Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 3

The dogs and I had hiked down to the St. Regis River in the Fort Jackson State Forest (see also Part 1 and 2, posted previously). We ascended the riverbank up to the main trail to begin our journey back to the car:

This trail follows the river through a largely Hemlock forest. It is level and scenic, perhaps 30 feet from the river, high enough not to flood:

We turned left, up the steep hill which would return us to our car, when I saw an eyeball in the trail - yes, an eyeball! It was shocking and gruesome, its size and pupil shape indicating it was from a deer. I didn't want to touch it with my finger, so I used a twig and discovered it was made of glass:

I picked it up and brought it home, then checked online and learned that it was a taxidermist's eye for a deer head. I figured that it must have been from a deer decoy being carried into or out of the forest last autumn during hunting season. For me, it was a highlight of our little adventure and it now sits permanently on my kitchen counter:

 The Hemlocks began to be replaced by Northern Red Oaks:

And as we climbed higher, the soil became very sandy and the trees became mostly Red Pines:

This was an entirely different landscape than we'd encountered previously, though a fairly common type in the Adirondacks:

Green mosses and blue Reindeer Lichens carpeted the ground:

And the coolness we'd experienced down by the river turned to hot summer, with the loud buzzing of insects (still no biting insects though):

The pines began to change to hardwoods and the sandy ground began to be more like forest soil when we reached the top:

I must have have inadvertently taken a different turn than usual, for we emerged into a clearing exactly at our parked car. That was highly convenient, but I wouldn't have wanted to have accidentally gone past it. I'll be alert to that possibility the next time:

Beautiful Snowfall

A beautiful snowfall, a chance for another drive down the gravel road near my house to see the wintry scenes:

The hardwood trunks covered with snow seemed to exist in a black-and-white world of long ago:

Jumbles of brush and fallen trees lined the road, behind which the woodlands stretched out for as far as I could see:

An old stone wall, bordering a farm field:

Occasional pine trees in an otherwise hardwood forest:

The soft brush of snow on the bare trees:

A tall pine beside the road:

Winter woodlands:

Red Pines, adding color to the otherwise muted forest:

Small Beech trees, holding on to their golden leaves:

My Amish neighbors' barn, quiet and peaceful after the snowfall:

Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 2

We were hiking in the Fort Jackson State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and had just reached the St. Regis River. The four little dogs arrived first, and then big Seamus arrived later (his legs were still wobbly from the previous day's hike):

We walked out onto to a rocky section, exposed only because the water level was low:

And even little Jack braved the cold water. He has sure come a long way since his terrifying days at the Shelter:

Soon it was time to leave, but instead of heading all the way back to the trail, we continued on along the shore of the river, looking for more interesting places to access the water:

And soon we found a great place to get down to the river, with a grassy swath and a small, rocky island nearby. Fergus and Clover were the first to explore:

My sister sat on a giant rock and meditated on the beauty all around:

As for Seamus, his legs were tired and he just wanted to rest a bit:

My sister stayed behind while I took the dogs back to the trail which was once again right next to the river. I was looking for a big log on which to sit:

I noticed lots of Beech trees and the parasitic plants, Beechdrops. They are so nondescript that I've had little success photographing them, so I tried putting my hand behind one of them to help accentuate the odd, brown plant. They look dead, but they're not:

I found a big, comfortable log and sat down for a rest. Daphne came right up to me for some attention. Dogs are right at home in the forest:

We took a different, shorter trail back to our car, a trail which offered different forest types:

And large patches of moss and Reindeer Lichens:

Autumn woodlands are among God's finest creations:

And the dogs were tired from two days of hiking (yes, I was also). They were unusually well behaved for several days thereafter:

Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 1

We had just hiked to Black Pond and Long Pond the previous day, and my sister was leaving after lunch, but we decided we could do a quick hike in the nearby Fort Jackson State Forest. Black Pond had been about 37 miles away, but this state forest was only about 3.5 miles from my door. So we drove to it and let the dogs out. Still tired from the previous day's hike, they were more subdued than usual:

I found the scenery less picturesque than what we'd seen around Black Pond, but in some ways I liked this better. These woodlands seemed like home and reminded me of the New England forests of the Pilgrims:

A friend was hiking with us and called our attention to an old stone foundation in the forest. Someone had a large cabin here long ago:

We were just leaving the foundation when I discovered a laid up stone well, about ten feet from where the cabin once stood:

And we saw these amazing plants. I thought they were Liverworts, but looked them up when I got home and decided they were lichens, mixed with mosses:

It was a wondrous autumn scene, though there wasn't yet much color:

A quiet walk in an autumn woods is good for the soul:

We took a left onto another trail, a path which took us downhill toward the St. Regis River (I knew from previous hikes here):

The dogs may have sensed the river, for they began to pick up speed:

The trail continued on, but we left it and went straight toward the river:

Clover and Fergus broke into a run. They knew what was ahead:

Indeed, even we humans could soon see the river:

When we emerged onto onto the rocky flats, we paused to admire the pristine beauty of the St. Regis River:

The four little dogs waded in. There's more to the story, of course, but it will have to wait until tomorrow's post, Part 2: