Part 3 - Hays Brook Equestrian Trail

The snow had become deeper as we hiked along the Hays Brook horse trail and it appeared to me that some of the cross-country skiers had turned around and gone back to their cars. The little path in which we walking became more narrow and difficult to walk. So we also turned around, heading back toward the parking lot:

We reached the spot where the dogs had previously found a fascinating smell and I saw blood stains. Some animal had met its death the previous night, I figured. The dogs had been "reading the forest newspaper" with their noses:

With a variety of towering conifers all around us, we made our way back through the wintry beauty:

And I was happy despite my aching ankle tendons:

Clover, the skinniest and lightest of the dogs, was also the greatest adventurer. She not only strayed from the skiers' path, she bounded joyously through the snow, pushing branches out of her way as she ran exuberantly through the forest:

Yes, Clover, I'm talking about you:

Fergus ran also (as you can tell by his flopping ears), but stayed mostly within the skiers' tracks:

I began to imagine how this would look in the summertime. Of course, there might be horses on the trail then and my dogs would bark. Hmmm. Perhaps I'll have to be careful when I hike this trail. But if there is a horse trailer parked at the trail head, I can simply take another trail:

We were almost back to our car. The dogs were not at all slowed down, but I was:

When we arrived at the trail head, someone was just getting out of their car and my crew ran up to them, welcoming them like family. I'm glad my dogs are so friendly, but I am mindful that not everyone is happy to be greeted so exuberantly by dogs they don't know, especially if one of them is Seamus' size. So I called the dogs back to the car and we headed for home: