West Parishville State Forest - Part 1

We'd only been to the West Parishville State Forest once, and that time were turned back by the deep snow and ice. But I remembered thinking it would be a lovely trail in the summertime, so we went back to give it a try. I parked the car and let the dogs out:

They were excited and I had to stop them from running too far ahead (as always), but I must say that I did less yelling than usual. They were happy dogs, and fairly well behaved:

We entered into a forest of tall Red Pines. In fact, this was called the Red Pine Trail:

We took a couple of side trips into the mossy forest, where little Jack continued running at full speed:

Fergus mostly stayed at my side. He'd like to run, but gets nervous and returns to my side every time I raise my voice:

Clover, on the other hand, loves to run ahead and explore. In many ways, she's a little sissy dog - but on the trail, she's a regular Daniel Boone:

Daphne has an adventurous, independent streak and also enjoys being out front and getting into trouble:

Seamus is getting old and his legs are getting wobbly. I can certainly relate on both counts, so the two of us hang out together, at least after he gets tired:

The wild blackberries were not even close to being ripe, probably slowed by the deep shade in the forest:


We continued on the trail, which was also enough of a road that I could have driven its length:

The forest turned from Red Pines to mixed White Pines and hardwoods as we progressed:

I was feeling good and enjoying my time outdoors. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: