Return To The Rutland Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring a side trail off the Rutland Trail which took us through a coniferous forest and along Allen Brook. Much of the trail had snow, but some places had slick ice. This icy patch got me, and I slipped and fell. I was grateful that I'd purchased a rough use camera:

The farther we went into the forest, the deeper the snow got, though it didn't slow the dogs down:

In fact, they seemed to sense the adventure of it and picked up their speed:

I felt excitement also, as we were exploring places we'd never seen before:

Fergus looked so cute in this picture that I had to keep it. I think he looks like a stuffed toy:

The snow was making for difficult walking and I was about to turn around when I saw this sight up ahead:

It was the ancient frame of an old manure spreader (I think), all the wooden parts had long since rotted away - and a small barn, slowly collapsing into the ground:

Of course we had to go investigate and the dogs went inside what was left of the barn:

But then we started back the way we'd come, enjoying the forest beauty along the way:

The trees here were older, and the forest seemed especially inviting:

Soon we were back to Allen Brook, headed toward the main trail:

We only had a short walk on the main trail back to the car. I put Daphne and Jack on leashes because they were so excited. The other dogs were happy to heel as we neared the road and crossed it to get to our car: