Whippoorwill Corners State Forest - Part 1

I discovered Whippoorwill Corners State Forest online and read that there was a trail along Plumb Brook with access to waterfalls, rapids and spectacular scenery. So I drove to the north end of the trail and started off with the dogs in a White Pine forest:

The trail was indeed along Plumb Brook (that's it on the left) but there was no river access and no waterfalls. I figured we'd get to them soon, so we kept walking. The dogs were so excited that I had to yell at them to keep them from running too far ahead. New trails seem to have that effect, causing the dogs such excitement that they run wildly:

The forest was lovely but we hadn't yet seen much of Plumb Brook:

Nevertheless, we kept walking:

We finally arrived creek-side and it was lovely, but with no waterfalls or rapids. There also was no access to the water's edge except at this one spot:

We left the forest and moved into an open area. That was more difficult walking, but it was full of wildflowers like Joe-Pye-Weed and Goldenrod:

This looked like potential tick territory to me, but we never saw any:

I did however see signs of beaver activity even though the water was not dammed and the bank was five feet higher than the water. I wasn't sure how the beavers got up there to chew these trees or where they took them after they got them back to the water:

The only water access we saw was at the top of five foot high, vertical, mud banks. Seamus wanted a drink of water and stretched himself down - and fell face first into the brook. He wasn't hurt but could find no way back up. I couldn't either, so I walked ahead to where I found a place where I could, with difficulty, get to the brook. Alas, I was too far away and out of sight, so Seamus stayed where he was, unable to save himself. I finally took the trail back to his location, emptied my pockets and climbed down. I was able to lift all 96 pounds of him up the five foot bank but then unable to hoist myself up. I fell backwards once, landing in the shallow water and getting bruised on the rocks. But I finally climbed back up and we started back toward the car.

I was tired, wet, cold and bruised. As far as I was concerned, this trail was best forgotten:

I did stop to admire some of the Goldenrod:

We had made it back to the White Pine forest when I noticed that Jack was missing. I began calling him and retracing our steps back to where Seamus had fallen off the bank. Jack finally arrived, but from in front of us. He'd run too far ahead again, a perfect example of why I don't want the dogs to do that. As you can see, this trail was not one I planned to ever repeat. But there is more to the story and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: