Brasher State Forest, Part 1

We'd arrived at the farm the previous afternoon and the next morning I wanted to get outdoors and enjoy the unseasonably mild winter weather. So I drove the four youngest dogs to Brasher State Forest just north of the farm. Nothing seemed to be marked very well and I followed McCarthy Road thinking that it bordered the State Forest. When I saw a tiny, open gated road called McCarthy Truck Trail, I turned onto it to see what I'd find:

There sure hadn't been any trucks on this "truck trail" recently, but I figured it was there for log trucks using the State Forest. When I saw a sign for a hiking trail, I pulled to the side of the road and parked. But first I turned my car around. If I was going to get stuck in the snow, I preferred it happen sooner than later:

We entered the forest on the John G. Trail not knowing what it was or where it went:

The forest was indeed beautiful and I was grateful to have such mild weather and so little snow. This promised to be a great hiking adventure:

The dogs gave everything a thorough checking out:

And we passed from mixed forest into a Spruce forest:

I began to notice snowmobile and horse trail markers but none for just plain old hiking on foot. Well, I was sure that this trail hadn't seen any use of any kind recently:

The dogs were having a grand time running along the trail with occasional side trips into the Spruces and Pines to sniff at interesting smells:

I didn't know if there would be hunters out or not so I tied a pillowcase around Seamus' neck to prevent him from looking too much like bear:

We hiked deeper and deeper into the forest on a trail which was, in spite of the snow, rather easy to follow:

I saw a ridge over through the trees and walked to it. On the other side was a marsh covered with ice and the dogs all ran out onto it. I soon called them back, though, as it was rather mild to be traversing ice. I sure didn't want any mishaps:

We all left the trail several times to go exploring. Of course I didn't know how long this trail was or where it would take us, so I made extra sure not to lose track of it. But we were just getting started. I'll post more tomorrow: