Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 3

The dogs and I had hiked down to the St. Regis River in the Fort Jackson State Forest (see also Part 1 and 2, posted previously). We ascended the riverbank up to the main trail to begin our journey back to the car:

This trail follows the river through a largely Hemlock forest. It is level and scenic, perhaps 30 feet from the river, high enough not to flood:

We turned left, up the steep hill which would return us to our car, when I saw an eyeball in the trail - yes, an eyeball! It was shocking and gruesome, its size and pupil shape indicating it was from a deer. I didn't want to touch it with my finger, so I used a twig and discovered it was made of glass:

I picked it up and brought it home, then checked online and learned that it was a taxidermist's eye for a deer head. I figured that it must have been from a deer decoy being carried into or out of the forest last autumn during hunting season. For me, it was a highlight of our little adventure and it now sits permanently on my kitchen counter:

 The Hemlocks began to be replaced by Northern Red Oaks:

And as we climbed higher, the soil became very sandy and the trees became mostly Red Pines:

This was an entirely different landscape than we'd encountered previously, though a fairly common type in the Adirondacks:

Green mosses and blue Reindeer Lichens carpeted the ground:

And the coolness we'd experienced down by the river turned to hot summer, with the loud buzzing of insects (still no biting insects though):

The pines began to change to hardwoods and the sandy ground began to be more like forest soil when we reached the top:

I must have have inadvertently taken a different turn than usual, for we emerged into a clearing exactly at our parked car. That was highly convenient, but I wouldn't have wanted to have accidentally gone past it. I'll be alert to that possibility the next time: