Chapter Three, Panther Mountain (Coming Down!)

We'd reached the summit of Panther Mountain, the dogs and I, and it was every bit as beautiful as I could have hoped:

Fergus, my faithful but somewhat nervous friend, watched my every move and tried to keep close:

I could see Panther Pond far below. We were parked perhaps a hundred feet from its shores and I knew I'd want to pay it a visit when we got back down there:

We all walked around the summit exploring:

I'd forgotten exactly where the trail was, but it wasn't difficult to find again. We began our descent:

Going down is usually more difficult, at least on the toes and joints, than going up. In this case I didn't find it too bad. If it had been wet, however, I imagine it would have been quite treacherous:

We continued down the steep slope to Route 3, where I put the dogs back on their leashes to cross the road to our parked car:

But instead of getting in the car, we walked down to Panther Pond, which had looked so lovely from the summit. Seamus immediately went into the water:

And Fergus did also:

Clover kept her feet dry but had a bit of fun climbing across fallen tree trunks:

I had yet another hike in mind, so I gave the dogs a call and we began walking up to the car:

The Mountain Maples were already beginning to turn brilliant colors and drop their leaves. We got back into the car and began driving north toward home and toward another hike. I'll post more tomorrow: