County Multi-Use Trail at Hopkinton - Part 1

I'd noticed a small sign along State Route 11B in the town of Hopkinton which announced the St. Lawrence County Multi-Use Trail. I'd tried two parts of it elsewhere, one of which was a winner and one of which was a bust. So on an unusually sunny day, I took the dogs to this third spot. It began along the edges of a corn field, in which Jack was delighted to run:

But mostly we walked along the edge of the field, just as we were supposed to do. The ATV ruts were frozen mud and difficult walking, especially for me with my leg braces:

But the dogs had fun, sniffing and running - and I hardly yelled at them at all because they were so well behaved:

There were a few patches of snow remaining, and Jack decided to roll in one of them:

I prefer hiking in the forest, but I had to admit that this scenery was not unpleasant:

And the dogs enjoyed every moment of it:

Up ahead I could see a deer stand in a tree, where someone had sat and watched for bucks in the adjacent field. It looked old, probably several decades, but sturdy enough to still use:

The bark had been chewed off this young White Pine, probably too high up for deer damage, so I guessed it had been a porcupine:

I misinterpreted a sign, thinking it told me to turn left into the woods, but the trail only went about twenty feet, ending at this old wreck of a trailer. There was still a sign on it which said "Norm's Quality Cars" and an 800 number. It might easily have been there for 30 to 50 years, as 800 numbers began in 1966:

A big, hollow maple was up ahead and the dogs ran to it as I tried to figure out where the real trail was. Clearly I was not on it anymore. But I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: