Snowy Adventure At Whiskey Flats - Part 1

It was a cold and snowy morning, but even more cold and snow was predicted for the coming week - so I took the pooches for a romp in Whiskey Flats State Forest, only 7 miles from my door. I pulled off the road and parked as safely as possible. I knew from past experience that the soil here was almost pure sand and easy to get stuck in:

The dogs exploded out of the car door with predictable abandon, anxious to explore - but the first thing we came to was a power line clearing. I vaguely remembered that there was a trail just up a little, so we headed off to the right:

Alas, I'd parked at the wrong access lane (there are lots of them) and we had to settle for an old logging road, now filled with many Scotch Pine saplings:

And underfoot were millions of Scotch Pine cones. They combined with the bed of old pine needles, snow and Adirondack sand to make walking a soft, cushioned experience:


I'd put a colorful bandanna on Seamus (and Fergus too) to help make him visible and, in case we met any people, to look more friendly and approachable:

Clover and Seamus led the way, sniffing for dragons, lions, bears and ogres:

Then little Daphne led the way, followed by Seamus, as we approached some taller trees:

But mostly the dogs just played and explored. Jack, as always, ran in big circles, then back and forth, up and down the logging road:

The snow continued to fall and it was colder than I'd expected. My right hand was becoming numb because I'd taken off my glove so I could operate the camera:

The dogs were pretty good and needed much less hollering by me than usual:

You can see little orange Jack running in this photo. It's a wonder I ever get any pictures of him which are not blurred. Snow continued to fall - big, fat, fluffy flakes which you can see against the green of the trees in this picture:

The logging road ended at signs, designating the adjoining property as County Conservation Lands. The area was open to the public but I saw no trail and had no intention of getting lost. We turned around at that point and began heading back - but I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: