The Pecoy Notch Trail - Part 1

It was a Sunday morning and the weather was beautiful. I figured that I really should take the dogs out hiking somewhere. I examined my Catskills map and trail book and found a relatively short hike called Pecoy Notch which promised several possible scenic overlooks. So after my morning chores were finished, I packed Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover into the car and headed towards the Catskills. I had some difficulty finding the trail head as it had apparently been moved since my old trail guide was printed, but find it I did. I parked and let the dogs out and began hiking. But not too very far into the woods I hit an intersection of trails, another new development since my map was printed:

But the sign pointing toward Pecoy Notch was clear, so we took that trail and began climbing steadily uphill:

The dogs were, as usual, all excited and frankly not very well behaved at first. I could only assume they'd calm down as they usually do after expending their surplus energy:

The Catskill forest was spectacular, with many layered sedimentary rocks of all sizes, from paving stone sized chunks to big boulders to whole mountainsides:

This Jack-In-The-Pulpit had formed its berries and was already nodding off for its winter nap:

I began making Fergus and Seamus walk at heel, while allowing the two pups to run ahead. Daphne and Clover have so very much energy that keeping calm is not one of their strong points:

They ran and played and wrestled:

The trail wound gradually uphill, higher and higher. You can see the flat stones here which were abundant wherever I looked:

Every so often I'd release Seamus and Fergus, though tubby Seamus needed an actual push to get him trotting ahead:

Fergus needed no such push. He was fully ready and willing to run with the puppies:

Seamus sat down to rest and sniff the flowers, reminding me of the children's story of "Ferdinand The Bull:"

And since there were flat rocks everywhere, I set my camera to self-timer and set it atop one. Most of the pictures were washed out, but this one looks just like I remember our journey through the forest that day: