The Southville State Forest - Part 1

We had another lovely summer day, another opportunity to take the dogs to a local forest, so I drove 11 miles to the Southville State Forest. We've been there before, but not in quite awhile. I parked the car and let the dogs out:

They were in a running mood, and I had to keep calling them back as we passed through a stand of Red Pines:

And it was a happy occasion, a chance to feel the warm sun and cool shade, smell the mossy earth and hear myriad bird songs:

We passed from the Red Pine stand into a younger section of hardwoods:

I had to stop the dogs from drinking out of ruts in the trail. I knew that the river was just up ahead;

And there it was, the west branch of the mighty St. Regis River:

Seamus and Daphne waded right in immediately, but Jack was happy just to get a drink of cool, clean water:

Fergus waded out into the water with his buddy, Seamus. Clover just got her toes wet:

The three little dogs did some rock hopping:

And then explored up the shoreline, just to see what they could see:

I stayed back with Fergus and Seamus lest I twist my vulnerable ankles on the rocks:

And then we started the trip back to where I'd parked the car. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: