I haven’t been getting out into the woods too much of late – for a variety of reasons. We got our dog from a shelter and I think he’s largely a town dog. He much prefers to walk on paved surfaces than he does on the narrow, rocky, rooty trails that seem to be the norm around here. I’ve also been feeling a bit lazy so I’ve limited our daily walks to the road around our lake. Today though I thought I’d try a walk in the woods so off we went to nearby Fahnestock State Park, about five minutes away from where I live. It’s actually possible to walk into the park from the house using the Roaring Brook Trail but I thought I’d approach it from the other end, near the park visitor’s center.

After walking for a while the trail divided and instead of following the Roaring Brook Trail I thought I’d try out the Stillwater Loop in the hope of finding a new (to me at least) lake. We walked for about two hours and I must say that contrary to my expectations Harley really seemed to like it. Maybe this was because the trails mostly follow old woods roads and are wider and not as rough as other trails in the vicinity.

I’m not entirely sure what these are. At first I thought they were the remains of trees in a part of the lake that had been flooded. Looking at the picture though they look a little more man made – possibly piles supporting a long gone dock or something?

I was briefly intrigued by this signpost along the way, particularly the bright yellow sign at the bottom which reads: “Do not pass this point after 3:30 pm”. What are the dire consequences if your do? Is this when they let the monsters out? Do you turn into a pumpkin? Then it occurred to me that it’s probably because around this time of year it starts to get dark around 4:00pm and they don’t want people walking around in the woods in the dark. That’s probably wise as the trails can be quite treacherous and there are bear in the woods.