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Dust Therapy: Stretching The Legs of My 4Runner (and Dog.)

/ May 10th, 2012
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A good friend of mine (who works too much) was back in town yesterday, so we decided that it was about time I took my truck out. Despite being home for two weeks now, I still hadn’t taken the Cockroach (my 99 Toyota 4Runner) onto anything difficult, so he loaded up his family and I loaded up my dog and we headed up Senator Highway. Lunch was had at an old mining camp just past the end of pavement, where we devoured our lunch (a lovely Subway sandwich.)

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We decided it would be fun to head over the south side of Mt. Union to Five Corners, then come down the Poland Junction Road back to highway 69. As soon as we turned off Senator Highway there was little concern about fast moving traffic, so I let Carter out so he could run alongside and get some exercise; he had been begging to get out since we hit dirt!

A brown and black dog enjoys some Dust Therapy, sitting on a black seat cover in the back seat of a 4Runner, looking out the window with its mouth open and tongue out.

I haven’t taken this route for a while, so I was surprised by the number of new houses, and even a substantial summer camp under construction. It was a beautiful day to be out and about, so we just took our time creeping along in low range. The road is in pretty good condition, but low range took away any stress of slow speed and this helped reduce dust, which was thick with no wind. Right before we reached Five Corners we took another break, hiking down to a little creek where the dogs could get some water, and letting me play with the camera some more.

Close-up of a dark green 4Runner with a snorkel attachment on a dirt trail; a red SUV and two people, possibly stretching, are visible in the blurred background among trees.

A green 4Runner off-road vehicle is parked on a dirt trail in a forested area, with another vehicle and a person stretching farther up the road. A dog walks along the trail under a partly cloudy sky—pure Dust Therapy adventure.

A dark green 4Runner SUV is parked on a dirt trail in a forested area with trees and rocks on both sides under a partly cloudy sky, enjoying some Dust Therapy. Another vehicle is visible in the background on the road.

I had remembered the Poland Junction Road as being somewhat rough, but either my memory is fading with my old age, or they did some serious maintenance. I loaded up Carter and we made good time, cruising mostly in third gear all the way back to Highway 69 and Poland Junction. I really wanted to find the original site of Poland, but with no GPS I completely missed it, so I guess we will be headed back again soon. The inside of the Cockroach is now covered in a thin coating of dust, and my Arizona Buggers were reinforced with what felt like sandpaper, but fun was had by all. Carter is now temporarily renamed Butters since he gained 15 pounds while I was gone and looked more like he was waddling then running, and both he and 1 year old Derek were took a nice nap. After the trail run, once we were home, we decided it was beer-thirty so we just headed straight for our lawn chairs. A day on the trail is sure hard work, but it beats working!

A young child with light hair sits on an adult’s lap in a 4Runner, food smeared around their mouth and hands, wearing a black shirt. The adult’s face is mostly out of frame.

A brown dog with black markings sits in the back seat of a 4Runner, resting its head on the window edge with its mouth open and tongue out, appearing relaxed and content as if enjoying a bit of dust therapy.