The dog had been hankering for a long romp in the woods. Truth be known, so had I. All things came together making last Sunday the day. One of my hiking buddies wasn’t feeling up to strenuous climbing, so we opted for France Brook Road at Allegany State Park. It’s a great, easy hike on a dirt road that few people drive even in the best of weather, but especially not in winter. The park police drove by us when we were having our coffee break. Other than that, there was no one else around.
In fact, we barely even saw animals… which is odd. A few “tweety birds” high in the branches… and some turkey tracks.
At one point, we went down by the creek. Terry tried to record the sound of the creek using his new cell phone, which he hates. I wondered if he could use the creek sound as his ringtone. Mozart rested.
I poked around looking for little things, as usual…
… and ice, as usual…
I always wonder about the history of the land. All along France Brook Road are stands of Red and Scotch Pines… which must have been planted… so what was this land before? Probably farm…
But what about before that? What trees were here then?
Is that a key hanging from Mozart’s collar?
It’s interesting to ponder the history of the landscape. Hard to imagine that once upon a time the forest stretched largely unbroken but for beaver meadows and fire-clearings throughout most of the northeast. I try to picture what it would have been like when the first settlers arrived, but it’s nearly impossible.
Mozart is a beautiful dog. What breed/mix is he?
purebred german shepherd
Ah, we have something in common: a GSD.
And, I noticed your pup carries the car key.