Chapter 2, The Red Dot Trail

We'd hiked the Red Dot Trail from Osgood Pond to Church Pond and found there a lean-to which someone had decorated for Christmas:

And I was as happy as the dogs:

The trail took us away from Church Pond and back toward the larger Osgood Pond, with exquisite winter forests everywhere I looked. As for the dogs, they were racing and having fun:

We climbed up to a ridge overlooking Osgood Pond. Notice Fergus leaping for joy:

I got Seamus, Fergus and Daphne to hold still long enough for a photo atop the ridge with Osgood Pond's blue waters visible down below:

Through the forest on a level, snow covered trail:

We met a couple of hikers and their big, black dog on the trail right about here. Everyone got along well and it was a friendly, happy encounter:

Seamus kept sticking his face in the snow, presumably to sniff things, and then walked around with a frosty face. He's such a goof:

Little Madeline climbed down the bank a bit to look at Osgood Pond just as the sun's rays lit her up. It was a powerful moment for a city raised dog:

The trail took us downhill, closer to Osgood Pond:

And then back through the wintry forest. Have you noticed that Fergus' ears are almost always flopping in these photos. That's because he was so often running and frolicking:

We arrived at another lean-to, this one with no Christmas decorations. The dogs checked it thoroughly for any possible dropped food which hikers might have left behind. But we still weren't back to the trail head. I'll post about the final leg of the hike tomorrow: