Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 1

Our weather was hot and we hadn't been out for an adventure in some time, so I put the dogs in the car and headed to the nearby Fort Jackson State Forest. It was only 4.3 miles from our door, and about 2 miles of that was a tiny dirt lane such as this. I parked and let the pooches out to run - and run they did:

The Wood Thrushes and Ovenbirds were singing beautifully and I didn't want to disturb the peaceful beauty by hollering at the dogs, but soon I was forced to start yelling "Stop!" and "Get Back Here!" Sometimes, though, they stopped on their own to smell something fascinating:

I had parked where I did because I knew the lane became impassable for a car just up a bit farther. Indeed, we quickly arrived at a mud hole. Daphne celebrated by going in up to her chin:

We were taking the same route my sister and I walked last autumn. It was so peaceful and beautiful that I'd been looking forward to walking it again. I'd been hoping to wait until bug season was past, and indeed it was. I never got a single bite of any kind:

We came to the stone foundation of a former cabin, and turned off the trail to investigate:

The old stone well, barely ten feet from the foundation, was still there but the stones had caved in somewhat, making it safer than it must have been when it was a well:

And near the well was this tiny toad, barely bigger than my fingernail:

Then we headed off along the trail once again. The dogs had already slowed down. Like me, they're not as young as they used to be. Also, it was hot:

Then we turned left down a gradual slope which I knew would take us to the banks of the St. Regis River:

The trail down to the river was also one of the nicer walks in the state forest:

Soon we could hear the roaring river up ahead, and the dogs knew what it was. They began picking up their speed. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: