Santamont Trail, Catherineville State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were taking a winter hike on the Santamont Trail in the Catherineville State Forest (see Part 1, posted yesterday) and had just turned back toward our parked car:

Daphne and Clover explored a fallen log, then looked back at me as if they felt guilty:

Jack (the orange spot, lagging behind) ran back and forth, seldom holding still. The other dogs were beginning to slow down:

And I was feeling happy, albeit kind of cold:

Jack passed us and kept running farther ahead. I called repeatedly and with increasing agitation, and when he was good and ready, he came running back:

We came to a sunny spot where most of the snow had melted, so we left the trail to go exploring:

The dogs thought a bit of exploring was a fine idea and they led the way, noses to the ground:

We came to this evergreen grove, with pines overhead and spruce and/or fir seedlings on the ground:

There must have been wildlife here recently, for the dogs were very interested:

But once the evergreen grove was thoroughly sniffed, we headed back to the trail:

And continued on our way, returning to the parked car:

Soon we were back in the car with heat on, headed for the comforts of home: