Part 1 - A Rainy Day In Brasher State Forest

We'd had violent thunderstorms and torrential rain. Then the weather calmed down and turned a bit chilly. The next morning, with mist and drizzle still coming down, I decided to take the dogs (except PeeWee) to the Brasher State Forest, just about 8 miles from home:

I'd discovered a new entrance into the area and had been anxious to try it out. So I drove there and parked. Speaking of being anxious, just look at those excited faces!:

I chose a trail at random which, according to the old sign, was called Kenneham Trail:

The dogs started out with even more enthusiasm than usual - if you can imagine that. The three Papillons began running in circles at full speed until - WHAM! - Daphne and Madeline collided, leaving Daphne with a twisted neck. I feared something awful had happened, but after a minute or two, she straightened out and wanted to hike. So off we went:

Clover and Seamus took many side trips off the trail and into the trees:

Madeline was full of big smiles:

The forest was protection from the drizzle and entirely restful on the eyes:

When we came to Deer Trail, I decided for no particular reason to give it a try. So I made a right turn onto Deer Trail, just to see what we could see:

Deer Trail was narrower than the previous trail and the forest was denser and darker:

The dogs were still running joyously while I tried to keep them close to me. You can see Fergus and Daphne here running like deers through the woods and leaping over logs:

I gradually got them slowed down and reminded them of the new rules of the trail - that they must stick closer to me and not run ahead or lag behind:

There were lots of plain white mushrooms which didn't photograph well, but this bright yellow one really caught my attention. We continued on Deer Trail, frequently stepping off into the forest to see the sights. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: