos!

[Kyoko]

What a beautiful pictures.... I am glad that you all had a wonderful day.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Sounds like Haley was a big hit and you had a great time. I enjoyed the photos and the blog. Thank you for sharing.