Chapter 1 - Hike To Grasse Pond, Debar Mountain Wild Forest

I'd gotten an early start that Monday morning and hiked Panther Mountain and taken driving photo tours of the hamlet of Keese Mill and the town of Brighton. But it was still morning and I wanted to do one more hike. I chose to hike in to Grasse Pond (some spell it "Grass Pond") in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest. The trail head was adjacent to Mountain Pond and the Hays Brook Horse Trail where I frequently stop with the dogs on my way to and from the farm. The sign said it was 3 miles to the lean-to:

This trail was reported to be level and exceedingly easy walking. It was exactly that, and lovely also.

The dogs were ecstatic to be on another hike, and gave everything a thorough sniffing:

We passed through deep forests on a broad, level trail which enabled me to enjoy the views instead of carefully watching where I set down each foot:

We arrived at an old plank bridge spanning the Osgood River:

I made a mental note to explore the Osgood River on our return trip:

The trail forked shortly after we crossed the bridge and we bore to the right, heading for the Grasse Pond lean-to:

This trail was lined with ferns of all kinds, but especially Bracken Ferns. I don't think I've seen so many Bracken Ferns since my childhood summers in Oregon where we used to pull them up and use them as spears to throw at each other while playing "Cowboys and Indians:"

Are we almost there yet, Dad?:

The trail wasn't marked, but I thought it was obvious enough where to walk and didn't think we'd get lost:

The dogs alerted me to a pile of feathers in the trail and I took a closer look. Some bird, possibly a Blue Jay (judging by the striped feathers), had become someone's dinner here. I didn't notice at first, but whoever had eaten this bird had left behind its intestines, which look rather like earthworms in this photo:

And then we reached the Grasse Pond lean-to. The dogs ran quickly around to the front of it where they hoped to find food scraps or bacon drippings. I was more interested in seeing Grasse Pond, but I'll post more about that tomorrow: