Trekking Up To Acra Point - Part 4

I was at Acra Point, on the Escarpment Trail in the Catskill Mountains with four of my dogs. It was a spectacular sunny day in August and I was, as far as I could tell, the only person on top of the mountain:

Acra Point is a large rock shelf jutting out over the valley between mountains, thus providing amazing views out over the Catskill Mountains to the southwest:

The aromas of pine, spruce and balsam fir heated by the sun filled the air, the dogs were happy and I was having the sort of wilderness experience which elevates and renews my mind and spirit:

The dogs explored the ledge and then set off to sniff the surrounding forest, especially a campsite which, by the smell of wood smoke, was only abandoned that very morning:

Clover and Daphne, my two Papillon puppies, found something very exciting and I guessed that they'd found food scraps left behind by the campers. When I investigated, however, I found them nibbling on their "treasures," stolen goodies which were actually pieces of poop. I made them drop their brunch and then noticed where some inconsiderate camper had pooped in the woods too close to the trail and campsite. So I issued a stern warning to the puppies not to go near there again and led all the dogs back to a clean, scenic spot on Acra Point:

We walked back to the trail and then crossed it, searching for some scenic view on the other side of the ridge. Finally I found a large rock which I climbed in order to shoot some pictures and dogs followed me, momentarily interested. But when all I did was stand there holding the camera, they went off to explore once again. I'll post a video of the view to the northeast tomorrow:

I had to do a bit of scrambling through the brush to get to my rocky perch, but the view out over the Hudson River Valley was worth it:

And I used the zoom lens to see the valley a little better:

I walked back to the trail and prepared to begin the hike back to the trail head. We had one more "puppies in the poop pile" incident after which I went back to Acra Point to refresh my perspective and possibly find a new overlook I might have missed:

I did find one more rocky ledge which was both pleasant and far from any temptation for the puppies. Fergus arrived first and was quite excited, anxious to show us all what he'd found. I'll post some videos tomorrow: