Return To The Grafton Fire Tower Trail, Part 3

I'd hiked Grafton's Fire Tower Trail, accompanied by four of my dogs, to the fire tower itself (see yesterday's post). It was terrific, with views in all directions, and then we began returning back down toward the trail head on the same trail which brought us to the fire tower. Recent rains had left many puddles:

A little red eft scampered to get out from under foot but I first got his picture:

The day was a hot one, but the trees provided us cooling shade and the walk was pleasant:

When I arrived at a trail junction, I had plenty of energy so decided to take the Chet Bell Loop Trail which should bring us back to our car by way of new and hopefully interesting scenery:

The woodlands of the Chet Bell Trail were less traveled and more pristine. Still, I did not encounter even one other person. We had it all to ourselves:

After completing the Chet Bell Loop, we arrived at our car. But I still had lots of energy and the day was hot and muggy. So I began leading the dogs downhill toward Long Pond:

I knew from previous experience that if we simply hiked downhill, we'd reach Long Pond and could cool off in its waters. We began in a clearing and then descended through deep woods toward the lake:

When we finally saw the Long Pond, I heard a dog barking and put mine on leashes. We continued toward the shoreline which was by then in sight. I'll finish the story in tomorrow's post: