Floodwood Loop Trail, From Middle Pond To Floodwood Pond

My recent hike on the Floodwood Loop Trail was so pleasant that I returned to try it again, this time from an alternate trail head. I parked the car, let the dogs out and entered a magnificent forest:

The trail was easy walking and beautiful. The dogs must have liked it too, for they ran and played with great enthusiasm:

Much of the forest floor was carpeted with emerald moss. Seamus and Fergus held still momentarily, just long enough for me to snap a photo:

The trail took us around and to the south of Middle Pond, a magnificent sight:

And then we continued southward through the forest, in search of Floodwood Pond:

Floodwood Pond is very large, but one can only see parts of it because of its convoluted shoreline. But it had sandy shores which were just right for dogs to play in the water:

We followed the shoreline around to a large rock. Clover and Daphne climbed up on the rock and Seamus continued splashing in the water:

But this was to be only a short hike and I was feeling run down, so we turned back toward the car, enjoying the big trees along the trail as we went:

I set Daphne up on a mossy log for a photo and Clover jumped up to join her:

We were a happy procession as we made our way along the trail and beneath the big trees:

The dogs behaved fairly well. When I thought they'd gone too far ahead, I'd simply give them a call and they came running. I imagine that they covered ten times the distance I walked:

It didn't take long to get back to the car and the dogs were as happy to hop back in as they were to get out. I was feeling better by then and decided to try another short hike, just up the road. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

Floodwood Loop Trail, From Little Pollywog Pond To The Pollywog Pond Extension

We had made our way from Middle Pond to Pollywog Pond to Little Pollywog Pond and were on our way back toward the trail head:

The forest was scenic and fragrant, the dogs happy and playful. We never saw or heard another person, either in the forest or on the lakes:

We continued back the way we'd come. In this photo, we were crossing a small peat bog:

The forest was lovely, reminding me of the fairy tale Black Forest pictures of my childhood:

Daphne kept an eye out for big bad wolves, ogres and the like:

The moss covered sides of the trail lent a soft aura of comfortable mystery to the hike:

We took a detour when we reached the canoe carry trail, however. This canoe carry was a portage between Middle Pond and Pollywog Pond:

And this was the destination we sought. It was Pollywog Pond again, but a distinct "lobe" of it, almost a separate lake:

This quiet section of Pollywog Pond was quiet and wild, and the dogs did some exploring out on that peninsula. I didn't follow them because I was sure I'd sink down in:

And then we began returning to the main loop trail. I noticed that the canoe carry was broader, wider and easier walking than the regular hiking trail. But of course that made sense because those using it would likely be carrying their heavy canoes:

The dogs began to slow down, even the "Silly Sisters," Daphne and Clover:

The forest turned from mostly coniferous to mostly hardwood as we neared the trail head:

All in all, it was a spectacular hike, and one to which I hoped to return - especially since there remains so much of it we never got to see:

Floodwood Loop Trail, Beginning At Middle Pond

Our early autumn weather inspired me to take the dogs hiking, but I wanted someplace new and interesting. After doing some research, I found the Floodwood Trail south of here, which promised to take us alongside several lakes and through a deep forest. I drove down to the trail head, parked and we set off on a new adventure:

There were hardwood forests, coniferous forests, little trees and giant, old trees:

Our first lake was Middle Pond. We veered off the loop trail to go see it:

Middle Pond was lovely, but I quickly discovered that photos of the lakes were not turning out well. This was the best I could do, and I had to stabd back in the forest for even this one:

But deep in the woods, generally a difficult place for photos, produced nice pictures of my happy foursome. They were having lots of fun:

These beautiful puffballs seemed to be studded with gems and lay on a green carpet of moss:

In fact, the trail itself was lined with moss, making the whole forest look magical:

Clover and Fergus began running ahead and I had to keep reining them in, but otherwise it was a wonderful hike:

And the dogs still got to do lots of running, even under the "Not too far ahead of me" rules:

There were magical looking mushrooms scattered along the trail:

And blue-green lichens on fallen logs:

Daphne was particularly attentive, wanting to keep me in sight at all times and often happy to walk by my side:

But she also liked to go exploring with Fergus. I had no intention of taking the entire loop trail, but what we'd seen so far certainly inspired me to keep going. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: