West Parishville State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were attempting a walk in the West Parishville State Forest, avoiding the deeper snow and the icy trail (see also Part 1, posted yesterday):

We were in a predominantly Red Pine forest, but hardwoods were mixed in. When I came to this Striped Maple, I fondly remembered the mountain trails I used to hike back on the Massachusetts/Vermont/New York intersection. Striped Maples were everywhere there. You can see where the small tree got its name by taking a close look at the striped bark:

And there were plenty of small Beech trees, still bearing their golden leaves and adding much beauty to the scenery. Back in Ohio, Beech trees grew huge, but here they seem to stay small, like the Striped Maples:

When we began, I'd been angry at the dogs for running ahead and not coming when called, but they calmed down and so did I. Soon we were having a grand time:

We turned around and carefully made our way back to where I'd parked the car. I was amazed at how little ice and snow was on the ground in that area, so I led the dogs off into the woods for a bit more exploring:

I came across an old log with this beautiful emerald moss, a kind I don't remember seeing before. I was sure it had to be called Feather Moss, and spent considerable time online at home, trying to identify it. I finally concluded that it was called Common Fern Moss, Thuidium delicatulum. I guess Fern Moss was as descriptive as what I wanted to call it:

We continued on through the snow free forest, heading toward an old stone wall:

And of course I had to stop to photograph this Partridgeberry. It was a great pleasure to see green leaves this time of the year:

We continued on toward the old stone wall:

The stone wall was unlike any I'd seen before, as if it was incomplete, with only very large stones. At first I thought that someone had tried to reconstruct an old wall, but later figured it more likely that the original farmer had just never gotten it finished, as there were no smaller stones nearby to fill in around the big stones. Daphne and Clover didn't care. They were having lots of fun running and playing:

We continued uphill and through a gap in the stone wall, only to discover that just over the next wall was the forest access road which had brought us here (not that there was any traffic at all). So it was time to return to the car:

I love this photo because it shows the dogs' great joy as we ascended the hill to our parked car. Seamus and Fergus look especially ecstatic. These pooches love our walks in the woods. I do too, though reining them in at the beginning can be trying. Once they've used up some of their excess energy, they're well behaved dogs: