Hiking Hadley Mountain, Part 2

I'd just begun ascending Hadley Mountain with my dogs, Seamus and Fergus. The weather was chilly but once we started walking uphill, I no longer noticed it. Early on in the hike, we walked alongside a spring stream which rushed down the side of the mountain on the bedrock which was only a few inches beneath the leaf litter:

And water was in many places rushing down the trail also. As we climbed higher up the side of the Hadley Mountain, much of this water turned to ice. Fergus was undaunted and unafraid, trotting up both the water and the ice. And yes, he did eventually learn about the slipperiness of ice:

More water, more ice, more bedrock. I left the trail and walked in the non-slippery leaf litter alongside the trail:

Seamus and Fergus pose for a photo by a large rock, presumably a glacial erratic:

It was a beautiful forest, but somewhat odd because the trees were quite small. I've read that Hadley mountain has had multiple forest fires, so most of the older generations of big trees were gone:

Though we were yet far from the mountaintop, we got frequent glimpses of the surrounding Adirondacks, thanks to the absence of leaves on the trees:

Another mountain stream, another drink of clean, clear water for the dogs (but not for me. I know better):

As we climbed higher, we saw more ice and less water. I became more careful about where I stepped. A broken limb on top of a wilderness mountain could be a real problem:

A picture of happiness:

Seamus exploring the woods:

Most pictures of the dogs, I came to realize, happen when they're locked onto some scent they've discovered. Well, it's one of the few times they stop long enough for me to snap a photo:

I love being on a mountain, in the woods, with my dogs, with nature, alone with my thoughts. Life is good. We'd just begun and there was much more trail to climb before we reached the top of the mountain. I'll post more photos in days to come: