High Flats State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking in High Flats State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came to a beaver marsh which was down in a valley. We walked down to see it and the three little dogs went exploring. Seamus did not want to cross over the fallen tree trunks to get there, so he just watched:

It was a mysterious, magical place where birds and frogs called all around. Little Jack waked through the water to see what he could find:

Then we climbed back up the hill and continued on our way:

Probably a resident of the nearby beaver marsh, this female Black-Winged Damselfly paid us a visit. I knew it was a female because of the white spot on her wings. I knew it was a Damselfly because she held her wings together when at rest. Dragonflies keep their wings outstretched:

It had become clear to me some time earlier that we were on the wrong trail, but we explored it anyway and then began retracing our steps. When we arrived back at this lovely creek, we stopped for a drink:

Refreshed and happy, we returned to the trail and continued on our way:

As before, the open meadow beside the beaver marsh filled the dogs with joy. I liked it too, with all its Black-Eyed Susans, Queen Anne's Lace and Heal-All flowers:

But the dark forest was just ahead:

It was a lovely trail, and the dogs were by now too tired to run ahead like they had at the beginning. This made for a more peaceful experience:

I stopped for a closer look at this brown, wood-toned (it even had rings) mushroom:

It had rained the previous several days and everything was wet, yet the trail was mostly dry:

This yellow mushroom was just pushing up through the moist earth. I don't know what kind of bright red berry that was next to it. I looked around to see what plant might be near but didn't notice any obvious berry plants:

A Forest Troll:

Lovely brown and yellow mushrooms:

And a toasted looking golden mushroom. We were nearing our starting point but not there yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

A Summer Trip To Quebec Brook, Part 2

We walked the Quebec Brook trail past fallen trees and over puddles until the trail became hard to find at all. Given my injured ankles and recent fall, I decided to play it safe and turn back toward the trail head:

We headed back the way we'd come and were on the trail when I captured this photo of Madeline looking admiringly up at her big buddy, Seamus:

And a happy group of dogs, all in a bunch. Only Fergus was off on his own:

The trail took us back along Quebec Brook:

This is a female Black-Winged Damselfly. Her wings have a white spot on them and her body is black instead of iridescent green. The male was pictured in yesterday's post:

We ventured off the trail into the Boreal forest every now and then just to experience the beauty and wonder of it all:

Seamus appeared to get tired and plopped his gigantic body down in the middle of the trail. I just walked past him and he pushed himself up and followed us:

The "Silly Sisters," only this time they weren't being so silly:

Clover and Madeline looked like small worshipers in the Boreal forest cathedral:

And onward we traveled along the ever changing trail:

A micro-mushroom. It was so tiny that I put my hand there for a size comparison:

And there was our car. The dogs were as happy to see it as they were to get out and see the forest. Dogs are happy about life in general, and that's a large part of why they are such a blessing to our lives. But this hike was finished. We weren't done for the day, though, and I'll post more from that summer afternoon in the future:

A Summner Trip To Quebec Brook, Part 1

We'd had a lot of rain, so much so that I knew I should keep the tractor off the fields lest I tear up the soggy ground. Or at least that was the excuse I used for taking an afternoon off to go hiking. I went back to one of my favorites, Quebec Brook:

Quebec Brook trail is one of the loveliest examples of Boreal forest in all of the Adirondacks. We walked across carpets of moss through air filled with the aroma of Balsams:

I'd hoped that the copious rain would have produced a bumper crop of colorful mushrooms, but it did not. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, wild and peaceful path through unspoiled forest. I'd noted when I signed the trail book that no one else had been on the trail for the past month:

Oh, look - a colorful mushroom. It was tiny and alone, but it was a wonderful red color:

It's been been clear to me for the last several years that little if any trail maintenance has happened here. Fallen trees blocked the way in places and the trail eventually became impassable, at least for an old codger like me with bad ankles. But for the time being, it was easy walking and with a cathedral-like beauty:

We walked down along Quebec Brook:

This brook, if I'd had a canoe, would have taken me to Madawaska Pond. I've read that it's also terrific fishing:

I ventured down a steep bank but Madeline and Seamus thought they'd just stay where they were:

But then we returned to the emerald-carpeted trail to continue on our way. I told Madeline to sit so I could get a portrait of her:

Black-Winged Damselflies were everywhere. This one, with its solid black wings and iridescent green body was a male. I'll post a photo of a female in tomorrow's post:

The trail began to get smaller and more overgrown:

Blackberries would be ripe here later in the summer, but for now I just admired their flowers. I'll post Part 2 of our Quebec Brook hike tomorrow: