Catherineville State Forest, Santamont Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking in the snowy Catherineville State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday):

The dogs were less rambunctious than usual, which made me happy, yet they got to run and play - and also to poop and pee everywhere:

Fergus, Daphne and Seamus went exploring off the trail, but they didn't go too far:

And sometimes they thought they heard something. They'd all stop and pick up their ears, then decide they'd been mistaken and continue on along the trail:

Fergus most often walks at my heels but was more forward on this hike, though he sometimes looked back at me to see if I was OK with that. I was:

It was lots of fun, but we didn't go far. Soon we turned back the way we'd come, returning to our parked car:

Clover and Daphne, imagining themselves to be Timber Wolves, strode boldly through the trees off the trail:

We stopped at a giant bolder, a glacial erratic, a bit of "gravel" left behind as the glaciers melted:

We again crossed a Balsam Fir which had fallen across the trail:

And took another exploratory trip off the trail:

I was happy to be out in nature and to have the dogs behaving so well:

And then we saw our little red car, parked along the side of the road up ahead. I had all the dogs heel (our version is pretty loose). Jack has never quite learned, but he sort of has the idea by watching the other dogs:

Catherineville State Forest, Santamont Trail - Part 1

Our winter took a break, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees (F). The snow was all melted at the farm, so I took the dogs to Catherineville State Forest, about 8 miles away, where there was still plenty of snow. We began walking the trail, following a Coyote's footprints. The dogs were not concerned, so neither was I:

They began with their usual exuberance, though I am happy to report that they stayed a bit closer than usual and required less hollering on my part. Fergus' ears were flopping as he bounded along the trail:

Jack was just getting over a bad cough, but that didn't slow him down, especially when it was time for him to do his traditional rolling for joy in the snow:

The dogs investigated everything, covering much more ground than I did:

With five dogs going in five directions, I had all I could do to keep track of them all - and that's why I want them to stay so close to me:

Fergus wondered if that tiny tree was worth peeing on:

Seamus led the way for awhile and his little buddy, Jack, ran joyously behind. If you click to enlarge this photo, you can see that Jack's feet were not even touching the ground when I snapped this photo:

There were some interesting smells for the dogs and beautiful sights for me:

And every so often, the dogs collected in one spot with much enthusiasm. We saw no wildlife, though, not even a mouse:

The forest was mostly Red Pines and Balsam Fir, with an understory of golden leafed Beech trees:

The dogs took occasional side trips off the trail, but I stayed where the snow was worn down:

They ran and played, while I concentrated on not slipping - and on keeping track of the five of them. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: