Part 2, St. Regis River Canoe Carry

We'd hiked in to the quiet (quiet here, at least) waters of the St. Regis River and the dogs ran excitedly down to the shore. Seamus, Fergus and Daphne went right in but only Seamus remained in the water when I caught up with them:

Lowbush Blueberries grew everywhere across the sandy shores and it looked like there would be a bumper crop this year:

We walked over to another spot on the shore and had to walk through the Pale Laurels to get to the water. The dogs seemed to find this to be great fun:

Seamus smiled. His joy was as great as his bulk:

And this is what we'd come to see, the quiet waters of the St. Regis, set amidst the Boreal forest with St. Regis Mountain (I think) as a backdrop. Who could ask for more?:

And I was very happy:

We took another swing by the dogs' favorite swimming spot before beginning our walk back to the car:

And the walk back was as lovely as everything else about this short hike. The Pale Laurels bloomed happily along the edges of the trail and Pines, Balsams and Spruce towered overhead:

It had been a great afternoon and I was ready to go home and rest my weary ankles:

Seamus and Daphne spotted a tiny pond just off the trail and walked through shallow water to get to it. There were Blue Flags (Wild Iris) blooming at one end, again much later than most Blue Flag. This spot must be quite cold, with a shorter and later growing season:

The only mushrooms I saw were these amazingly wood-toned fungi, but there were quite a few of them:

The dogs had by this point pretty much understood my new rule of staying close to me. But if I stopped to focus on a flower or mushroom, I'd then look up and see the pooches racing on ahead. Sigh. At least they came when called. But we soon reached the car and our hiking for the day came to an end: