Blackhead Range Hike - Part 6

Alas, we never reached a summit with a view, a place where I could say we'd arrived and it was time to turn back. But eventually I decided that it was time to turn back nonetheless. So I called the dogs and began returning along the route we'd taken:

It's amazing how different everything looks when one is headed the opposite direction. In this case, I expected the downhill portion to be grueling, difficult and treacherous. It was none of those things and instead was a pleasant walk through the autumn woods:

By now both dogs were covered with mud and less frisky than when we began:

Seamus collapsed in a heap when we posed for a photo, though Fergus is still having trouble holding still:

Fergus investigates a hollow stump. I checked it out also, thinking an animal's nest might be inside. Sadly it only contained an empty juice box. The good news is that that was the only piece of litter along the entire hike:

We were descending back down the "steps" as the fog slowly lifted. We came to a place where I could see across a broad valley to the next row of mountains. This view would not have been possible if the leaves were still on the trees, but it was beautiful on this autumn day:

Though still a bit foggy, you can see the next mountain on the other side of the valley. The dogs have run on ahead of me a bit and found a perch with a view. Most dogs never look at distant views, but these two Poodles seem to do it fairly often. Perhaps it's a breed characteristic:

More mountains across the valley:

Seamus ponders the next leg of the journey:

And Fergus ponders me. He seems often to regard me with curiosity, as if I were an alien life form with very strange habits. Well, I suppose some people have thought similarly:

As we descended down the sometimes steep trail, I snapped a photo of this rock wall with liverworts and ferns:

We're nearing the trail head here and the fog has lifted sufficiently to allow us a very nice view of the mountains across the valley where our car is parked. There are a few small farms and homes in the valley and I once investigated perhaps buying there. But prices were way too high for my wherewithal, so I began searching up north where I eventually bought my farm: