Looking for Fluff

Fluff the missing dog

Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve Trails. About 6 miles.

On Saturday, November 13, two of the family dogs – Sugar and Fluff – took off on their own, from the general vicinity of the point where Roanoke, Montgomery and Floyd counties meet, in the Bent Mountain area. Sugar presented herself at an area home after a few days, but as of this writing, 10-year-old Samoyed-mix Fluff has not been seen. He has accompanied us on many hikes over the years, and is a gentle and shy dog in general.

His white coat makes him easy to spot, but on this day and on many searches on prior days, he’s not been found. The walk on this pretty day was easy and pleasant over these well-marked trails, and lunch at the falls viewpoint was also good. Still, the day was tinged with growing worry over a good and loyal dog and lots of looking in vain for his distinctive coat. At his departure, he carried tags with phone numbers on them.

The Bottom Creek Preserve is off of U.S 221 near Bent Mountain.

Hike/Search: November 21, 2010

You Might Also Like:

Kurt and Gail atop Cascade Mountain, Adirondacks New York, July 22

Kurt’s Hikes: The Last Dispatch

As I conclude my tenure with Blue Ridge Country magazine, which began with its founding in 1988, I will not conclude the weekly woods walks with The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All.
The Greatest Day Hiker of Them All takes the jump at Arnold Valley Pool, June 16 (the family gave her a standing O).

20th Year of the Hiking Oddity: A Few New Spots and Lots of Family Along*

Most of our every-weekend hikes were local to our home in Roanoke, Virginia, and repeats of ones we’ve done many times, but there were a few new things along the way.
Gail stands atop Texas’s Palo Duro Canyon, October 4.

Kurt’s Hikes: June-December 2023

You look at seven months of hikes to close the 19th year of Gail and me walking every weekend and you start to see some patterns, most striking of which is the hikes are creeping toward shorter.
March 5: On the way up the Star Trail.

Kurt’s Hikes: Jan-May, 2023

One highlight of the walks of the first five months of the year was a semi-surprise for The Day Hiker when, upon our arrival at the base of the Star Trail up Roanoke Mountain, pretty much the whole dang family (all but the Raleigh family) was there.
b3c3b582-9d96-11ed-96a4-12b3f1b64877-IMG_1092

Kurt’s Hikes: Oct-Dec, 2022

Our fall hikes included lots of old favorites, a few urban walks and three great family hikes, with grandkids as young as 5 along for hikes of nearly eight miles total—in the cold!
Gail stays comfy in rain under the tarp at Carvins Cove, 9/11/22.

Kurt’s Hikes: Feb-Sept, 2022

Our hikes from February through September included our 18th annual Valentine’s Day visit to Apple Orchard Falls; and several firsts, including Virginia’s Channels and a section of the
d94a484e-8aa9-11ec-98a6-12f1225286c6-IMG_0733

New Catawba Greenway Hike

New wagon tent!

Kurt’s Hikes: June-July ’21

Some Urban, Some Mountain, One Beach
Gail makes her way up Brushy Mountain.

Hikes: April-May ’21

Devil's Marbleyard, A.T. and More
Kurt and Cookie head up the Little Rocky Row Trail, March 20, 2021

March 2021 Hikes

CALENDAR OF EVENTS