Chapter 3 - Southville State Forest

The dogs and I were hiking along the St. Regis River in the Southville State Forest:

We'd walked downstream, seen the sights (previous posts) and then hiked back up to where we'd begun our river walk. But this time we walked farther upstream, wanting to see more before returning to the car:

And what a dazzling scene it was. Could heaven be any more beautiful?:

Daphne danced down to the water's edge but kept her feet dry:

And then we all explored a little more as we headed back to the dirt lane on which we'd hiked down to the river:

We began walking back uphill toward our parked car:

And the dogs were sublimely happy. Why, just look at the smile on Daphne's face:

Blue skies overhead, happy dogs, green forests:

The forest was young, apparently having been clear cut in the past, but wonderful nonetheless:

This began as a random shot, snapped without much thought, but has become perhaps my favorite photo of the hike. It's of Clover and Madeline:

We marched happily beneath the pines:

And arrived back at the car without seeing a soul. Imagine having an entire forest to yourself. That happens a lot in these parts, and I like it. We jumped back into the car and headed for home: