White Hill Wild Forest - Part 1

I had some free time, the weather was beautiful - so I took the dogs to one of our favorite haunts, White Hill Wild Forest. It's only 18 miles from home, and almost 1.8 of those miles are on a one lane, gravel access road through the forest. I parked, let the dogs out and signed in, noticing that I was the first to do so in two days:

My ankles were not doing well so I knew we wouldn't walk far. We started down the trail, headed for beautiful Clear Pond:

The dogs saw where we were going and ran down the hill, through the big rocks and right to the water's edge:

Clear Pond is an Adirondack gem, known mostly only to local folks. The dogs were going into the water before I got there:

Daphne, only recently converted to a water lover, began to get silly:

She leaped and splashed like a silly puppy. I loved watching her but notice the look on Seamus' face. I think he was bewildered by such a display of merriment:

All along the shore were small spikes of white wildflowers:

I happened to know at a glance that they were wild orchids called Nodding Ladies' Tresses. I knew this only because I follow the blog, Saratoga Woods and Waterways. If you want to see beautiful photos and learn about our Adirondack flora, I suggest you click on the link and give it a try:

Fergus, not usually much of a water dog, went in this time:

And Seamus, with his newly svelte physique, was happy to flex his muscles and show off:

Adventurous little Clover ran ahead, rolled in some dead fish and then went wading:

It was a wild canine pool party in a spectacularly wild setting. I was, as far as I could tell, the only person in the White Hill Wild Forest that day. But we were just getting started. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: