Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 2

We were hiking in the Fort Jackson State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and had just reached the St. Regis River. The four little dogs arrived first, and then big Seamus arrived later (his legs were still wobbly from the previous day's hike):

We walked out onto to a rocky section, exposed only because the water level was low:

And even little Jack braved the cold water. He has sure come a long way since his terrifying days at the Shelter:

Soon it was time to leave, but instead of heading all the way back to the trail, we continued on along the shore of the river, looking for more interesting places to access the water:

And soon we found a great place to get down to the river, with a grassy swath and a small, rocky island nearby. Fergus and Clover were the first to explore:

My sister sat on a giant rock and meditated on the beauty all around:

As for Seamus, his legs were tired and he just wanted to rest a bit:

My sister stayed behind while I took the dogs back to the trail which was once again right next to the river. I was looking for a big log on which to sit:

I noticed lots of Beech trees and the parasitic plants, Beechdrops. They are so nondescript that I've had little success photographing them, so I tried putting my hand behind one of them to help accentuate the odd, brown plant. They look dead, but they're not:

I found a big, comfortable log and sat down for a rest. Daphne came right up to me for some attention. Dogs are right at home in the forest:

We took a different, shorter trail back to our car, a trail which offered different forest types:

And large patches of moss and Reindeer Lichens:

Autumn woodlands are among God's finest creations:

And the dogs were tired from two days of hiking (yes, I was also). They were unusually well behaved for several days thereafter: