Sunday Dollar Hike

I don't usually hike on the weekend. It's always too crowded, there are never parking spots, and the people seem to be of the "stupid" type. Like tourists.
Yesterday I took my chances with Dollar hill.
It was warm, around 85 or so, which is "hot" for the vast majority of GP residents. Perfect weather for a hike in my opinion, so I harnessed up Conker, grabbed my Camelbak and filled it with water, tossed in a few things I always take on hikes, an headed off for Dollar Hill.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we walked to Dollar Hill rather than drove. I was too lazy to move Mom's and my Grandparent's cars out of my Jeeps' way so we left the Jeep at home and walked the two miles to the trailhead.

Conker waits for me as I rest in the shade in the "parking lot" across from the trailhead. He explored the area a bit then impatiently began to whine at me and glance at the trailhead.

Since I did not have a good enough camera in the spring for flower pictures, here is a residual flower I found along the trail. It's bright purple hue really stuck out amongst the dry browns that covered the ground.

Conker, at first, seemed happy to be on a trail. He haven't hiked in a while. He did a lot of running on the first flat section of the trail. (I did not get any pictures of that.)

The first of several very steep climbs was a breeze for Conker. He usually powers up this one then lags behind on all the others.

Barely visible in this picture is the small cowbell I bought for Conker. He wears it so I can tell where he is without having to look all over for him. It also serves as an early warning if he takes off after an animal that I did not see first, and provides me with his rough location so I can find him.

Another residual flower. This one wasn't as bright as the first, and the camera failed to capture it's correct hue, but it was very beautiful.

Around the second steep incline is where Conker begins to get annoyed. He does not like Dollar Hill anywhere near as much as Cathedral Hills. But he puts up with it.

The summer view of GP is pretty cool, but I get annoyed with all the buildings after about two seconds and wish that none of them existed.

It helps when your dog is a goofball and starts to slide off the rock after he lays down.

Overall it wasn't a bad walk/hike. I think we'll do it again soon, and leave the Jeep at home again. Walking turns Dollar Hill, which is otherwise a 2 mile hike, into a 6 mile walk/hike. That's a much better workout and doesn't use any gas (money) in the process.