Hiking The West Shore Of Long Pond Headed North, Part 1

We hiked past Black Pond and on toward Long Pond. This was my first time on this trail and I was enchanted. It was wild and secluded yet level, easy walking:

And just past Black Pond I got my first glimpse of Long Pond, an Adirondack gem nestled in a conifer forest:

Seamus and Clover ran out onto what appeared to me to be an old peat bog gradually becoming a grassy meadow:

Daphne and Fergus ran out there also. They were close to the water's edge and I was tempted to join them but instead opted to remain on the trail:

I let them explore for a few minutes and then called them to continue on the trail which followed the western shore of Long Pond and headed for the Jenkins Mountain trail:

Long Pond, like so many in he area, was surrounded by glacial eskers. The fores covered the hills and valleys but the trail stayed low, hugging the shoreline of Long Pond:

I heard and saw a Loon out in the open water of Long Pond but there was no one canoes or anywhere else. We were alone:

This was exquisitely scenic country, the northern Adirondacks at its finest:

Paul Smiths College managed the area and, I think, owned it also. Their students had erected trail signs and maintained the trails:

When we came to the end of Long Pond, the dogs got to run out onto another grassy meadow. My legs were feeling pretty darn good so I decided to continue onward and join up with the Jenkins Mountain trail. But I'll post about that tomorrow: