Overlook Mountain Hike - Part 2

Part two of the Overlook Mountain hike - We'd marched uphill for several miles, explored the Overlook Mountain House ruins and were approaching the top of the mountain. I took a side trail over to where there were some partial views of the Hudson River Valley. I took some photos, but they were so paltry compared to the views which were upcoming that they've all since been deleted. But while we were at the ledges, I did photograph the pooches enjoying their nature walk. This is Seamus near the crest of the mountain. You can see the drop off to the left of the photo:

And Fergus, in spite of his uphill hike, was still playful and running in circles:

We walked back to the trail and continued our ascent. We rounded a bend and there before us was the fire tower. Now we'd see some scenery!:

I had some pretty darn nice views from the mountaintop but the real adventure and the real scenery was to be had by climbing the fire tower. I was told that some folks had just climbed up there with their pit bulls, but I didn't want my dogs up there. So I tied them down at ground level and began ascending the fire tower:

The stairway climbs up in many tiers and is open on all sides. At one of the lowest tiers, I could already see the magnificent Hudson Valley stretching out to the east:

To the south, I could see what I figured was a cell phone tower. The autumn colors were beginning to show up nicely:

The Catskill Mountains stretched out for many miles. Those three mountains farthest away, I think, are the Blackheads, the mountains I saw close up when I recently hiked Huckleberry Point:

Continuing to climb higher, I got an even better view of the Hudson River and surrounding valley. The sunlight seemed to be coming down in rays, giving the whole scene a marvelous look:

And at this higher level, the cell tower to the south is seen surrounded by mountains:

And this magnificent mountain range, part of the Catskills, to the west:

As I neared the top of the fire tower, I looked far down below. I wouldn't want to fall and hit those big flat stones: