Toby at the Androscoggin River (Papermill Trail)

We decided to walk part of the Papermill Trail to photograph Toby within Autumn's coat of many colors. This location is almost at the height of color being about 12.5 miles inland from Casco Bay, as the crow flies. At about 10:45am, we walked over to a boulder and down to the edge of the Androscoggin River to an outcropping of granite. The air was still and the river was glassy smooth.

Because Toby is blind, we don't let him off leash right away. We let him get the lay of the land, so to speak. Drew takes him to different parts of the rock and I snap tons of photos.

Toby is so cute and he is a master at avoiding looking at me during photo sessions. I forgot to bring a squeaky toy with me, so it took me forever to get a few photos of his head looking in my direction.

One last shot of him with Drew. You can see that he was getting so much more comfortable on the rock.

And, ta da! Drew took the leash off Toby for a few minutes while he stood stock still on the rock all by himself!

Such a good boy!

Papermill Trail Walk

We just cannot get enough of the autumn colors, so we took a nice walk along the Androscoggin River portion of the Papermill Trail today.

This has always been a favorite location of ours for photographing the dogs, and today did not disappoint!

Our goal was to walk to our favorite chunk of granite on the shoreline of the Androscoggin River. As you can see, the colors were stunning and my two guys were handsome as could be!

We stopped at a nice bench to rest our legs for a few minutes before heading back.

Whereupon Toby and Drew went walkin' down the line!

And, here is a portrait of our super sweet, big yellow dog! He had a blast and was a very happy pup;-)

Pre-Christmas Walk on Papermill Trail

We celebrated vacation time by doing a family walk on Papermill Trail today. It was so cold and we just weren't prepared for the windchill. But, it was pretty nonetheless.

I just couldn't resist taking a shadow photo of Flame and I!

The Sabattus River was flowing as it has been near to above freezing during the day.

We only walked 1.4 miles round trip, and that was enough for us and the pups.

We decided to head for home and warm up with some delicious hot cocoa!

Autumn Pups on the Papermill Trail

We love the Papermill Trail, and it is especially pretty during autumn. The sky was dark, the air was cold, and there were very few people on the trail.

Lady Flame patiently waits while Toby gets his umpteenth treat.

Both pups pose nicely on the boulder next to the trail.

Then, we walked over to the chunk of granite next to the river. I couldn't get the pups to look at me for anything. Actually, they were focused on Drew thinking that they would get yet another biscuit!

Flame is good a posing and she will not move when the leash drags on the ground. Although, she continued to avoid looking at me;-)

Papermill Pals

We joined Trouble and Sugaree (and their family) for a walk on the Papermill Trail today.

There were a couple of guys scoping out the fishability of the river by walking upstream from their boats.

The Sabattus River is so pretty any time of the year.

We veered off the pavement and took a short, forested trail down to the river.

The pups and people all enjoyed themselves as they investigated the river, which was rather "algified" at the moment, as there was so little water.

We also took a trail that cuts across to Mill St. so as to check out the bridge and old mill area.

This will be very pretty, in autumn, as the trees change color. Unfortunately, this is as far as we got on our walk due to Toby probably getting stung by a bee. Poor pup. Drew had to go back to the beginning of the trail to get the car, and then he drove down Mill St. to pick us up. Toby was limping, and then screaming when I tried to find the cause of his ailment. Then, he lay on the ground until his chariot arrived. Greyhounds aren't known for being stoic;-)

Queen Anne's Lace

I think this is in the "Pink" Family of disturbed roadside flowers, but I can't figure out the species.

Pretty leaves changing to a deep red as autumn is just around the corner.

Lady Flame on the Androscoggin River

Lady Flame on the bank of the Androscoggin River

(Click on the photo for a larger view...go on...she is gorgeous!)

Papermill Trail Walk to capture autumn colors

(Click on any photo for a larger view.)

We took another walk down Papermill Trail to try and capture some stunning autumn colors. There was the threat of rainfall, so our walk was cut short. And, the dark sky, along with the lateness of the day, made it difficult to capture nice, clean shots. I had hoped to get photos worthy of a calendar, but was not very successful. The photos are incredibly grainy as I had to shoot at a minimum of ISO 500, and then had to pump the ISO up to 1000.

The pups did sort of pose on the rock for me. Lady Flame has learned to avert her head while I photograph her (thanks to Bettina, for teaching Flame this trick to frustrate any well meaning photographer;-) 

Drew took the pups to the edge of water. What a beautiful backdrop!

Toby is incredibly photogenic. He is our star model for autumn.

See what I mean about Lady Flame avoiding the camera? She is such a spoil sport. Getting long schnoz shots is always fun! At least Toby can't see me, so he cooperates just fine, thank you very much;-)

But, Drew did catch Flame unaware for a microsecond!

Why the long face, Toby? Is it time to go home? Our biggie boy is so expressive.

Back home we go! We ended up getting a bit damp on the way back, but had a great time. The dogs were so pooped after having been on two walks today;-)

Papermill Trail

The trail is beginning to get colorful!

Wowee, it is one cool and blustery day outside (the temp. is in the mid-50s with a 14 mph wind.) We decided to celebrate Columbus Day by going for a walk along the Papermill Trail. There were lots of other like-minded people out there with us, and the trail was one busy place;-)

We were pleased to see some nice color along the trail.

The riverbank has a ways to go before peak color occurs, but there were some patches of brilliance. I peaked over this boulder to see some colorful trees across the Androscoggin River.

It was certainly a challenge photographing Drew and the hounds, due to the harshness of the light and uneven shady spots all along the trail. 

Purty Lady Flame

But, at least it was colorful. We'll try again later in the week and hope for a cloudy day with more even lighting;-)

Papermill Trail walk

The trail runs alongside the Sabattus River.

We took the pups out to the Papermill Trail this afternoon. It was absolutely perfect for a walk along the river and through the woods! Although, the outdoor temp. was 19F and the windchill was 9F. Brrr.....

The path is nice and wide.

The trail had been packed down by snowmobiles and provided great footing.

This trail leads off to the right of the main trail, and goes for miles.

We walked along the main trail and then headed up into the woods for awhile.

We crossed a small stream and walked a bit further until we got too cold.

We had the feeder trail all to ourselves and it was a rather uneven and hilly. But, that didn't bother us at all and it was nice to be in the protection of the woods.

Our final descent to the main trail

Due to the cold, we only spent about 20 minutes in the woods before heading back to the riverside trail.

Toby decided to sit while waiting for a treat.

Toby was a bit chilled and decided that he needed sustenance in order to make it all the way to the car;-)