Part 2, Southville State Forest

The dogs and I had hiked down to the banks of the St. Regis River and little Clover ran right to the water's edge. Madeline gave me a big smile but wouldn't go one step closer to the rushing water:

We began walking along the river while staying in the trees:

There were pools of water, remnants of the recently melted snow which the dogs found fascinating:

And then we headed back uphill toward the car:

The forest had been mostly Hemlocks down along the river, but became a mix of Red Oak and White Cedar midway up the hill:

As we neared the top, the forest became a mix of White Pine and Red Pine:

We took a few side trails, just for the sake of exploring. This photo caught Clover and Daphne, AKA "The Silly Sisters," wrestling in the middle of the trail. It's no wonder I often have to yell to get their attention:

We ventured onto unmarked trails and walked beneath the young pines:

I turned several times onto new trails, making a mental note of each one so I could remember the way back:

Then we walked off the trail and into the forest. I got four of the dogs to hold still long enough for this photo but Clover couldn't hold still even that long. She was off running:

We began making our way back to the car:

And everyone climbed back up into the car with great excitement. It would be dinnertime as soon as we arrived home and that was just one more reason for these dogs to be happy: