The Drive Home - Part 1

Our walk along Clear Pond had yielded almost no wildflowers except for Painted Trilliums, but I'd seen other species in bloom along the road in to the trail head, so kept my eyes open as we traveled back out. The first flower I saw was another Painted Trillium:

And another. They were certainly do well this year:

And someone had engineered many stone cairns all along the one lane, dirt access road:

And then I saw a large Red Trillium:

Unfurling ferns at the base of a large, old Black Cherry tree:

And Hobblebush, a wild Viburnum. We hadn't seen any by the lake which were in bloom as apparently I was too late, but deep in the forest I found a few still blooming:

A wondrous creek, making its way through the forest:

The Trout Lilies were up but not in bloom. They are long past in most parts of the country. We are always later, being a northern location, but this year we were even later than usual:

Two more tall Red Trilliums:

Every time I'd get out of the car to photograph wildflowers, the dogs would watch me anxiously. They'd rather jump out and "help," but I wouldn't let them. But there was yet more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Walk Along Clear Pond - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring the shoreline of Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday):

 I'd almost given up on finding any wildflowers when I spotted this Painted Trillium:

We got to the end of Clear Pond and turned back the way we'd come:

The dogs were ecstatic to be going back, just like when we were heading out:

The great explorers, in their own minds a pack of playful wolf pups:

 I certainly hadn't found many spring wildflowers, but here was a second Painted Trillium:

Daphne proved she wasn't just a pampered foo-foo dog by playing in a mud puddle:

And every time we came to another water access, we took it:

Even though we'd just been here a half hour ago, the dogs rejoiced as if we'd found a new treasure:

They ran around a beaver felled tree and on to the next easily accessible shoreline spot:

This was the place with the former campfire, meaning we were almost back to our car:

We followed the trail back through the forest toward the trail head, stopping along the way to explore an old stone foundation, probably where someone's cabin once stood. I hadn't seen many wildflowers, but we'd had a great time in an exquisitely beautiful place:

Spring Flora White Hill Wild Forest - Part 2

I was walking around Clear Pond with the dogs and photographing whatever spring flowers I could find. I saw lots of Hobblebush, which often looked as if it was artfully arranged by a professional landscaper:

 Painted Trillium:

I couldn't identify this Violet, but perhaps it was a Broad-Leafed Wood Violet:

 Red Trillium:

 Trout Lilies were up but not yet in bloom:

I guessed these to be emerging Canada Mayflowers. Everything is so late this year that we may want to rename them Canada June-flower:

 Painted Trillium:

 Red Trillium:

 Coltsfoot is usually the first flower of all, and to find it so late in the season was confirmation to me that spring was much delayed this year:

 Red Trilliums:

We were on our way out when I saw patch of Marsh Marigolds, with a State Forest sign in front of them. Tomorrow I'll post about the dogs and their happy romp along the edge of Clear Pond:

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:

Santamont Trail In Catherineville State Forest - Part 3

We'd hiked as far as I thought I could go on my bad ankles, so we turned around and began our trip back to the car (see also previous two posts):

Seamus looked healthy in his newly svelte body and Clover jumped up onto a rise to survey the forest:

But mostly we just trudged along. My ankles were becoming painful and, though the dogs could have gone on all day, they too had slowed down:

Clover and Daphne went off the trail to explore a rocky, mossy, wet area:

Seamus and Fergus looked noble:

Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris, was blooming abundantly in the many wet spots:

And everywhere we saw the beautiful Painted Trilliums:

By this time I was slowing down and the dogs didn't seem to mind. They certainly weren't as full of excess energy as they were when we began:

The quieter, more leisurely pace of the return hike is more pleasant to me than trying to control five excited dogs at the beginning of the hike:

We were soon approaching the gravel road on which we'd parked. I called the dogs to heel, which they sort of do (except for Jack, and even he is beginning to get the idea):

Shadbush was blooming abundantly along every road and lane, but I never saw a single one in the forest. So I simply waited until we reached the gravel road to snap a photo of this beauty:

And a close-up of Shadbush flowers. But our hike was done and it was time to return home: