Clear Pond - Part 1

I woke up one morning in a rotten mood and pouted for several hours until it dawned on me that I hadn't had the dogs out to the forest in quite awhile. I knew it would be a cure for my foul mood and the dogs would be ecstatic. So I put them in the car and drove 17 miles to the Adirondacks' lovely White Hill Wild Forest. I let the dogs out of the car and Jack, Fergus and Daphne led the way down the trail:

We'd just gotten started when I came across a clump of Pink Columbine. Wild Columbine is red, so I figured these must be leftover from when a Boy Scout camp was located here:

I'd noticed Lilacs still blooming along the road to this destination, so I already knew the area had an even later spring than where I lived, only 17 miles away. Still, I was shocked to see Canada Mayflower in bloom. But when I got home, I checked my field guide and decided that these were Three-Leaved False Solomon's-Seal, a related but later blooming species:

And there were lots of Bunchberry plants, a sort of miniature Dogwood, in bloom:

We arrived at the shore of Clear Pond in short order and Seamus waded in without hesitation. Daphne rushed to join him there:

Daphne and Jack tested the water:

And Daphne decided she liked it:

Clear Pond is a wild but accessible Adirondack gem. We had the entire White Hill Wild Forest to ourselves and, according to the register book, only one other person had been there in the last several days:

This Pink Ladyslipper surprised me because it was long past its normal bloom time. It was already faded and shriveled, though, so it was almost spent:

Brilliantly orange and yellow flowers were immediately identifiable as Orange Hawkweed, and the white flowers behind it were more Bunchberry (and one Oxeye Daisy):

We returned to the trail through the forest but took the next side trail to the water's edge, where Daphne again showed what a water dog she is. There was yet much more to see here, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: