High Flats State Forest - Part 3

The dogs and I were exploring a new (to us) trail in High Flats State Forest and were almost back to our car. I stopped to photograph this Common St. Johnswort and the bedraggled Oxeye Daisy behind it:

A better looking Oxeye Daisy and a Heal-All in flower:

The dogs were much slowed down by now and I no longer had to call them back. They stayed close to me now that they were tired:

And the forest was lovely:

Cream colored mushrooms;

Clover got tangled up in a clinging type of Bedstraw. I looked it up when we got home and decided that it was probably Cleavers, a member of the Bedstraw family which sticks like Velcro. I carefully removed it from her hair before it got too entangled:

I saw a flash of yellow off in the woods and started off for a closer look. But before I got there, I saw these tiny (1") golden mushrooms:

And right next to them were these even smaller (3/4") bright red mushroom:

I got photos of the tiny mushrooms and then continued on to this giant (12") yellow mushroom. Luckily, Clover got in the picture to help show just how big it was:

Oh no, it's not autumn yet! This Mountain Maple leaf was, I hope, an anomaly:

As we neared the end of our hike, I contemplated whether we'd return. With nothing marked, I doubt we were on the trail I'd intended, and Close Pond, the destination I was after, turned out (I think) to be right next to the road where there were no visible trails. I think I'll go back to Whiskey Flats before I return here, though there sure were a lot of interesting things to see:

We were almost to the road when I saw these yellow flowers. I remembered that they were a kind of Loosestrife, but didn't remember which one. I looked it up when I got home and decided they were Fringed Loosestrife:

The road we'd taken to get here wasn't much bigger than the trail, though it had fewer rocks and ruts. The dogs were happy to see our car again:

And they were tired. Daphne, Jack and Clover curled up for a nap on the front seat:

Seamus rode in the back, but wanted to see out the windows. Fergus was next to him, already napping:

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:

High Flats State Forest - Part 1

I'd been so impressed with our recent hike in Whiskey Flats State Forest that one morning I decided to take the dogs to High Flats State Forest, not too far away. It was very wild and nothing was marked, but I found an all purpose trail and we started walking:

Unlike the pine covered Whiskey Flats, High Flats was mostly hardwood forest. It was lush and green and damp:

I was just thinking we wouldn't see any wildflowers at all when I came upon these Heal-All flowers. They appeared in nearly every spot on the trail where the sun could get through:

There was Fan Club Moss galore:

And brilliantly colored yellow mushrooms:

We broke out of the woods and into a meadow:

The dogs thought that was great fun, and Jack ran full speed, back and forth:

Abutting the meadow was a marsh, probably a former beaver pond although I never saw a dam:

I did however see the creek which was the overflow for the marsh. It ran from under the trail and out through the forest, gurgling and bubbling:

The dogs drank from the creek and then we continued on our way:

We came to some private land and turned around, taking a side trail. According to the state map, we should be heading for Close Pond. Alas, I discovered that we'd passed Close Pond on our way in and the state map bore little resemblance to reality:

Fergus and Jack trotted along:

In another open spot, I saw Bull Thistles in full bloom, making me glad I'd cut down the ones in my fields before they blossomed:

This one confused me, but I finally decided it was regular Spotted Knapweed - just very healthy, lovely specimens:

There was more Wild Ginger than I've ever seen anywhere, but since it blooms in April, I still haven't seen their odd flowers. One of these days I'll be in the right place at the right time. But we were just getting started on our adventure, and there was much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Aptly Named High Flats, New York, Part 1

Monday morning dawned bright and clear. Wally had taken ill but seemed to be improving - or, at the very least, holding his own. So I took the younger dogs out for a photographic outing. We began with the hamlet of High Flats, New York, within the state forest of the same name:

 The terrain does indeed seem to be atop a sort of mesa, though I haven't seen a topographic map to verify that. But I found there a considerable number of nice homes:

This place had a second story deck facing the forest:

I supposed this to be an old farm house with modern additions and remodeling:

An antique truck protected by its own little shed:

There were modern homes:

And homes far back off the road:

Modular homes:

This house sat right up next to the road and had a nice stone wall which had been painted brick red:

Back behind the trees, a brown house with a green roof. It seemed to blend right in with the forest:

A modular home with a brand new barn:

And an authentic, old style split rail fence - my favorite kind. But there was more to High Flats, New York and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: