The Trail Toward Madawaska Pond, Part 1

It was Easter Sunday morning and I was hiking trails off of Blue Mountain Road with my four youngest dogs. We'd just finished the scenic Canoe Carry to the St. Regis River and I'd intended to hike up St. Regis Mountain next but was experiencing weakness in my legs. So I pulled off the road and we began to walk down the trail toward Madawaska Pond. This was billed as relatively short, level and scenic so I figured my legs would see me there and back:

We walked through a Boreal Forest of wild beauty and small creeks with mossy banks passing beneath fragrant Balsams. It was gorgeous:

The trail was level, broad and just the ticket for an old codger with weak legs. The dogs bounced happily along, apparently thinking this was just about the finest adventure ever. But of course they think that about everything we do:

And what was that up ahead? Could that be ice even after all the hot weather we'd had?:

Indeed it was ice, and the dogs seemed to enjoy walking on it:

The soil was incredibly sandy and we came to several spots which were open and almost like an ocean shoreline:

The sandy trail wound peacefully through the Spruce and Balsam forest:

My only concern was the numerous dog-like scat along the trail. I guessed it to be from Coyotes and, though I didn't suppose they were a danger to us, I had to bear in mind that I had two tiny and delicate Papillons with me. But of more immediate concern was that the dogs began trying to eat the poop. I caught Clover looking like she was smoking a cigar and then realized she was eating Coyote poop. This was not acceptable for many reasons and I had to interrupt our otherwise idyllic walk with several sessions of loud bursts of "No, No, No, No, No! Drop That!":

But aside from the above mentioned poop problem, the walk was serene and lovely. I stopped beneath the Spruces and Pines to photograph these British Soldier Lichens:

The trail was marked occasionally with yellow rocks although I couldn't imagine how anyone could get lost or confused. The trail was a broad, sandy road through an almost impenetrable forest:

And we walked on through the quiet forest, enjoying the beauty and the wonderful aromas. There was little sound save for the wind through the trees and an occasional Blue Jay or Warbler (unknown species):

The sandy trail was great for seeing who had been there before us. Clearly there had been a lot of very large Turkeys walking the trail recently. I'll post more tomorrow: