Deer River State Forest, Martin Road - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking off Martin Road in the Deer River State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and found the trails to be easy walking, the forest to be cool and lovely:

The mottled sunlight was challenging for my camera, but it tried its best. The dogs had begun our hike with too much boisterous enthusiasm, but they slowed down as we proceeded:

And then I saw this route sign, a real surprise in the deep forest. Apparently there are numbered routes, though I found no map of them online:

I was surprised by this bright orange shelf fungus. Clover and Daphne ran over to it and I followed, interested in a closer look:

It was indeed distinctive. I looked it up when I got home and suspect it was what is often called "Chicken Of The Woods," supposedly because it tastes like chicken. I'd never try it unless I had an expert on hand to confirm the identification, yet still it added to the interest:

We went quite a distance, making a number of turns. and I had some concern about remembering the way back. So before we got too far, I decided to begin our return trip to the car. Martin Road is a gravel road with no traffic, no buildings, no utilities, so just locating the car wouldn't mean we were back in civilization:

But the walk back was entirely pleasant and the dogs, having spent their excess energy, were much easier to keep close:

Jack still ran in big circles, taking detours through the woods, but even he was considerably calmed down. As for Seamus, he was plain tuckered out:

There were a few more side trips into the woods by the dogs, but I stayed on the trail:

There were mature stands of conifers and places I thought looked like the Black Forest, but I discovered that the pictures in such places had too little sunlight to be usable. The younger, hardwood areas had more light and more usable photos:

We trudged quietly along, with Ovenbirds singing all around us:

Right at the end, I almost turned left at an intersection. I was just about to do so when I glimpsed the bright red of my car, parked on the road straight ahead. There are times when a bright colored car is a real blessing. The dogs and I hopped back in our car and drove home. It had been a very nice short hike:

Deer River State Forest, Martin Road - Part 1

It was too nice a day, slipped in between days of rain, for me to stay home. So I took the dogs back to Deer River State Forest, a place I'd recently discovered and only been to once. This time I took Martin Road and, when I saw a dirt lane heading off into the forest, parked the car and let the dogs out:

The sandy lane was easy walking and I could have driven it easily - but we were supposed to be walking, not driving. The forest was lovely, alternating between light and dark, young and mature, hardwood and conifer. The dogs didn't care. They just wanted to run:

I had to keep hollering at the dogs to bring them back, but they're so used to my loud voice that they are not phased by it. Their feelings aren't hurt, it's all just part of the fun:

I began to see occasional road signs, indicating to me that these were not hiking trails, but access roads - and there were many of them, requiring me to make a choice at each intersection (and try to keep in mind the way to return to the car when we were done):

I never saw a single wildflower, but I saw lots of leaves where there had been flowers earlier. These twin leaves in the mossy carpet were Pink Ladyslippers:

The forest was dark, interspersed with bright sunlight where there were holes in the canopy:

And it was cool and quiet, with Ovenbirds singing all around. Notice the road sign up on the right, a squiggly arrow indicating a winding section of road just ahead:

Look at the expression on Fergus' face. He looks like he was just about to pee but saw me with my camera and was saying, "Can't a fella have some privacy around here?"

The forest floor was mostly open and easy to walk, so we did some exploring. I found a section with several kinds of club mosses, such as this Fan Club Moss:

And Tree Club Moss, or Princess Pine:

This one was more difficult to identify, but I think it was Running Club Moss:

Trillium, with its flower long gone and beginning to develop fruit at its top. But there was much more to see here, and 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:

Deer River State Forest - Part 1

I discovered this State Forest on the internet. It's only 15 miles from home, so I decided it was time to go take a look:

The forest was big, but set up differently than any other I've seen. There were dirt roads all through the forest, with campsites set up along them. I saw no foot trails of the kind I'm used to, though the narrow lanes into empty campsites could be walked. I stopped when I saw the Deer River, and the dogs ran right down to the water's edge:

The Deer River itself was a series of rapids and waterfalls, with giant rock formations. I was impressed, and imagine that it's filled with swimmers in hot weather:

There were placid pools as well as rapids:

Upstream I saw a waterfall. We never went that far but did reach the giant rocks you see on the left:

The dogs were excited, and running every which way. The water was swift enough for me to want to keep them from falling into it:

But we all explored the rocks along the river's edge:

I had hoped to get onto those biggest flat rocks, but they were not accessible to an old fart with five dogs. I'll bet young, agile folk go out there in the summertime, though:

Jack led us up a path toward another access point:

Fergus and Seamus explored along the river:

And then got a little too close to the water for my comfort:

When the other dogs joined them, I decided to call them back toward the car so we could continue to explore this State Forest. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: