Fort Jackson State Forest - Part 1

Our weather was hot and we hadn't been out for an adventure in some time, so I put the dogs in the car and headed to the nearby Fort Jackson State Forest. It was only 4.3 miles from our door, and about 2 miles of that was a tiny dirt lane such as this. I parked and let the pooches out to run - and run they did:

The Wood Thrushes and Ovenbirds were singing beautifully and I didn't want to disturb the peaceful beauty by hollering at the dogs, but soon I was forced to start yelling "Stop!" and "Get Back Here!" Sometimes, though, they stopped on their own to smell something fascinating:

I had parked where I did because I knew the lane became impassable for a car just up a bit farther. Indeed, we quickly arrived at a mud hole. Daphne celebrated by going in up to her chin:

We were taking the same route my sister and I walked last autumn. It was so peaceful and beautiful that I'd been looking forward to walking it again. I'd been hoping to wait until bug season was past, and indeed it was. I never got a single bite of any kind:

We came to the stone foundation of a former cabin, and turned off the trail to investigate:

The old stone well, barely ten feet from the foundation, was still there but the stones had caved in somewhat, making it safer than it must have been when it was a well:

And near the well was this tiny toad, barely bigger than my fingernail:

Then we headed off along the trail once again. The dogs had already slowed down. Like me, they're not as young as they used to be. Also, it was hot:

Then we turned left down a gradual slope which I knew would take us to the banks of the St. Regis River:

The trail down to the river was also one of the nicer walks in the state forest:

Soon we could hear the roaring river up ahead, and the dogs knew what it was. They began picking up their speed. 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:

West Parishville State Forest - Part 1

I hadn't taken the dogs out for a long time, partly because of our harsh winter weather, and partly because of the trauma, earlier this winter, of Jack getting caught in a leg trap. But we had a surprise thaw and warmer weather, so one day I drove the dogs to to the West Parishville State Forest:

There was still so much snow along the sides of the road that I feared I'd never find any place to park, but our trail had a parking area and was free of snow. I let the dogs out and they ran amok, wild with pent up energy:

Right next to where I parked was this odd sight, which I decided must have been an old cellar hole from a former residence, the old stone foundation now holding the water:


We started on our way and I was pleased at the dearth of snow and ice. The dogs continued to run wildly, except to stop for pooping (as Daphne is doing in this photo):

We were in a predominantly Red Pine forest and I was hopeful for some nice scenery:

I had to keep calling the dogs back because they were so excited:

But we hadn't gone far before the entire trail was covered with slick ice, the forest floor covered with enough snow to make walking hazardous for me. I slipped and fell once, but suffered nothing more than a small scrape on one hand:

I considered turning back, but first tried walking into the forest to see how that went:

I soon returned to the trail, but walked along the edge of it, trying to stay off both the ice and the deepest snow. Meanwhile, the dogs were running and exploring:

They seemed to have no problem navigating either the snow or the ice:

And in spite of my earlier thoughts of turning back, we soon found ourselves going deeper into the forest:

Seamus struck a pose, looking very handsome. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

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:

Clear Pond In The White Hill Wild Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were spending a beautiful afternoon at Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest (see Part 1, posted yesterday). Little Daphne braved the chilly water and splashed around like the silly dog she is, but could not convince Clover or Jack to join her:

Seamus and Fergus walked to the water's edge and looked across the lake:

Fergus got his front feet wet in order to get a drink of water, but that's as far as he would go:

We walked back into the forest and away from Clear Pond in order to find the trail again. Fergus watched me carefully, apparently to be sure I didn't do anything untoward:

We rejoined the trail and hiked briefly, but the lure of the water's edge was too great and, before long, we were headed back to Clear Pond:

We passed by the recently felled pine once again. Jack and Fergus again sniffed around, fascinated with the smell of beavers:

We continued on along the shoreline and then headed back in the general direction of our parked car. You can see here that Clover was still bursting with energy, leaping for joy:

Jack ran back and forth wildly, a streak of orange along the water's edge:

But the time came when we had to walk back up the bank to rejoin the trail:

We followed the trail back toward the car but veered off to visit this old stone foundation. Clover and Daphne ran right inside to investigate:

Just a short distance from the stone foundation was this larger, concrete foundation. It had cracked and moved in many places and what at first appeared to be acorns spilling out of the corner was, after closer inspection, animal poop. From its location, size and shape, I guessed it to be Porcupine poop. I'm happy to report that the dogs didn't run into any Porcupines:

We made it back to the car in fine shape and I snapped one final photo for the hike's finish. Alas, only Seamus and Daphne felt like sticking their heads out the window for the picture. But it had been a fun and scenic afternoon: