Hiking Tyringham Cobble - Part 2

I was hiking up Tyringham Cobble in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts on a February day. It was sunny and relatively warm, but still there was plenty of snow on the ground. We'd begun in a cow pasture, sans cows, and were now headed upwards on a diagonal towards the woods on the cobble, which as far as I can tell, pretty much means "rocky hill." As the dogs and I climbed higher, the village of Tyringham dropped farther and farther behind and below in the valley:

The trek across the cow pasture enabled me to see grand vistas of Tyringham and some Berkshire Mountains across the valley:

But soon enough we encountered the woodlands which covered the cobble. Seamus and Fergus were all excited. If you want proof, take a look at Fergus' ears:

Into the woods we proceeded, at first climbing ever so gradually. The dogs ran ahead, but Fergus kept returning to me, presumably to check that I was OK, moving as slowly as I was, at least by his standards:

Trotting merrily into the woods, Seamus' hips are swinging and Fergus' ears are once again flopping:

"Shh! I hear something, Dad! Don't worry, I'll protect you:"

The beginning of the trail is very gently sloped, the weather was pleasant, and the dogs and I were all happy:

I heard a noise in the treetops and saw a very large, possibly even obese, turkey flying out off of its roost headed for some place where it wouldn't be disturbed. Seamus was more interested in the scents closer to earth:

Bittersweet vines were spiraled around much of the woodland in places, looking like so many constrictor snakes. I was surprised that I saw no berries, but perhaps that obese turkey had eaten them all:

Bittersweet vines spiral around tree trunks, branches and even themselves:

This young tree had died and rotted away but still the Bittersweet vine held it all in place. We continued onward and upward, and I'll post more hiking photos in the days to come: