Driving Home And A Rest Stop at Hay's Brook

I'd had a wonderful two night stay up at the farm with my six dogs, but when Tuesday morning dawned, it was time to drive home again. I left early and and took the fastest route, which is directly through the high peaks region. We stopped once again at the Hay's Brook Horse Trail, but this time I pulled off of the access road before arriving at the parking area so we could all walk directly into the forest:

It was an open forest with very little underbrush. That made for easy walking and I could keep an eye on the dogs without difficulty:

Lots of Bunchberry was growing in the clearings and bearing the fruit from which it got its name:

It was still morning and the sunlight was streaming down through breaks in the forest canopy:

And onward we walked, over moss covered logs and through ferny glades:

It was clear to me once again that Wally was navigating primarily by sound, his eyesight apparently growing dimmer by the day. But his great joy was evident and I just kept repeating his name so he knew where I was:

Little old Winky can see well enough, but is getting slower by the day. We could not go too far because I had to keep an eye on both Wally and Winky:

Wally lifted his head, alert for any sound indicating my whereabouts. When he had me pinpointed, he happily bounced his way in that direction. Dogs are filled with such joy. If only people could learn to be more like dogs!:

I had a hard time getting Winky to keep up. In fact, he didn't. We finally turned around and headed back to the car, but of course Winky then resisted and held back going in that direction also:

When we returned to the car, every dog had had exercise and a bathroom break. We were ready to resume our long journey back home: