Walter Pratt Camping & Picnic Area

It had been too long since I took the dogs out hiking, but I wasn't feeling at all energetic. My compromise was to take them to the Walter Pratt Camping and Picnic area in the Brasher State Forest. It has tall pines, a scenic reservoir - and seldom any people:

We come here often because it is nearby and beautiful:

The picnic area is beside the water and beneath a grove of tall White Pines. The dogs seem to consider it their personal racetrack:

My favorite spot is a peninsula which juts out into the water, and the dogs know it well:

They raced ahead and ascended to the top of the raised center of the peninsula. I like to stay down below, walking along the water's edge:

At the end of the peninsula, we all poked around in the sand and explored the water's edge:

And then we began returning along the length of the raised peninsula, the dogs so excited that I had to keep calling them back:

We slowed down when we neared the road. It's a great place for the dogs to investigate the cattails, presumably hunting for wild crocodiles:

Not finding any crocodiles, they had to settle for collecting at interesting smells and imagining what wild critter had preceded them there:

We were by then almost back to our car, and Seamus and Fergus led the way through the pines:

This is a short walk, but just what I need some days:

With our little red car just over the next rise, though, I was already contemplating another nearby trail I'd wanted to explore. I'll post about that tomorrow: