A Short Walk On The Hays Brook Trail

The dogs and I were in the neighborhood, so we stopped for a short walk on the Hays Brook Trail:

This is a lovely trail but with so many wilder, longer trails nearby, few people use this one. That makes it just wonderful for us:

We ventured off the trail and into the mossy Adirondack woods:

Jack and Daphne ran, albeit in opposite directions:

And Fergus stood still to listen and sniff for wild animals:

But soon we were back on the trail:

The dogs kept running too far ahead, so I kept telling them to "Stop!" Jack was especially animated and ran so far ahead that I decided to hide so he'd panic when he looked back and didn't see us. That happened a number of times but I don't think he got the point. It just seemed to add to his fun:

It was a perfect day for hike:

The forest floor was covered in moss and reindeer lichens:

But this was just a short excursion and we soon turned back toward our car:

This photo reminds me the most of what it looked like to be there - tall trees, mysterious forest and happy dogs on an adventure:

The strong sun and dark shadows made picture taking difficult, and when we broke out into the full sunlight, I put my camera away. We were almost to the car anyway. It was a short but worthwhile walk:

A Return To The Hays Brook Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking the Hays Brook trail (see also Part 1, yesterday's post) and having a grand time:

 

We'd had extremely high winds several days ago and the snow was littered with twigs, cones and needles which were especially apparent every time we left the trail to explore beneath the trees:

 

Right on the trail I found bits of lichens, adhering to twigs which had been blown down:

You might expect that gigantic Seamus would lead the way when we explored off the trail, but he is a follower and usually reluctant to leave the trail. So I just give him a call and he comes bounding through the snow to join us:

 

Lowbush Blueberries were nothing but twigs this time of year, and sticking up above the snow:

We tried following what appeared to be a deer path, but my footing became difficult and I opted to turn back to the easier trail:

Clover and Daphne, always the adventurers, were more than happy to bounce through the trees and explore:

But we were on our way back to the car and had to keep making progress:

Seamus was his usual happy, goofy self:

It's taken some time to get these dogs, who once were accustomed to running to their hearts' content, to stay close to me, but they seemed to be pretty good at it on this day:

Until, that is, they realized that our parked car was just up ahead. Then they broke into a run:

It was a short hike, but just right on that snowy day. We were all happy and ready to go home:

A Return To The Hays Brook Trail - Part 1

I took the dogs to the town of St. Regis Falls to hike a trail about which I'd heard interesting reports. Alas, I couldn't find the trail head and decided instead to continue south to the old, familiar Hays Brook Trail. I parked there and let the happy dogs out:

They ran and frolicked, slowed only by my insistence that they stay within about 20 feet of me:

And the scenery was, as always, lovely:

The snow was mostly melted but a bit tricky to walk on with my damaged ankles. I decided I'd only go in a short distance and then walk back to the car. However, we walked to the end of the trail before turning around. That's still not a great distance, but it gave the dogs more time for fun and silliness:

Dogs get so ecstatic in the forest that it's a demonstration to crabby old people like me of what pure joy really looks like:

Fergus stopped to smell something awful. Oh, I see what it was. Just look at Seamus, behind Fergus on the trail:

We continued on through the mixed conifers, where the beech trees stood out with their retained, golden leaves. This small tree's top was caught in the snow and I tripped on it as I passed by:

We ventured off the trail every now and then just to see what we could see:

Fergus has learned that I want him close at hand, so he stops and looks back every so often to be sure I've not fallen too far behind or changed direction. Some people want their dogs to walk behind them, but I want mine in front of me so I can keep an eye on them and take photos. I just don't want them to go too far ahead:

We got to the end of the trail and wandered around in the forest. I've always believed the trail must continue on to somewhere, but we sure couldn't find any more trail on that day:

So we turned around and began making our way back to the car:

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! The dogs were full of joy. But we still had more trail to cover, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Return To Hays Brook, Part 2

The dogs and I were on our way to pick up a new pooch, and on the way had stopped at Hays Brook. We left the trail and had been climbing slowly up a hill toward a crest which I could see through the trees:

We arrived at the top, a knife-edged ridge which dropped off steeply on both sides. I wondered what process had created this geological oddity, but they're really not all that odd. I see quite a few of them. As for the view from the top, it was all forest in every direction:

Madeline romped through the forest on an emerald carpet of moss:

Clover ran every which way but always kept an eye on me:

I managed to get Fergus, Daphne and Madeline to hold still long enough for a photo, but Fergus didn't look any too happy about it, did he?:

The "Silly Sisters" weren't acting silly this time:

Daphne paused momentarily atop a bed of mosses, Reindeer Lichens and Lowbush Blueberries:

And Madeline came over to join her:

Big brown mushrooms sprouted all along the trail and in the moss/lichen beds:

But we still had a long drive ahead of us, so I gave a call and we all began moving back toward our car:

This is one of the prettiest forests and the dogs seemed to enjoy it also:

One last photo of Clover and we were on our way to pick up a new Papillon. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

A Return To Hays Brook, Part 1

I loaded the dogs into the car and headed southward one recent Saturday morning to pick up a new dog to join our family. We stopped along the way for a rest stop at our beloved Hays Brook Trail. There were no other cars parked there and we had the whole place to ourselves:

Monstrous brown mushrooms lined the trail and mingled with the mosses and blueberries alongside the trail:

Big pines and spruces filled the forest on both sides of us, every bit as magical a setting as I'd remembered:

And the Lowbush Blueberries were ripe. They were small, but tasty - and I tasted quite a few of them:

We arrived at a spot with fallen logs which I remembered marked a deer path:

So we left the trail and walked across the emerald moss carpeting to see where it would take us:

This looked to me like the nursery rhyme Black Forest scenes of childhood fairy tales. Fergus seemed to think it was all pretty darn nifty too:

Madeline chugged along like a little furry locomotive, sniffing her way through the forest:

Daphne and Clover kept running ahead and I kept shouting, "Stop!" Apparently, they still hadn't fully grasped the new rule about sticking close to me:

We continued on the mossy deer path, headed toward a high ridge:

The incline was gradual and easy. Even an old codger with bad ankles like me had no trouble:

We continued upward, on alternating series of flat and sloped surfaces. I had no idea what I'd find when I reached the top, but that will be in tomorrow's post: