A New Favorite Hike - The Santa Clara Waterfalls - Part 1

The owners of the feed store told me about a short trail to a waterfall where I could walk the dogs. It sounded almost too good to be true, but I was excited about it and drove the dogs there the next day. It was located exactly where they'd said, only 16 miles from my door. I parked my car and let the dogs out to run:

The trail was easy to walk and took us through a beautiful forest of Balsam Fir, Hemlock and Mountain Maple:

The ground beneath the trees was covered with moss and Canada Mayflowers:

The dogs were wild with excitement to be out on another adventure, and they stopped to sniff every smell along the way. At other times, they ran too far ahead and I had to holler at them:

Just as it had been described to me, we soon saw a smaller, less used trail take off to the right. We followed it:

A fallen tree was covered with small, orange fungi which looked like upside down mushrooms. I stepped over it but forgot to watch Seamus, who has always had difficulty with such obstacles. He either managed to step over it or walked around:

We took several forays into the trees (mostly Balsams), just to see what we could see:

One thing we saw was lots of Partridgeberry:

We heard the roaring water before we could see it. The dogs ran ahead and I again called them back. But soon we all arrived at the falls:

There were flattish rocks at the base of the falls, and Fergus and Daphne rushed out onto them. I followed cautiously because I am rather clumsy in my leg braces:

The falls were not high, but they were nonetheless dramatic and magnificent. The dogs found them lots of fun to explore:

We all climbed up on a higher rock and I marveled at the beauty of the St. Regis River (east branch):

Then the little dogs clambered down to the water's edge again for a drink of pure water and to investigate. Seamus and I, both of us awkward and prone to falling, stayed up on the flat rock where we'd be safe. But we had just arrived and there was much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Annual Pink Ladyslipper Walk - Part 1

Time seems accelerated this year, and I'm racing to keep up with everything. One day it occurred to me that it was time for my annual Pink Ladyslipper walk along the sort-of trail I discovered in the Brasher State Forest. I parked along the road and let the dogs out. There were no Ladyslippers there, but I knew they'd be found back in the forest, beneath the pines. But there was an abundance of Wild Strawberries by the road:

And one lovely Blue-Eyed-Grass:

The dogs cared for none of that and ran joyfully for the forest. The mosquitoes were out in force and hungry, so I was too busy swatting them to worry much about the dogs. They got to run more freely than I usually allow:

Besides, I knew there would be no other people anywhere near - and the dogs behaved pretty well without me carping at them:

Then I began to find many Starflowers, a lovely spring wildflower with both leaves and flowers in a star pattern:

And Canada Mayflowers, sometimes called Wild Lily-Of-The-Valley:

And then I began to see Pink Ladyslippers, our native wild orchid. They were exceptional this year:

There were so many that I came home with 104 photos. I whittled them down to 31, which I'll present in two blog posts. How could I not take pictures of such wild beauty?:

Clover wasn't concerned with orchids. For her and the for the other dogs, this was just a romp in the forest:

A close-up:

Two Ladyslippers, just a few feet apart:

A tall specimen at the base of a small tree:

We began in a White Pine forest, but it changed to mostly Red Pines as we got deeper into the woods. The dogs seemed to find something putrid, though I didn't notice it at the time. I sure did notice it when Seamus vomited in my car on the way home. They were all fine, though, whatever it was they got into:

A patch of tiny lichens, including British Soldiers (with the red caps) and Pixie Cups (like tiny goblets):

Seamus went ahead into the deep forest, and I followed. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 1

We had a sunny, cool, breezy day and I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the Fort Jackson State Forest. There are three entrances, two of them relatively unused except by folks who live along the small road which leads there. The first one we tried was too muddy for my little car and I had to back up, turn around and try another entrance. This one was passable but so long that I almost gave up. But then I began to see State Forest signs, so pulled off the dirt lane and parked:

I let the dogs out and they exploded in an excited flurry of activity - running, sniffing, peeing and exploring. It's difficult to rein them in at the beginning of a hike:

I had to keep calling them back when we started, but they soon began to calm down and stay near me without any hollering:

The sandy lane was easy to walk and the scenery was lovely. All in all, this was a most pleasant experience. Oddly, there were no black flies or mosquitoes, but that may just have been because it was cool and windy:

Most of the forest was deciduous but there were sizeable patches of Red Pines also. I saw no White Pines, which I thought was odd:

I could tell that local people on ATVs use these lanes, and they have caused mud holes like this one. On foot they are easy to walk around, but if I had been driving, this would have stopped me:

I knew that we were close to the St. Regis river but I wasn't at all sure which direction it was in and the wind in the tree canopy made so much noise that I couldn't hear the river. We never did find the St. Regis, but I've since checked a map and will know where to look the next time:

These pictures look like White Pines, not Red Pines - so maybe my mind was on something else when we were exploring his section:

Canada Mayflowers, also called Wild Lily-Of-The-Valley, were in bloom:

And so were Starflowers. I saw no Trilliums or Ladyslippers:

But it was a lovely woodland and the dogs were happy. These, I can tell by the picture, were Red Pines:

I stayed on the main trail since it was steadily downhill and I figured would lead us to the river. But then I turned down another lane which lead even more steeply downhill and in a direction I thought the river was likely to be. But I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Deer River State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring Deer River State Forest, a place we'd never been before. I saw no real hiking trails, but there were dirt lanes into the forest to reach campsites, so we picked one and gave it a try:

It was a beautiful, sunny day with birds singing in the trees. The dogs were happy and the only drawback was the myriad black flies. They were pesky, but I didn't actually get bitten:

The mottled sunshine lit up the forest with an almost eerie glow:

You may recall that I've been seeing the leaves of Canada Mayflowers springing up all through the forests we've walked, but no flowers. Well, this time we saw them starting to bloom. The weren't quite open yet, but close. You can see why they are also called Wild Lily Of The Valley:

We came to a marked campsite with a stone fire ring, a stone 3-sided fire pit and a supply of firewood. The dogs only cared about looking for spilled food. They didn't find any:


We continued on but the path got narrower. Seamus seemed to be calling his little buddy to follow him:

I enjoyed the lovely woods but the trail was becoming more indistinct:

So I decided to turn back toward our parked car. Indeed, we still had lots of forest to explore:

We passed by the campsite again and arrived at our car. I continued driving on the winding, dirt roads but saw only campsites. There were many miles of road, both paved and unpaved, and I certainly didn't explore them all:

Eventually, we hit a blacktopped county road so I turned onto it and hoped it would take us to the highway. I began passing old cabins and people's vacation cottages. I'm not sure what this one was:

This one was wired for electricity and was for sale:

This trailer and tent had solar power, This is about when I realized, by the position of the sun, that I was heading south instead of north, towards the highway. So I turned around and drove all the way back. I don't even know what road we were on here, or where it would have taken us. It certainly was remote country, though some people lived there. As for Deer River State Forest, we'll give it another try in the future: