Part 3 - Dyken Pond Nature Preserve On New Years Day

I was hiking on a surprisingly warm New Years day in Dyken Pond Nature Preserve in Grafton New York, with my four younger dogs. We were all having a grand time, and the dogs were especially playful - even more than usual, that is:

We walked through pockets of warmer and colder air, and enjoyed the quiet of the woodlands. Clover thought she heard something and went on alert:

Fergus (and Seamus too) comes all insulated with thick, woolly Poodle fur, so snow, ice and cold are no impediments to his having a good time:

A brief video of a quiet moment along the snowy trail:



The ski tracks which we'd been blessed to follow left the trail and we began walking through unbroken snow which made it quite tiring, at least for Seamus and me. I was amazed that little Clover could consistently lead the way and wondered how such a tiny dog could push through the snow so tirelessly. Then I noticed that she was mostly walking on top of it, not through it. I suppose she wondered how we could be so slow:

The trail followed a small brook which burbled and sang as it traveled both through and beneath the snow cover:

Eventually we walked out of the hardwood forest and into a Spruce and Pine woods:

This coniferous section of woodland was darker at the ground level and the snow was littered with needles and branches:

The dogs rightly considered this a grand adventure and made it a point to sniff everything. It'd be fascinating to be able to read the smells which they can pick up. "Hmm, a squirrel walked by here, a 'possum there, a raccoon over there was having dinner. And a trio of turkeys were dining on seeds right here:"