Part 1, Southville State Forest

We had two or three brutally cold, snowy days. And then, miraculously, the next day dawned warm, the sun came out, the winds died down and all the snow and ice melted. I grabbed the dogs and headed about ten miles down the road to the Southville State Forest:

Southville State Forest isn't big and isn't used much for hunting or logging. It's a popular cross-country skiing area, though we wouldn't be seeing anyone on skis this warm day:

With a mix of hardwoods and conifers, every turn in the trail brought a surprise:

And the dogs were overjoyed to be outdoors and running:

Of course we headed downhill to the shores of the beautiful St. Regis River:

The dogs seemed to recognize the river and treated it as an old friend, running excitedly down to greet it:

We walked along the shoreline:

And a few brave souls, like Fergus, did a bit rock hopping:

Daphne and Clover stayed together as they explored:

And Fergus tried to stay with his big buddy, Seamus:

We walked back up into the forest and began traveling upstream, looking for another access point:

And then we walked down to the river once again. But we were just getting started and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: