Winter Cathedral Of Pines - Part 2

I was hiking the Red Dot Trail with the dogs (see Part 1, yesterday) and we'd nearly reached Church Pond. The dogs were excited and began picking up speed as we approached:

Church Pond has a very nice lean-to and we all gave that a thorough examination:

Then we walked down to Church Pond and I went (very carefully) out onto the narrow, sinking dock for a photo down the length of the pond's icy surface:

But then it was time to continue on:

I walked and the dogs ran until we got to an intersection which gave me the choice of going down a steep, snowy hill or turning right and going uphill where no one had yet broken the snow. Since I was wearing only my braces and sneakers (which is all that will fit over the braces), I decided instead to turn back the way we'd come:

That was fine with the dogs and they ran on ahead with almost as much excitement as when we'd begun:

The big pines made it almost cathedral-like, and the dogs looked quite small beneath them:

The dogs may not have gotten tired, but just about this time they began to get snow stuck up between the pads of their paws. That slowed them down with occasional stops to clean their paws:

We once again began to see Osgood Pond off through the trees:

I decided that the first part of the hike was the most beautiful and was happy to be traveling through it once again:

The dogs had slowed down by then, but as you can see by Fergus' ears, they were still running:

And there were moments of quiet reflection. Yes, even for the dogs. But we weren't finished yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Winter Cathedral Of Pines - Part 1

I took the dogs back to the Red Dot Trail the other day to hike in the snow. It's been two years since we were there and it was a snowy Christmas season then also:

The temperature was just about freezing and quite pleasant, and there was still enough snow on the ground and trees to be beautiful:

It was all so quiet and isolated that I let the dogs run to their heart's content - as you can see by how they crossed this little bridge:

The trail began alongside Osgood Pond, which was frozen over, and the dogs found it fascinating:

And I too found it fascinating - quiet and eerie, with muted colors:

The trail took us alongside a sort of canal between Osgood Pond and Church Pond:

The wet snow had been clinging to the trees for many days and I'm glad I got there in time to see its beauty:

I hate to use the trite expression, "Winter Wonderland," but it sure fits. I guess that's why it's used so often. The dogs, as you can see, were still running full speed:

Clover kept running so far ahead that I eventually began calling her back. She's happy to come when called. It's all part of the fun for her:

Daphne too was running full speed, back and forth, stopping occasionally to check with me to be sure everything was OK:

We rounded a bend and I knew that Church Pond was just ahead:

The dogs also sensed that we were approaching something, but I'll post about that in Part 2 tomorrow: