Brasher Falls State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking a truck trail in Brasher State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). They love to run ahead, then I call them back and they return with just as much joy. Notice that Jack is running so fast that all four of his feet are off the ground:

Seamus is slowing down now that he's getting older. So am I, so we often lag behind the little dogs:

And the scenery was wondrous:

With hardwoods and pines on both sides of the trail, we had beauty in every direction:

We stayed on the trail, though, as the snow in the forest was too deep:

Except this one time, when the four little dogs discovered they were light enough to walk on top of the crusted snow:

But of course we soon turned back toward our parked car:

And the dogs stopped again at the fallen beech which they'd stopped at before. Apparently it smelled very interesting to them:

Jack explored the sides of the trail, but mostly stayed in the center with the rest of us:

We were almost back to where we'd parked:

I could see the stop sign up ahead, to warn people on motorized vehicles that they were coming to a road. My car was parked just to the right of the sign:

We were almost there, so I had four of the dogs heel. Jack has never learned how to do that, though he approximates it. Our hike had come to an end, so I loaded the dogs into the car and continued on into town to buy chicken feed on my way home:

Brasher Falls State Forest - Part 1

I haven't had much energy lately, but one fine morning I felt I had to get out into nature with the dogs. I drove to Brasher State Forest and found what is called a truck trail, leading off of McCarthy Road. It had a closed gate but that wouldn't have been needed because there was a four foot snow pile along the side of McCarthy Road which I had to climb over to get onto the trail. Snowmobiles had packed down the snow on the trail:

The dogs were ecstatic and had trouble deciding if they'd rather run wildly or stop and sniff everything. They tried to do both:

They'd run too far ahead and I'd call them back - and then we'd repeat the process:

The sun was bright but trees shaded parts of the trail and made photos difficult. But of course the dogs didn't care about my pictures - they were having too much fun:

Daphne, Clover and Jack kept finding what looked like small dog poops, too small for coyotes. I wondered if someone besides me had been walking their dogs here:

Jack, the little engine that could. He chugged along running first one way, then the other:

I hadn't planned on going far, but the dogs had other ideas:

Seamus looked like a new dog since he got his haircut. He didn't seem at all cold, though:

I've tried teaching them the meaning of "Stop!" Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't:

The four small dogs stopped to sniff something and Daphne came over to me to be sure I was OK with that. I was:

Besides running, Jack likes to roll ecstatically. In this case, his rolling took him downhill on the ice:

And onward we walked. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Winter At White Hill Wild Forest - Part 3

The dogs and I were hiking the access road in the White Hill Wild Forest (see also Parts 1 and 2, posted previously) and were on our way back to the car. Little Jack's energy had not diminished, and he continued running back and forth, his face showing pure joy:

But Clover had begun to accumulate snow between the pads of her feet and kept stopping, trying to remove it. I figured I could carry her if it got bad enough:

But then Seamus began having the same problem and kept stopping, trying to clean the snow out of his feet. I could not carry a 100 pound dog, so I just urged him onward:

And camera in hand, I enjoyed the wintry beauty and the companionship of my happy dogs:

This is one of my favorite places, though only the second time I've walked the access road. I hope to do so again in the spring or summer:

Fergus looked a bit like a small sheep, all covered with wool. His spring haircut was scheduled to happen in just three days, so he was lucky to have all that hair to keep him warm:

The little dogs had slowed down by this time but were keeping up with me. Seamus, however, was lagging behind as he kept trying to clean the snow out of his paws:

But we were all still happy and moving forward:

Sensing the parking area up ahead, Seamus picked up speed:

I knew we were almost there when I saw the sunlight up ahead:

And indeed we were. The dogs had lots of fun and the exercise was good for all of us. The wintry beauty was good for my soul:

A minute later, we were all in the car with the heater on, heading for home:

Winter At White Hill Wild Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking the access road in the White Hill Wild Forest in Parishville, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). A frozen beaver marsh was on our left:

I had to keep my right glove off so I could operate the camera, and my hand was getting cold. I began contemplating turning back:

Jack smelled something interesting and went to investigate:

And the Fergus and Daphne sniffed along the side of the road:

Ever the adventurous one, Clover marched right on into the forest to play Timber Wolf:

Daphne began to enter the forest, then turned and ran back to me:

But mostly we just walked, enjoying our outing:

And the dogs did some running:

But it was cold, so I called the dogs and turned back toward our parked car:

Fergus and Jack had to take one last sniff, but Daphne and Clover were ready to go back to the warm car:

And the scenery was lovely the entire way:

The dogs ran ahead, then I'd call and they'd run back to me. We were by now approaching the trail head. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Winter At White Hill Wild Forest - Part 1

I've been feeling so worn down by winter that I've had trouble getting myself moving, but one morning I managed to get the dogs in the car and drive to the White Hill Wild Forest in Parishville, New York. The parking area had about 6" of snow on it, but I was able to get in and park, facing downhill toward the road for an easy exit. I let the dogs out and we began walking:

Of course they were wild with excitement but, all in all, behaved well. Seamus and Fergus had an appointment for a haircut in just three days, so they benefited from extra thick fur coats. It was cold that day:

The snowy forest was lovely, though nothing could ever compete with the wintry beauty of our last hike here:

It appeared to me that the road had been plowed, though not recently enough for a regular passenger car to drive on. That was good for the dogs, though, and made for wonderful hiking:

They explored off the trail as much as possible, though the snow was deep and cold there. I noticed that they didn't stay off road for long or go far:

Little Jack always runs continuously, and he did so this time also:

I have to keep track of five dogs, some lagging behind, some running ahead, some exploring off the trail. I couldn't possibly keep all five of them on a leash, which is part of the reason I choose hikes where I'm unlikely to encounter anyone else. Luckily, my dogs are friendly and obedient, albeit excitable:

We were a happy procession, walking through the Adirondack forest:

Jack and Fergus did some off road sniffing:

And then we continued on our way, stopping to investigate interesting things every now and then:

I could see the opening up ahead where a beaver marsh was on the left. Jack, you may notice, was almost there already:

But we soon caught up to him and arrived at the beaver marsh. We had more exploring to do, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: