Monument Mountain - Part 3

I was hiking up Monument Mountain in Great Barrington, Massachusetts with my four youngest dogs. We'd passed our first scenic overlook but a simple glance in either direction made it clear to me that there was more beauty to come:

I passed a bit of an overlook off to the left and snapped a photo, but I could tell that the real payoff was ahead and to the right:

Like up there, perhaps?:

I had already decided that I wanted to see both Devil's Pulpit and Squaw Peak. Devil's Pulpit, however, was a short spur off the Squaw Peak trail, so that's where I headed:

The spur trail to Devil's Pulpit was steep but someone had thoughtfully placed large rocks into a staircase of sorts. The dogs were still on their leashes at this point. The drop-offs were steep and sudden, and my dogs were full of play and oblivious to any danger. The first rock on this ascent was so big and steep that I had to haul Seamus up by pulling on his leash:

And there it was, Devil's Pulpit. That's the free-standing pinnacle of rock in the valley below. I'll bet you never thought that Massachusetts had such extraordinary natural beauty, did you?:

I could see the valley below off through some pine limbs:

I don't know the identity of this hardy little fern but it was ubiquitous, growing bravely out of many rock crevices:

I descended the Devil's Pulpit spur trail and began making my way toward Squaw Peak (where legend has it a squaw threw herself to her death). The dogs were still on their leashes which was awkward, but I didn't want any dogs falling off of cliffs. We all stopped for a photo of the Great Barrington high school in the valley below. You can see its orange track behind the school:

And a lake or river off in another direction. There was a mountain with ski slopes toward the east, but the sun prevented me from getting any usable photos:

I saw a young couple atop Squaw Peak and headed that way. There was much ice on the trail and it was treacherous, so I moved slowly and cautiously, trying to keep all four dogs with me on their leashes:

And the views were magnificent. But I'll post more tomorrow: