So about those mountains....

[ctribucher]

We had an adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday... we spent the day hiking at South Mountains State Park and then Linville Gorge (photos below!) and drove up onto the Parkway to find a nice spot for our dinner picnic. It was around 8:00 PM when we packed up and were headed back to Charlotte when we spotted a loose dog on the side of the road!

Being the animal lovers that we are, we pulled over onto a grassy area on the side of the road and approached the dog with a spare leash we had in the car. With caution, we called to him, only to discover that he was super sweet and very friendly!

Of course, our beagle was not going to permit us to put a strange dog into the car with us (nor did we want to... even though he was a friendly dog, we didn't feel the need to take any chances. There's a fine line to walk between providing assistance to an animal vs. putting yourself in danger.). We had just passed an apple orchard/store about a half a mile away, so we headed that way to see if anyone knew the dog or could help us.

The people at the orchard were just so kind to us! We explained the situation and where we found the dog and asked if he belonged to them or anyone that lived nearby. They didn't recognize him, but offered to keep him at their house for the weekend while they looked for his owners. Truly, that was above and beyond what I thought they would do - all I really wanted to know was the phone number for the local shelter or Humane Society.

When we returned to Charlotte, I looked the orchard up on line and sent an e-mail to them inquiring after the dog. As of Saturday evening, nobody has claimed him. The folks at the orchard are going to contact the Humane Society today. I hope they can find his owners, as the dog was obviously somebody's pet.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos:

Waterfall at South Mountains State Park



Waterfall at the top of Linville Gorge



View from above - Linville Gorge



Grandfather Mountain in the Distance

[Native_Son]

Originally Posted by ctribucher

It was around 8:00 PM when we packed up and were headed back to Charlotte when we spotted a loose dog on the side of the road!

Being the animal lovers that we are, we pulled over onto a grassy area on the side of the road and approached the dog with a spare leash we had in the car. With caution, we called to him, only to discover that he was super sweet and very friendly!

I hope they can find his owners, as the dog was obviously somebody's pet.

Up there in the mountains, if the dog was friendly and well fed, I'd have just left him. This isn't Boston... folks 'round here are known to let their dogs wander with full expectation of them actually coming home rather than being stolen.

There is a fine line for 'taking' a dog around here. At what point does it become theft?

[ctribucher]

We didn't steal this dog. We took him to a local business with the hope that he could have been returned home -- our thought was that the owners of the business might recognize him, or someone might stop by that would claim him. My concern was that he not run across the Parkway and get hit by a car. It was getting dark and since his fur was all black, it was getting hard to see him.

Originally Posted by Native_Son

Up there in the mountains, if the dog was friendly and well fed, I'd have just left him. This isn't Boston... folks 'round here are known to let their dogs wander with full expectation of them actually coming home rather than being stolen.

There is a fine line for 'taking' a dog around here. At what point does it become theft?

[Native_Son]

lets see... you took a dog that didn't belong to you.

that could be construed as theft.

[ctribucher]

I suppose it could be by some. But I'd rather have taken the dog away from a dark mountain road that have him be hit by a car.

But now we are getting off topic, so I will remove myself from this aspect of the discussion.

I hope the others enjoy the pictures of the mountains that I posted.

Originally Posted by Native_Son

lets see... you took a dog that didn't belong to you.

that could be construed as theft.

[uncgdad1]

Originally Posted by ctribucher

I suppose it could be by some. But I'd rather have taken the dog away from a dark mountain road that have him be hit by a car.

But now we are getting off topic, so I will remove myself from this aspect of the discussion.

I hope the others enjoy the pictures of the mountains that I posted.

Beautiful photos "ctribucher" and a very humane gesture for the pup..

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Native_Son

lets see... you took a dog that didn't belong to you.

that could be construed as theft.

Oh please They did what they thought was right - they made an effort to get the dog home, lay off.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by ctribucher

We had an adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday... we spent the day hiking at South Mountains State Park and then Linville Gorge (photos below!) and drove up onto the Parkway to find a nice spot for our dinner picnic. It was around 8:00 PM when we packed up and were headed back to Charlotte when we spotted a loose dog on the side of the road!

Being the animal lovers that we are, we pulled over onto a grassy area on the side of the road and approached the dog with a spare leash we had in the car. With caution, we called to him, only to discover that he was super sweet and very friendly!

Of course, our beagle was not going to permit us to put a strange dog into the car with us (nor did we want to... even though he was a friendly dog, we didn't feel the need to take any chances. There's a fine line to walk between providing assistance to an animal vs. putting yourself in danger.). We had just passed an apple orchard/store about a half a mile away, so we headed that way to see if anyone knew the dog or could help us.

The people at the orchard were just so kind to us! We explained the situation and where we found the dog and asked if he belonged to them or anyone that lived nearby. They didn't recognize him, but offered to keep him at their house for the weekend while they looked for his owners. Truly, that was above and beyond what I thought they would do - all I really wanted to know was the phone number for the local shelter or Humane Society.

When we returned to Charlotte, I looked the orchard up on line and sent an e-mail to them inquiring after the dog. As of Saturday evening, nobody has claimed him. The folks at the orchard are going to contact the Humane Society today. I hope they can find his owners, as the dog was obviously somebody's pet.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos:

Waterfall at South Mountains State Park



Waterfall at the top of Linville Gorge



View from above - Linville Gorge



Grandfather Mountain in the Distance

Love the pics! You are discovering some of my favorite day trips in NC