A Winter Walk On The Rutland Trail, Westbound

It was a dull, cloudy day but not too cold, so I took the dogs back to the Rutland Nature Trail. Our last foray on the trail was from Hallahan Road headed east and through the wetlands, but this time we headed west and through the forest. There were a few traffic signs because this trail is used by snowmobiles:

The dogs were so excited that I had to yell at them repeatedly to keep them close. They don't seem to mind, though, and have a grand time running, sniffing and peeing:

There was just enough snow to look wintry without making walking difficult:

The dogs heard something and went on alert - well, three of them did. Fergus was behind me and Jack was oblivious to everything except playing:

Fergus mostly stayed at my heels but sometimes I encouraged him to run ahead with the other dogs:

We turned downhill toward Allen Brook:

Clover and Jack arrived first and set about searching for sea monsters:

As for me, I relaxed and appreciated the gloriously wild scenery:

But this was a short hike, and soon we were headed back toward our parked car. I was amazed that the dogs seemed suddenly to want to walk close to me and not run ahead:

Except for Jack, who runs full speed ahead, then runs full speed back. This pattern, like his joyous energy, seems never to end:

The dogs (except Jack) seemed to have spent their excess energy and we walked comfortably and calmly back toward the road:

It was a short hike, but just right for a snowy day:

The Rutland Trail With The Dogs - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking on the Rutland Trail (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and had reached beautiful Allen Brook. The dogs were ecstatic:

But this was to be only a short hike, so I soon began leading the pooches back along the trail the way we'd come:

It's a beautiful trail any time of year, but autumn is my favorite:

The leaves were mostly fallen, but alongside the trail were Beech saplings with colors so bright that it seemed they might glow in the dark. If I were to name this color, I'd call it Neon Butterscotch:

And Red Maple seedlings with rich red colored leaves:

I was getting sand and tiny stones inside my leg braces, but we were close to our car so I kept walking:

I did, however, stop for a quick photo of a large turkey feather. There were several of them, and I wondered if a predator or human hunter had gotten a bird here:

The dogs were by this time somewhat settled down, their excess enthusiasm mostly spent. That made it more relaxing for me:

They'd walk together for awhile and then split off individually as they each smelled some fascinating scent:

Fergus and Clover were running and wrestling at the same time, having great fun. Up ahead, Jack was barreling down the trail toward us while Seamus wondered what all the excitement was about. Daphne was running ahead, the opposite direction as Jack:

Great excitement, much fun and silliness. I enjoy seeing them happy and playful as long as they don't run too far ahead:

As we neared the trail head, I told all the dogs to heel, which they did, except for Jack. He doesn't yet know what that means, so I put him on a leash to help him learn:

The Rutland Trail With The Dogs - Part 1

I'd had a busy morning, but when everything was done I decided to take the dogs for a short, quick hike on the nearby Rutland Trail. Our last hike on this trail was from Hallahan Road east, so this time we again began at Hallahan Road, but headed west:

The dogs were excited and I had to do a bit of hollering, but they were better than usual - or perhaps I just sounded crabbier than usual. They stopped to sniff every smell and Jack rolled in the trail, just because he was so happy:

There is private land on each side of the trail so I don't stray off of it, but there is plenty for dogs to explore without forays into the woods:

And they have so much fun that it is contagious, bringing me joy also:

The dogs seem to fancy themselves intrepid hunters, sniffing here, there and everywhere. Actually, they put me in mind of Elmer Fudd, hunting for wabbits. They wouldn't know what to do if they ever found anything. I once had a dog who was taunted by red squirrels on hikes and would chase them. One day an unfortunate red squirrel tripped and tumbled mid-chase, allowing the dog to catch it. She stopped when she got to the squirrel, wondering what to do next - or perhaps wondering why the silly rodent had stopped in the middle of the game. She had no intention of harming it:

We weren't going far on this journey, so I walked even slower than usual, allowing the dogs time to explore and play:

We were nearing the old railroad bridge over Allen Brook. I thought I could see it up ahead:

Little Jack loves to run and seldom stops except to pee or to roll on the ground for joy. I think he was getting ready to lift a leg in this picture:

Yes indeed, the bridge was just up ahead:

But instead of crossing the bridge, we walked down to Allen Brook, a lovely and wild stream through the forest. Eastern White Cedars and White Pines grew all around, including one pine with a trunk which must have been five feet in diameter:

Clover and Daphne don't realize that they are supposed to be pampered foo-foo dogs. They consider themselves intrepid explorers, and ran down to the water's edge to investigate:

Then Fergus and Jack joined them, everyone having a grand time. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Return To The Rutland Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring a side trail off the Rutland Trail which took us through a coniferous forest and along Allen Brook. Much of the trail had snow, but some places had slick ice. This icy patch got me, and I slipped and fell. I was grateful that I'd purchased a rough use camera:

The farther we went into the forest, the deeper the snow got, though it didn't slow the dogs down:

In fact, they seemed to sense the adventure of it and picked up their speed:

I felt excitement also, as we were exploring places we'd never seen before:

Fergus looked so cute in this picture that I had to keep it. I think he looks like a stuffed toy:

The snow was making for difficult walking and I was about to turn around when I saw this sight up ahead:

It was the ancient frame of an old manure spreader (I think), all the wooden parts had long since rotted away - and a small barn, slowly collapsing into the ground:

Of course we had to go investigate and the dogs went inside what was left of the barn:

But then we started back the way we'd come, enjoying the forest beauty along the way:

The trees here were older, and the forest seemed especially inviting:

Soon we were back to Allen Brook, headed toward the main trail:

We only had a short walk on the main trail back to the car. I put Daphne and Jack on leashes because they were so excited. The other dogs were happy to heel as we neared the road and crossed it to get to our car:

Return To The Rutland Trail - Part 1

Our snow had been melting for several days and I decided it was time to take the dogs out once again. We drove to the nearest trail, the Rutland Nature Trail, only five miles from home:

The dogs were so excited that the first part of the hike had me yelling at them to keep them from running too far ahead. Daphne, usually one of the best behaved, was particularly excited on this day and the woods rang with echos of "Daphne, no!" and "Daphne, stop!" She'd look at me with curiosity as if wondering why I was acting so stupidly and then run back to me, all happy and pleased with herself:

Seamus went exploring, looking at a small rivulet through the woods and discovering that it was still so frozen that he could walk across it:

 A little farther on, the rivulet came up closer to the trail and then Clover and Jack decided it might be interesting:


Daphne joined them to check it out:

I learned that the center of the trail was all ice, so I stayed on the snowy sides of the trail. The dogs quickly figured that out also:

We soon arrived at the bridge over Allen Brook:

I paused to take a photo of lovely Allen Brook in winter:

But we soon turned back and headed for the car. There is a side trail along Allen Brook which we've explored briefly on previous trips, so we turned down it once again to see the scenery:

The forest was older there, mostly conifers, and the snow was dotted with lots of wild animal tracks which the dogs found fascinating:

Lovely Allen Brook gurgled and burbled along to our left:

And we continued on, farther than we'd ever gone before, doing a bit of exploring. I'll post about that in Part 2, tomorrow: