A Walk Along Clear Pond - Part 1

I'd been wanting to take the dogs out to some forest and photograph the early spring flowers, but was just too busy. When I finally could wait no longer, we all went to Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest. It's a favorite spot for both the dogs and for me. I signed in at the trail head register and headed through the woods toward the pond. The dogs knew what was ahead and broke into a run:

There was a campfire site near the water and that caused more excitement than the natural smells. When it comes to possible bacon drippings, hope springs eternal:

 I found several Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) bushes in bloom, right near the water, their usual preferred location:

 My photos of the Leatherleaf flowers were not good enough, so I got this picture off the internet. They are lovely, waxy, little white bells:

With no bacon drippings to be found, Seamus began exploring the water's edge:

The shallows were filled with giant bullfrog tadpoles, sometimes in groups of two to four, sometimes in what appeared to be hundreds:

Clear Pond is a place of spectacular beauty and the dogs were enjoying it as much as I was. The only drawback was that black flies followed us everywhere and some photos were ruined because they swarmed the camera lens. That's a black fly on the upper left. The good news was that it was still cool enough so they weren't yet biting:

These were joyful dogs! What a happy life they live:

They drank pond water and explored everywhere:

The trail took us back into the forest and I continued on, looking for early spring wildflowers and heading for the next access point to Clear Pond:

The dogs ran ahead, then I called them and they came running back - joyful at all times:

 There were small mini-forests of Tree Club Moss (Princess Pine) along the trail - and there was much more yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Brasher State Forest - Part 1

We began our walk in the woods near an outhouse in the camping area, partly because we'd never explored that area before and partly because I had an inkling I might not want to get too far from an outhouse on that day. The dogs didn't care where we went. It was all good for them:


 We passed by the outhouse and into the forest, nearly 100% White Pines:

The dogs ran and sniffed, as is their custom:

And the forest did indeed appear magical after such a long, arduous winter. At times, a golden light seemed to reach down through the tree canopy and light up the pooches down below:

I was not surprised to find patches of snow remaining. In fact, I was surprised to find so little snow. As I keep saying, we had a particularly rigorous winter:

I stopped to examine the Tree Club Moss, commonly called Princess Pine, scattered among the White Pine cones and needles, Beech tree leaves and dead grass:

We entered into a section of forest with much smaller trees and I began wondering what species they were. They weren't Balsam Fir. Perhaps I was thrown off by the pile of Birch wood in the foreground, but I was embarrassed to discover, upon looking way up into the canopy, that they were all White Pines. It's just that they were younger White Pines than the ones we'd seen so far:

Seamus and Fergus found these small trees a delight to run through:

We arrived at a brushier area, and that too was just fine with Seamus:

The three little dogs seemed to enjoy the snow. Perhaps they'd just become accustomed to it after such a severe winter. But there was yet more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

West Parishville State Forest - Part 2

I was hiking with the dogs in the West Parishville State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and we were heading deeper into the forest:

The forest type began as Scotch Pines, then became hardwoods, then became mixed. I had trouble identifying the pines after that because they were all tall, with no saplings growing, and I could barely see the needles:

I thought I saw a beaver marsh through the trees and we walked over for a look, only to discover it was a farmer's corn field. So we made our way back to the forest trail and continued on our way:

There were tiny (1") orange mushrooms:

But we had traveled quite a way, at least for an old codger like me, so we turned back the way we'd come:

As always, the dogs were just as happy going back as they were going forwards, though by this time they'd used up much of their excess energy:

Seamus and Fergus showed off their new haircuts beneath the tall trees:

Tiny yellow mushrooms, so small they were overshadowed by this Tree Club Moss (Princess Pine):

A great big orange mushroom. I called Daphne over to sit beside it and she got nervous, which is why she has such a silly expression on her face:

We made a happy procession as we headed back toward our parked car. I believe these trees were Scotch Pines, which is what predominated at the beginning of the trail. And as if for confirmation, the trail was named "Scotch Pine Trail:"

The dogs were considerably slowed down by this time, enabling me to relax and listen more to the bird songs:

And then we arrived back at our car, which I'd parked just off the trail. It was a simple matter to pull back onto the all purpose trail and head back out of the state forest on the gravel road:

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:

The Pink Ladyslipper Trail 2017 - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring the Ladyslipper Trail, site of an explosion of wild orchid blossoms last year. This year, however, we were too early. But the forest was beautiful, even mysterious, and the dogs were happy:

Tree Club Moss, often called Princess Pine:

Lowbush Blueberries:

Lots of pine seedlings. I counted the needles per bundle and declared them White Pine. The big trees were mixed Red and White, though, so it would only be natural that the seedlings would be also:

And then I saw a Pink Ladyslipper in bloom. I'd given up hope of finding one, so this was a big occasion and I made sure to get a photo:

And then, just a few feet away, was another one:

Fergus and Daphne were puzzled by my stops to snap photos of flowers, but it didn't interfere with their fun:

I was in a mood to appreciate beauty, and this old stump, cut decades ago and covered with moss and lichens, was in mind, an exquisite work of art:

And then I saw a third Pink Ladyslipper:

The dogs ran ahead into a section we hadn't visited before so I followed:

And indeed it was beautiful:

Another Ladyslipper. Clearly, there were some plants flowering earlier than others, and I'd managed to stumble onto the early bloomers. But we weren't done yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: