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:

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: