Wolf Lake Loop Trail, Part 3

We were almost to Moon Lake on our hike and the deer flies (or were they horse flies? They sure were huge) were coming at both Seamus and me by the thousands. I kept us both sprayed with Deep Woods Off but it only seemed to help for a few minutes. And the deer flies found spots I hadn't sprayed on Seamus and attacked him there. At one point he passed me and I saw his short tail plastered with about twenty deer flies I wiped them off and applied more spray. He began to run off into the brush, lying down and rolling to rid himself of the deer flies:

The other three dogs, being younger, smaller and more white, didn't seem too much bothered by the deer flies. They were still having a grand time:

We arrived at Moon Lake and trail sign said that Wolf Lake was only 4/10 of a mile to the right. But I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Moon lake itself. Be sure to notice the cluster of brilliant Pink Ladyslippers at the base of the sign:

A closer look at the Ladyslippers and of Moon Lake just beyond:

 I walked to the edge of the rocks and snapped a photo of lovely Moon Lake:

And the three younger dogs watched me with interest.This was a fun excursion for them:

But I was worried about Seamus and turned around to find him at the base of the rocks by the edge of the lake. I didn't know how he'd gotten down there but feared he'd tumbled. He seemed disoriented and weak in the legs. I suspected heat stroke and scrambled down there to help him. I tried to cool him off in the lake but couldn't get him into the water. So I then tried to help him back up the steep rocks but his legs were weak and it quickly became apparent we wouldn't make it. Just then a woman hiker, the first and only person I'd seen since we'd left the car, came by and offered to help. She pulled on his collar while I pushed from behind. We got Seamus up the rocks and discussed where the closest water access would be. She suggested the lean-to on the other side of Moon Lake. Who says there are no angels?:

So I cancelled my plans to see Wolf Lake and turned back past the trail sign and field of Ladyslippers toward the lean-to. I put Seamus on a leash to prevent any more tumbles down cliffs:

We got to the lean-to and I managed to get Seamus into the water to cool off. He was soaked, but it seemed to do him a world of good. By this time he was quite ill, vomiting and with diarrhea. But he revived after his cooling bath in Moon Lake:

Little Clover investigated the campsite for food scraps until I felt Seamus was ready to begin walking to the next lake on our way home, Huckleberry Lake. I kept him on a leash as we walked. This served to keep him close and under control as well as to help shield him from deer fly attack. As long as he was next to me, they focused their evil intentions on me:

So we walked slowly toward Huckleberry Lake. I didn't take any more photos as all my attention was on Seamus. But when I got to this exquisite patch of Fringed Polygala, I stopped to snap a couple of photos:

They are quite odd little flowers with a vivid color, a real show stopper on the forest floor:

And then we arrived at the northern end of Huckleberry Lake. It was even more beautiful than Moon Lake. I immediately began searching for a place to get Seamus into the water again:

He cooled off a bit here and then lay down. I let him rest for awhile before we began walking again. I'll post more tomorrow: