Publicly Private (and vice versa)

We finally got out onto a real trail for a real hike today (the Dearborn Trail leading to the Scapegoat Wilderness). Despite the threatening skies, the human was determined for us to get out there. The boys got to "wear" their snazzy skijoring leads (tethered to the human's backpack), and the girl got to run free. She was pretty awesome actually: those stupid r--bits just sat in the middle of the road daring her to chase them. But she was told "leave it" and she did. :) The trail made about as much sense as the varmints. The road, you see, runs parallel to the trail--but the road is private, and the trail is public. As the signs will tell you, please keep to the trail and keep off private property, ie, the road (which is about three feet away from the trail). Again, Narra did pretty well to follow the rules--though they didn't make much sense to her either. Regardless, after we crossed the Dearborn River, we were good to go. The boys kept the pace, slow as it might have been. They managed just under six miles but were pretty pooped (and this was with minimal elevation gain). Hopefully, we'll be able to do better next time--which will be north!