Blackhead Range Hike - Part 4

I took another rest stop along the trail. By now, Seamus was happy to lie down in the soft leaves and rest but as you can see, Fergus is resisting. He still wants to run and play:

We approach the top of another "step:"

Fergus and Seamus trot along the trail above me:

The photos are now more clearly indicating the increasingly thick fog. But right here the trail was level so I was happy:

C'mon Dad, hurry up!:

Another "step" to climb:

And another @%*~!#%^ step. The dogs seem to handle them with more grace than I do:

Are we there yet, Dad?

I'm no moss expert, but this rock seemed to be home to a variety of them:

A closer view of the mosses. Some of them may actually be leafy liverworts, but I'm not sure:

A sign of civilization. This sign indicates that we are in a State Forest Preserve:

Deeper and deeper into the wild forest:

If we had to sleep here tonight, Dad, I could curl up under this stump:

These two birch trees are commonly called silver birches for obvious reasons but I think are more properly referred to as gray birches, Betula populifolia. Their bark seemed to me to be as silver as old flatware: