Continuing Along Quebec Brook

If you've been following my posts about the Quebec Brook trail for the last three days, you may have formed the opinion that I have been gushing, exaggerating to the skies. I've even considered that perhaps I should tone down my rhetoric, but the truth is that it was far more beautiful than I am capable of relating to you. The overpowering, omnipresent perfume of the Balsams, the wilderness waterway, the thick carpet of mosses (a variety of species all mixed together) was quite wonderful. And yes, the Papillon "Silly Sisters" found it a grand place to run, play and wrestle:

We continued onward, sometimes on an easily traversed and easily seen trail such as shown here. But sometimes the footing became difficult. Trees had fallen across the trail in many places and remained where they'd hit the ground. It became clear to me that there'd been few hikers on this trail, at least past a certain point, and no maintenance for quite a while. But that's not a complaint. I enjoyed this hike thoroughly, and part of the reason I loved it so much was its utter wildness:

Seamus and Daphne cooled their paws and took a drink of clear brook water:

And of course Daphne had to sample the marsh grasses like a little Guernsey heifer:

Quebec Brook stretched out in both directions, bordered by Balsams, Spruces and Mountain Alders:

Seamus clambered up out of the water and shook himself. It was time for us to explore the trail farther into the wilderness:

The trail was alternately open and blocked by fallen trees. In places such as this one, it was easy to walk and quite beautiful. Those green leaves on the upper left, by the way, are of Mountain Alder:

The fallen trees eventually made it difficult to be sure where the trail was going. I persisted for a little way, but soon decided it'd be wise to turn back. It was getting late and this was, after all, our second hike of the day:

More mushrooms, more mosses, more Bunchberries:

One Bunchberry plant was actually blooming but, alas, the photo didn't turn out well enough to save:

By this time we were heading back toward our parked car and the trail head. There was no alternate route, no option but to retrace our steps: