Five Overexcited Dogs In The Wild Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking the Indian Rock Waterway Access trail (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and the dogs were beside themselves with joy:

The pooches ran ahead, then I'd call them back, then they'd run ahead again:

Most of the dead trees were covered with Usnea, or Old Man's Beard, a lichen which grows in forests where the air is clean. They grow on dead or dying trees because the lack of foliage allows them more sun:

There were patches of Shining Clubmoss along the path. That's Clover's snout in the lower right of the photo. She likes to be right in the middle of things:

Daphne and Fergus ran too far ahead, then returned to me when called. They were happy and smiling:

And onward we proceeded, headed for a bend in the St. Regis River:

And everybody was busy sniffing the interesting smells. As for me, I was sniffing the aromas of Balsam, Pine, Spruce and Fir which filled the air:

The trail narrowed toward the end:

I spotted this, the largest patch of Indian Pipe (a parasitic flowering plant without chlorophyll) I've ever seen, along the way:

And then we walked out into a clearing. The dogs took off as if shot from canons, for they knew there was water ahead:

By the time I'd caught up with them, they were already enjoying the waters of the wild St. Regis River:

It wasn't a hot day, but these pooches have learned to love the water:

Seamus came down to join his little buddies. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Return To The Walter Pratt Camping Area - Part 2

The dogs and I were having a pleasant walk along the shore of a peninsula which jutted out into the CCC reservoir in the Brasher State Forest. There were a few campers nearby, but not close enough to present a problem:

Clover, always the adventurer, explored some tree roots near the water's edge:

And there were many trips down to the water as we made our way back toward the car:

The forest itself was mostly White Pine and entirely gorgeous. The dogs were as happy as I've ever seen them, as evidenced by Seamus' prancing in this photo:

Fergus ran full speed whenever he got the chance:

Seamus felt adventurous and I had to keep calling him back - but it was not a problem:

Daphne stayed close to me, smiling the whole time:

Beautiful weather, lovely scenery, happy dogs. It was entirely pleasant:

Until Jack explored a steep bank and fell, head first, into the water. He was having trouble getting out and I was on my way to give him a hand (after snapping a picture), but he managed to get out of the water and up the bank by himself:

And then we headed back through the trees toward our parked car:

The last photo was again of Indian Pipe, the parasitic flowering plant which grew in abundance on the forest floor:

Return To The Walter Pratt Camping Area - Part 1

We had one of the most idyllic summer days which I've ever seen. It was warm but not hot, low humidity, with blue skies, puffy clouds and gentle breezes - while all the while birds and crickets sang. I decided to take the dogs for a walk at a nearby park. It's normally just a ten minute drive to the park but there was a bridge out a quarter mile before the entrance. The location was so incredibly rural that the few roads which would have taken me around to enter from the other direction petered out in a forest or ended with their own bridges out. I drove around for nearly two hours, exploring dirt lanes through forests and country roads which just ended in the middle of nowhere even though the map said they continued on. I finally found a way, though, and took the dogs for a short but beautiful walk.

I quickly spotted a number of Indian Pipe plants, a flowering species without chlorophyll which grows in shady spots in association with certain trees and fungi. I've always found it fascinating:

The dogs cared nothing for plants and just ran wildly through the trees, headed for the reservoir:

My frustration fell away in such a lovely setting:

Clover was the first to wade into the water:

The other dogs kept their feet dry, at least for the time being:

There was much excited running through the trees and I tried to keep the dogs close to me without yelling because we were not alone. There were campers not too far away:

Pine needles, mosses, mushrooms and Wild Strawberries carpeted the ground:

We approached the tip of a peninsula which jutted out into the reservoir:

The dogs ran to the top of a hill but I called them back down to the shoreline. A dog on the opposite shore barked a few times:

We explored the water's edge:

Seamus got his feet wet, wanting to go see the dog on the other shore - but that was the end of it. We were having an entirely pleasant walk in a beautiful setting. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Clear Pond, In The White Hill Wild Forest - Part 2

We were hiking along Clear Pond in the White Hill Wild Forest. Clover and Daphne were having a grand time:

And I was finding the wild scenery to be magnificent:

Seamus led the way down to the water, but only Daphne and he actually went in:

Pickerelweed bloomed near the shore and between the rocks:

I turned away from the water's edge and back uphill into the forest, where more joyful running and jumping over logs told me the dogs were happy, happy, happy:

The pooches slowed down occasionally to look around and sniff the landscape:

And I saw a whole patch of Indian Pipe, a flowering, parasitic plant without chlorophyll:

Daphne stood next to two Indian Pipe plants while Clover watched from atop a rock in the background:

And then we continued on through the forest, headed back toward where we'd begun:

We returned to the water's edge, where the happy dogs once again got their toes wet and played:

Clover and Daphne ate a lot of green grass, but I've become accustomed to that. It doesn't seem to hurt them and they sure do enjoy it. But our little hike was not over yet. I'll post part 3 tomorrow:

Stone Valley Trail - Part 1

I'd been reading about the Stone Valley Trail for a long time and finally decided to give it a try. I drove down to the town of Colton, parked my car and began hiking at this dam on the Raquette River:

The trail is very long, but it was hot and my leg braces were bothering me, so I determined to walk as far as I figured I could and still make it back. The trail took us alongside this giant water pipe, part of the Brookfield power generating system:

And then across the pipe, leading us back toward the beautiful Raquette River:

We began in a mixed forest, angled downhill toward the river:

When we arrived at the Raquette River, the water level was very low:

My braces did not permit me to do much rock hopping, but the dogs sure had fun:

The dogs ran, played and refreshed themselves with river water:

There were many signs warning hikers to stay out of the river bed as the dam ahead of us could cause the water level to rise suddenly. I might have ignored the signs, but since I couldn't walk on the rocks with my braces anyway, I had to behave:

The low water level had exposed lots of rock formations:

In the forest, I saw numerous Indian-Pipe plants. Indian-Pipe is a parasitic flowering plant which derives its nutrients from a soil fungus which, in turn, gets its nutrients from tree roots. Because it doesn't need to manufacture its own food as most plants do, Indian-Pipe has no chlorophyll:

Seamus and Fergus paused for a breather:

And there were river scenes of spectacular beauty. But there was still more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: