Spring Flora White Hill Wild Forest - Part 1

I took the dogs to the White Hill Wild Forest and walked around Clear Pond one day, but took so many photos that I separated them into dog pictures and plant pictures. These are the latter, and the first photo is of Leatherleaf in bloom along the shoreline of Clear Pond:

 There didn't seem to be many flowers blooming, but the Red Maple leaves unfurling sparkled in the sun and were as pretty as any flower:

  Violets are hard to identify but I guessed that these  were Northern White Violets. They were very tiny:

 An unknown Moss. I searched Google for an ID, but finally gave up:

 Wild Strawberries, of course. They were blooming everywhere:

 Blue Flag, our Wild Iris:

 Tree Club Moss, or Princess Pine:

Viburnum lantanoides, or Hobblebush. I included the Latin name because I found the plant so difficult to find online and it wasn't in my wildflower field guide:

 A closeup of Viburnum lantanoides or Hobblebush:

 Painted Trillium:

 Pillow Moss:

 Running Club Moss, sometimes called Running Ground Pine. But there was more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Catherineville State Forest - Part 1

It was Sunday, the day before I was to get my ankle braces and the warmest, loveliest day so far this spring. I decided to drive back to Santamont Road and check out the Catherineville State Forest. I noticed that the sign had an "S" in Catherineville and checked the internet when I got home. Most sources omitted the "S:"

I parked the car and let the dogs out, then quickly returned to leave my jacket in the car. It was warmer than I'd expected:

I stopped to investigate an abundance of cones on the ground and decided that these were from the many Black Spruce which were growing all around me:

It was a fine day for a romp in the forest and the dogs were excited to be outdoors:

There were lots of wet spots and I attempted to keep the dogs from drinking out of them, though I let them play and splash to their hearts' content:

These tiny beauties were, I believe, Northern White Violets:

The dogs and I continued on our way down the trail. I kept calling the pooches back when they got too far ahead of me:

I believe that this trail was once a woods road, perhaps to someone's camp or a logging operation. These days, it's a fine way to see the forest and smooth enough for someone like me with bad ankles:

There weren't many flowers in bloom of any kind yet, but I knew that these Spring Beauties would be among the first. Our spring is 3 to 4 weeks later than normal this year. In another week or two, the forest floor would be carpeted with beauty:

Fergus looked like a little lamb in the woods. I decided that it's time for both Fergus and Seamus to get haircuts. But we had more to see on this unmarked trail, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: