It was 75 degrees in Cincinnati today and a perfect training opportunity. I hiked 12-13 miles from my house to the Loveland Bike Trail which is part of the American Discovery Trail. I carried and toyed with my gps that 30-30 had programmed for me to practice with here in Cincinnati before I used it on the CDT. The gps that I had used on previous hikes was not able to upload the Continental Divide Trail files. I feel confident with the new gps and am very appreciative to my friend and PCT hiking partner, 30-30. I am also very thankful and appreciative to Jonathan Ley for sending me the 2009 map update. Thank you. While on the trail today I saw a man on a scooter being pulled by his four Alaskan Elkhounds. If this was Iditarod training, this guy was not going to make it. It was a unique sighting in Cincinnati, though. I stopped off at my favorite country store for a Powerade Zero and a lottery ticket. While I expected the steady stream of cyclists, I get annoyed everytime some shouts....."on the left!" Once looking left, I spotted two teen-age boys carrying rifles. A rifle has no place anywhere near the busy trail and I stood still to watch the boys go uphill and out of the woods. Mine was a pleasant hiking day. I was met at the mile marker by my husband and two pugs, Bruin and Beau. They were very thirsty so we introduced them to a dirty stream which they lapped up happily, just like I will on the CDT. They drank half of a tennis can full of water on our drive home. I'm not sure whether my 12-13 mile hike was harder than my little pug's 2-1/2 mile walk. Their legs are so short and my Beau-Beau has such breathing problems with his little nostrils. The walked served us all well physically anyway.