Still Snowy In Jackson State Forest - Part 1

We had spring weather in February, so we should not have been surprised to get winter weather when it was spring. With another snowstorm headed our way, I decided to take the dogs to the nearby Fort Jackson State Forest before everything was snowy again. I discovered that the snow had never completely melted in the forest, and the road in was treacherous. We made it in, though. I parked and let the dogs out:

The dogs were filled with joy, as happy as I've ever seen them. They ran and sniffed and peed on everything:

The snow was much deeper under the trees, so I stayed on the dirt lane. That too was difficult walking, with paper thin ice over 8" deep puddles (yes, I got wet - and so did a few of the dogs). Other places were slippery or rutted, but I learned where to walk and where to avoid. The dogs didn't really care. It was all fun for them:


I kept this photo because I found it humorous, with Daphne photo-bombing down at the bottom of the picture:

I kept watching for patches of forest with shallow snow accumulation, but it all looked too deep for me to walk through:

So we just enjoyed the road. The dogs were unusually well behaved:

Red Pines, White Pines and Beech trees seemed to predominate:

In places, the tree cover was so dense that the light was reduced. But it was a happy occasion, and a big adventure for the dogs:

The green of the pines and the gold of the Beech leaves added a surprising amount of color to what might otherwise have been a drab tableau:

And fat, short legged, little Jack ran with happy leaps along the trail, first one way and then back again:

I saw a dense stand of young Red Pines with not too much snow, so we all set off into the forest for a bit of exploring:

There were seedlings, then teenage pines and then, farther in, older and larger pines. I was careful to keep aware of the way back to the trail as we went exploring. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: