Traveling Northward Again - From The Ausable River To Benz Pond

It hadn't even been a week since we'd been up to the farm, but there was lots going on, spring had sprung and all that. Soon a Saturday afternoon after work, the pooches and I set off for another quick visit . As soon as we got off the main highway and entered the Adirondacks, we stopped for a romp in the forest:

Wally is getting older and slower, but still enjoys being outdoors and with his family of five other dogs (and me, of course). He pattered silently along the trail, stopping to sniff many times:

The younger dogs ran on ahead as they always want to do. I called to them to "Stop!" and they did:

Then we all began returning to the car along the forest trail:

Dogs are great fun, turning everything into a joyous occasion. "Oh boy, Oh boy, we're going back to the car now! I'm so happy!!" Dogs are a wonderful antidote to melancholy:

I decided to take a detour along Blue Mountain Road to check out the trail heads for several potential hikes which I might make the next day. They looked promising, and I continued on along the just recently reopened seasonal parts of the road until I arrived at Benz Pond. Having just had a rest stop, I left old Wally and Winky snoozing in the car and proceeded down to the floating peat bog with the younger dogs:

The quiet beauty of Benz Pond was, as always, awe inspiring. I'd hoped to find some Pitcher Plants or Sundews but, alas, found neither:

The dogs ran on ahead, seeming not to notice the floating surface on which they walked. But I was heavy enough that it bounced alarmingly with each step. The dogs were more concerned with smelling everything:

Daphne and Clover got "stuck" at an aroma in the same place as last year. Could a smell last that long? Whatever it was fascinated them:

As for me, I just quietly enjoyed the beauty of it all:

And then we clambered back up the hill to our car where old Wally and Winky snoozed comfortably, apparently unconcerned about being left behind. We were almost to the farm at this point:

A Final Romp In The Forest On Our Journey Home

The dogs and I were once again on our way home from the farm and had made our way through the Adirondacks down through the Keene Valley and almost to the Northway. From there the journey is one hour and forty-five minutes of high speed, limited access highway. So I pulled off the road into our favorite little campsite on the Ausable River. We all piled out of the car and began making our way into the forest. Wally and Winky, of course, lagged behind, peeing and sniffing and checking out the interesting smells in the fire ring:

The four younger dogs ran on ahead into the Adirondack forest:

Keeping all six dogs together takes some effort, but I was doing pretty well - at least at the beginning:

The trail winds comfortable through the tree trunks and is an unusually pleasant walk for people and for dogs:

Winky was lagging behind, but I'm used to that. The big problem that day was Wally. If you squint at the left side of the trail in this picture you'll see black and white Wally dawdling along. My job was (again) to urge the oldsters forward while urging the youngsters to slow down:

Here comes Wally!:

I managed to get Wally almost up to the other dogs and we proceeded farther into the forest:

The "Silly Sisters" ran, wrestled and played the entire way. I had to call them to get them to stop long enough to snap this picture:

But it had been a wonderful trip up to the farm and our final rest stop was over. The highway portion of the drive was just ahead so I got everyone back into the car and began the last leg of the journey home: