Southville State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking in the Southville State Forest, about halfway between my house and the town of Potsdam:

Wild Strawberries bloomed abundantly underfoot:

And the dogs snapped to attention at every sound or smell:

But this was only a short hike, so we were quickly back at our car:

I drove out of the forest, stopping along the way to photograph this Honeysuckle which I think was a Northern Fly-Honeysuckle:

I drove across the county road to access the part of the forest which would take us to the St. Regis River. I followed the sandy wood roads through the forest until I saw one which led steeply downhill. Figuring that meant it would take us to the river, I turned down it, only to find that it quickly ended in a loose pile of sand. My car was stuck and sinking deeper every time I tried to move it:

I called AAA (thank God for cell phones) and discovered that my membership had lapsed. I paid to renew my membership and they called a tow truck. The tow truck called to say off-road rescues were not covered by AAA and they didn't want to do it. But I pleaded, and they agreed to meet me back at the county road. So the dogs and I began walking back to the road:

It was about a half mile walk and not a problem, though I wasn't sure the tow truck driver would be willing to take his vehicle down those dirt lanes. On the way, I discovered another Pink Ladyslipper Orchid and stopped to photograph it:

This unplanned part of our hike was quite pleasant, or would have been if not for the worry about my stranded car:

The dogs were extraordinarily well behaved:

I stopped to photograph a Starflower:

The tow truck arrived, drove back into the forest and winched my poor car up out of the sand. I followed him back out to the paved road, at which point they had to remove one of my wheels because it had picked up loose rocks while buried. This hike turned out to be longer and more expensive than planned, but it ended well and I had four happy, tired dogs that night: