Woodland Widdles

We get all four of our Beagles out together on most walks now, but but from time to time it’s nice to give each pair of furries their own dedicated adventure. A little while back the youngsters got to do a woodland walk in Stewarton, and a week later Beanie and Biggles returned to the Ayr Gorge walk in Mauchline. They’ve done this walk a number of times over the years, and it’s always one they enjoy, with lots of ups and downs and sniffs at every turn. Catch it on a good day in the right season, and it’s truly magical.

One of the signature points on the walk is where the path is framed by two huge old trees, as shown in this shot from one of our previous visits, below.

This is now gone forever; the tree on the left has been felled. I can only hope there was a valid reason for this, rather than it being part of some harebrained scheme by the local council. I must admit the sight of this once great tree reduced to a stump dampened my spirits, but it didn’t seem to have the same effect on the Beaglets; Biggles trotted right up to it with a waggy tail, peed on it, and moved on, snapping me out of my moment of reflection. The Bigglet has always been very good at living in the moment; the only time he ever dwells on things lost is when part of his chew drops down between the boards on our deck. Even then, just slip another treat into his chewing gear and he’s instantly happy again.

This time of year the bluebells are very much in evidence, and The Beanster went on a few off-path sniffing missions among them, at least until her extending lead hit its end stop.

From time to time the sun cut through the trees and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this particular trail looking more beautiful.

In the midst of this uplifting beauty, Biggles reacted much as he had done to the sight of the tree. This reminded me of the famous Zen parable “Is that so”, in which a Zen master meets changes in fortune with the same calm, stable mood.

The pee that says “Is that so?”

Is Biggles a furry Zen Master, or just a little Beagle boy that likes peeing on stuff?

We did the standard figure-of-eight route that looped us back to the van. I think it took about 90 minutes, by which time everything that needed to be sniffed had been sniffed, everything that needed to be drenched in pee was suitably wet and smelly, and every doggy biccie that had been in my pocket was now in a tummy getting processed (probably with some other things that shouldn’t end up in a tummy).

Walks with the youngsters may be more lively, but when you want a carefree stroll in nature, you just can’t beat the original team.