Deer River State Forest, Martin Road - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking off Martin Road in the Deer River State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and found the trails to be easy walking, the forest to be cool and lovely:

The mottled sunlight was challenging for my camera, but it tried its best. The dogs had begun our hike with too much boisterous enthusiasm, but they slowed down as we proceeded:

And then I saw this route sign, a real surprise in the deep forest. Apparently there are numbered routes, though I found no map of them online:

I was surprised by this bright orange shelf fungus. Clover and Daphne ran over to it and I followed, interested in a closer look:

It was indeed distinctive. I looked it up when I got home and suspect it was what is often called "Chicken Of The Woods," supposedly because it tastes like chicken. I'd never try it unless I had an expert on hand to confirm the identification, yet still it added to the interest:

We went quite a distance, making a number of turns. and I had some concern about remembering the way back. So before we got too far, I decided to begin our return trip to the car. Martin Road is a gravel road with no traffic, no buildings, no utilities, so just locating the car wouldn't mean we were back in civilization:

But the walk back was entirely pleasant and the dogs, having spent their excess energy, were much easier to keep close:

Jack still ran in big circles, taking detours through the woods, but even he was considerably calmed down. As for Seamus, he was plain tuckered out:

There were a few more side trips into the woods by the dogs, but I stayed on the trail:

There were mature stands of conifers and places I thought looked like the Black Forest, but I discovered that the pictures in such places had too little sunlight to be usable. The younger, hardwood areas had more light and more usable photos:

We trudged quietly along, with Ovenbirds singing all around us:

Right at the end, I almost turned left at an intersection. I was just about to do so when I glimpsed the bright red of my car, parked on the road straight ahead. There are times when a bright colored car is a real blessing. The dogs and I hopped back in our car and drove home. It had been a very nice short hike:

Deer River State Forest, Martin Road - Part 1

It was too nice a day, slipped in between days of rain, for me to stay home. So I took the dogs back to Deer River State Forest, a place I'd recently discovered and only been to once. This time I took Martin Road and, when I saw a dirt lane heading off into the forest, parked the car and let the dogs out:

The sandy lane was easy walking and I could have driven it easily - but we were supposed to be walking, not driving. The forest was lovely, alternating between light and dark, young and mature, hardwood and conifer. The dogs didn't care. They just wanted to run:

I had to keep hollering at the dogs to bring them back, but they're so used to my loud voice that they are not phased by it. Their feelings aren't hurt, it's all just part of the fun:

I began to see occasional road signs, indicating to me that these were not hiking trails, but access roads - and there were many of them, requiring me to make a choice at each intersection (and try to keep in mind the way to return to the car when we were done):

I never saw a single wildflower, but I saw lots of leaves where there had been flowers earlier. These twin leaves in the mossy carpet were Pink Ladyslippers:

The forest was dark, interspersed with bright sunlight where there were holes in the canopy:

And it was cool and quiet, with Ovenbirds singing all around. Notice the road sign up on the right, a squiggly arrow indicating a winding section of road just ahead:

Look at the expression on Fergus' face. He looks like he was just about to pee but saw me with my camera and was saying, "Can't a fella have some privacy around here?"

The forest floor was mostly open and easy to walk, so we did some exploring. I found a section with several kinds of club mosses, such as this Fan Club Moss:

And Tree Club Moss, or Princess Pine:

This one was more difficult to identify, but I think it was Running Club Moss:

Trillium, with its flower long gone and beginning to develop fruit at its top. But there was much more to see here, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Into The Woods, White Hill Wild Forest, Part 2

I'd discovered a 9000 acre wild forest just a bit south of my farm and set out with my four dogs to explore it on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Here's a map of the area I found on the Internet. For some reason this picture will not enlarge when you click it, but if your eyes are good enough you can see how the road took us to Clear Pond. We parked there and hiked around Clear Pond, turning south at the next trail intersection to Little Rock Pond and Long Pond:

We seemed to have the entire forest to ourselves and the tree canopy was some protection from the rain. I passed by lots of interesting sights and one of them was this unique mushroom. It looked to me like an old rag draped over a fence post:

I stepped over what I thought was Watercress growing abundantly in a mountain stream. I've searched my Peterson's Field Guide since and no longer think it's Watercress. But what is it? Does anyone know?

Daphne and Clover, the two Papillon youngsters (also referred to as the silly sisters), were constantly on the run. But when they stopped for a moment to watch me, I snapped their photo:

And then they began running again:

I'd long been lamenting the lack of Wood Thrushes in the Adirondacks. I've read that they were disappearing, perhaps as a consequence of acid rain. But this summer I've heard lots of them and I decided that it was a fine time to take a video and record the sounds and sights of the rainy forest with a Wood Thrush singing. There's also, you will notice, an Ovenbird singing loudly at about the 45 second mark. And Seamus panting as he waits patiently for me to begin hiking again. You may also notice Clover browsing on grass like a tiny Holstein. Both of my Papillons do that, so it must be a breed characteristic:

And then we came to a section of the trail which was flooded. There were trees down all around also. I figured it was beaver activity but saw no chew marks on stumps. Well, for the moment my job was to find a way around the flooding. As you can see here, Daphne and Clover were perfectly happy to run right through the water if that's what I wanted to do:

When we'd returned to dry trail, I passed by what must surely be a beaver swamp. But still I saw no chew marks on the stumps:

I checked my map and decided this must be Little Rock Pond. Daphne ran right down to investigate, perhaps hoping to meet a beaver:

Then Seamus, Fergus and Clover ran down to check it all out also:

The dogs' curiosity satisfied, we resumed our trek along the trail. Mosquitoes and Deer Flies were abundant and hungry. Next time I'll know to wear a hat to cover my shaved head: