Annual Pink Ladyslipper Walk - Part 1

Time seems accelerated this year, and I'm racing to keep up with everything. One day it occurred to me that it was time for my annual Pink Ladyslipper walk along the sort-of trail I discovered in the Brasher State Forest. I parked along the road and let the dogs out. There were no Ladyslippers there, but I knew they'd be found back in the forest, beneath the pines. But there was an abundance of Wild Strawberries by the road:

And one lovely Blue-Eyed-Grass:

The dogs cared for none of that and ran joyfully for the forest. The mosquitoes were out in force and hungry, so I was too busy swatting them to worry much about the dogs. They got to run more freely than I usually allow:

Besides, I knew there would be no other people anywhere near - and the dogs behaved pretty well without me carping at them:

Then I began to find many Starflowers, a lovely spring wildflower with both leaves and flowers in a star pattern:

And Canada Mayflowers, sometimes called Wild Lily-Of-The-Valley:

And then I began to see Pink Ladyslippers, our native wild orchid. They were exceptional this year:

There were so many that I came home with 104 photos. I whittled them down to 31, which I'll present in two blog posts. How could I not take pictures of such wild beauty?:

Clover wasn't concerned with orchids. For her and the for the other dogs, this was just a romp in the forest:

A close-up:

Two Ladyslippers, just a few feet apart:

A tall specimen at the base of a small tree:

We began in a White Pine forest, but it changed to mostly Red Pines as we got deeper into the woods. The dogs seemed to find something putrid, though I didn't notice it at the time. I sure did notice it when Seamus vomited in my car on the way home. They were all fine, though, whatever it was they got into:

A patch of tiny lichens, including British Soldiers (with the red caps) and Pixie Cups (like tiny goblets):

Seamus went ahead into the deep forest, and I followed. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 1

We had a sunny, cool, breezy day and I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the Fort Jackson State Forest. There are three entrances, two of them relatively unused except by folks who live along the small road which leads there. The first one we tried was too muddy for my little car and I had to back up, turn around and try another entrance. This one was passable but so long that I almost gave up. But then I began to see State Forest signs, so pulled off the dirt lane and parked:

I let the dogs out and they exploded in an excited flurry of activity - running, sniffing, peeing and exploring. It's difficult to rein them in at the beginning of a hike:

I had to keep calling them back when we started, but they soon began to calm down and stay near me without any hollering:

The sandy lane was easy to walk and the scenery was lovely. All in all, this was a most pleasant experience. Oddly, there were no black flies or mosquitoes, but that may just have been because it was cool and windy:

Most of the forest was deciduous but there were sizeable patches of Red Pines also. I saw no White Pines, which I thought was odd:

I could tell that local people on ATVs use these lanes, and they have caused mud holes like this one. On foot they are easy to walk around, but if I had been driving, this would have stopped me:

I knew that we were close to the St. Regis river but I wasn't at all sure which direction it was in and the wind in the tree canopy made so much noise that I couldn't hear the river. We never did find the St. Regis, but I've since checked a map and will know where to look the next time:

These pictures look like White Pines, not Red Pines - so maybe my mind was on something else when we were exploring his section:

Canada Mayflowers, also called Wild Lily-Of-The-Valley, were in bloom:

And so were Starflowers. I saw no Trilliums or Ladyslippers:

But it was a lovely woodland and the dogs were happy. These, I can tell by the picture, were Red Pines:

I stayed on the main trail since it was steadily downhill and I figured would lead us to the river. But then I turned down another lane which lead even more steeply downhill and in a direction I thought the river was likely to be. But I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Pink Ladyslipper Trail 2017 - Part 1

Last year I found a trail in Brasher State Forest which had an astounding population of Pink Ladyslippers in bloom. This year I was five days earlier and the blooming season was running late, so I doubted I'd find anything. Nevertheless, we needed an outing so I drove to the forest and let the pooches out:

The first thing I noticed was this Pasture Rose right next to where I'd parked. It wasn't blooming yet, but it was distinctive:

And of course Wild Strawberries. There were millions of them, growing abundantly in the sandy soil covered with old pine needles:

I'd feared there would be a lot of black flies, but instead we got lots of mosquitoes. But we were here to look around and enjoy ourselves, so off we went:

The dogs, not surprisingly, were ecstatic. They love an adventure:

Oh no. I began seeing Pink Ladyslipper plants, newly emerged, with no flowers. Clearly, we were much too early:

I did, however, see lots of Starflowers:

And the dogs raced through the forest, sniffing and peeing on things:

More Ladyslipper leaves. Too early, too early to see any flowers:

So I concentrated on the beautiful forest and happy dogs:

The tall White Pines and Red Pines were lovely and the dogs looked tiny as they ran through the trees:

Partridgeberry and Common Haircap Moss. It was sad that we were too early for Pink Ladyslipper flowers, but the forest was still a beautiful, fascinating place. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Summer Walk In The Walter F Pratt Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring a peninsula which jutted out into the water of the reservoir (see also yesterday's post):

Seamus and Fergus both braved the cold water:

And then we climbed up the hill and into the pine forest:

The peninsula was rather long and made for a very pleasant walk:

The dogs stopped at every tree, causing me to speculate that lots of other (male) dogs had been there before us:

Daphne and Clover went down to the water again but decided not to go in:

And then we headed back toward our car:

There were Starflowers  and Canada Mayflowers in bloom:

And Fergus and Seamus made sure to check out every inch of ground:

It truly is an idyllic walk, close to home and with few people there usually:

But our walks are short these days and it wasn't long before we saw our parked car up ahead. It was time to go home: