Chapter 3 - Wolf Lake State Park

We'd hiked in to Wolf Lake, my sister, five dogs and I, where we decided to stop and rest, enjoying the abundant natural beauty:

I sat by the shore and beside the scarlet blueberry bushes while I held Madeline:

Seamus sniffed around the area and then he too decided to rest his tired legs:

My sister gathered three of the dogs around her and enjoyed the views, the sounds and aromas of wild, natural Wolf Lake:

And it was certainly an exquisite sight:

But then we got up and turned back toward Moon Lake, our next destination:

We arrived at the Moon Lake lean-to:

The Moon Lake lean-to had a large, flat, sloping rock for a sort of "beach." It was a very fine place for another rest and place to take in all the beauties of nature:

My dear, sweet Seamus, being a pit portly, very much needed a rest. And I knew just how he felt:

Moon Lake was a wilderness gem. In this sort of fine weather, a person might decide to just stay there:

A place for contemplation and wonderment:

My sister collected all the dogs around her briefly, and then we set off for Huckleberry Lake, about which I'll post tomorrow in Part 4:

Chapter 2 - Wolf Lake State Park

We were hiking the Wolf Lake Loop Trail and enjoying the natural beauty of it all, including the small wonders such as a patch of Bunchberry, still in bloom so late in the year:

We entered a forest, a brief interlude between beaver ponds:

The walking was rocky and treacherous in many places, at least for a guy like me with damaged ankles:

Still more beaver ponds. By this time we'd already lost count. They sure were lovely, though:

The walking here was dicey. We had to make our way across the rocks between a giant fallen tree and the beaver pond. Daphne and Clover had no such problems. Instead, they simply walked the length of the log:

There were fewer mushrooms than I'd expected, but they were wondrous, intricate creations:

Back into the forest, my sister and Madeline (who is her "grand-dog") kept closely together:

The terrain lifted and became largely a series of huge, flat rocks. The trees grew on top of these flat rocks and several recent blow-downs made it clear to us that their root systems were indeed exceedingly shallow:

We finally arrived at lovely Moon Lake. But we kept on walking, as we were headed for Wolf Lake and would then return to Moon Lake and take a closer look:

We walked along Moon Lake briefly:

And then back into the forest:

We arrived at Wolf Lake in short order and it was a thing of beauty, a place of wild, natural peace. We decided to stop and rest here, but I'll post about that tomorrow in Part 3:

Passing By Moon Lake A Second Time

The dogs and I left Wolf Lake and followed the trail back to Moon Lake. But we passed by the trail by which we'd arrived, taking instead a lake shore path to the rocky ledges at the edge of Moon Lake:

And arrived at a lean-to nestled in the pines and warmed by the slanting rays of the afternoon sun. This was the same lean-to at which I'd pulled Seamus into the cooling waters of Moon Lake this past May when he was suffering from heat stroke:

There was a narrow inlet on one side of the lean-to which we hadn't previously seen, so of course we did a bit of exploring:

We returned to the lean-to but none of the dogs wanted to go in the water:

It was time to forge ahead, this time aiming for Huckleberry Lake. I asked the dogs if they were ready:

And we all bounded off into the forest once again, following the trail signs:

This part of the trail was much longer than I'd remembered it and of a different sort of geology and forest type than we'd seen so far:

Seamus finally plopped himself down and wanted to take a rest. There was nowhere comfortable for me right there, but I was ready for a rest also. I called him along, but kept my eyes peeled for a good resting spot:

Great rocky cliffs began to rise up all around us:

And I found a hillside where I could sit down and take a rest. I even took off my shoes and put my feet up onto a tree trunk. We were all happy. Notice little Clover up on top the hill above me and Daphne's head peeking out from behind my shoulder:

And then, after a little rest, we continued onward toward Huckleberry Lake. The rocky, ankle-twisting trail which had nearly bested me at the beginning had turned smooth and easy. And it was good thing, too, for my ankle and I were both getting tired:

We traveled on and on through spectacular scenery, Huckleberry Lake our next stop. But I'll post more tomorrow:

Exploring Wolf Lake

The dogs and I were hiking the Wolf Lake State Forest loop trail. We had passed by Moon Lake and just arrived at Wolf Lake. I'd left the trail and was exploring the shoreline when Seamus discovered the lakeside lean-to. That meant we'd inadvertently arrived back on the trail: 

That glorious, warm, sunny day was tailor made for a dog to go into the water and Seamus did exactly that:

The rest of us explored the rocks, enjoying the sun and bracing ourselves against the strongly gusting winds. Look at that beautiful sky!:

A perfect day, an experience of wild, natural beauty:

To be honest, my sprained ankle was hurting and I was glad we'd arrived. But I also thought it was time to turn back and finish the hike back to the trail head before I became too lame. As for Seamus, he was just happy to be outdoors with his family in such a lovely setting:

We scouted around:

And enjoyed the warm sun and gusting winds:

Salty dogs, Daphne and Madeline, looked like seafaring pooches as they braced against the ever stronger wind gusts. It truly did feel like a day at the sea coast:

But we'd come less than half way at that point and there were more miles to hike before we could sit back down in our comfortable car. So we began following the trail back toward Moon Lake:

The sun's rays were beginning to slant just a bit and I knew it was well past noon. I figured we had several more hours of hiking:

But in such spectacular scenery I was so busy taking it all in and snapping pictures that time flew by. The sight of my tiny Papillons way up on top of that rocky ledge filled me with wonder. I'll post more tomorrow:

We Made It To Moon Lake!

There were so many beaver ponds along the way that I lost count, though I remembered each one from our previous hike in May. The trail took us around the edge of yet another beaver pond and the dogs had a merry time sniffing and tasting and investigating:

Seamus veered off into the forest and I captured this photo of him standing beside a tree. I thought he looked noble and adorable, but then I know him. I can easily imagine how another hiker might feel if he saw that black hulk hurtling toward him on a hiking trail. That's one of the reasons I put a colorful bandanna on him, to increase his "friendly" look. That and so no hunter might mistake him for a bear:

We continued on along the shore of the beaver pond:

The trail took us up and down hills, around beaver ponds and big rocks:

And the dogs found each new environment a great place in which to explore and play:

We crossed over wet spots:

And I felt happy in spite of my sprained ankle:

I thought I remembered that Moon Lake was just atop that hill and I was anxious to catch up with the dogs and see for myself:

There was water, but not Moon Lake:

And then, after more hiking, we arrived at Moon Lake, with the directional signs nailed to the White Pines which pointed to the right for Wolf Lake and to the left for Huckleberry Lake. Last spring, you may recall seeing a photo of a field of Pink Ladyslippers in bloom at the foot of that tree:

The Ladyslippers were gone, but there were lots of seeds. There should be even more of them next spring:

Seamus had a frightening brush with heat stroke here last May and we had to turn back without ever seeing Wolf Lake. But this time we were going for it in spite of my sprained ankle. We continued on the trail around the end of Moon Lake and which would take us to Wolf lake, but I'll post about that tomorrow: