A Stop At Chapel Pond

The dogs and I had just had a nice rest stop in the forest by the Ausable River and were headed up Route 73 through the Giant Mountain region when I saw this scene off to my left. It was a usually flooded area adjacent to Chapel Pond which generally prevents any access from that direction. But on this day, it was the driest I'd ever seen it. This was my chance:

I parked alongside the road, left the dogs in the car and began picking my way across the dry areas of this landscape while trying, not always successfully, to avoid the wet areas:

I made it to the sandy shores of Chapel Pond which I'd always wanted to visit and, indeed, the pond itself was at the lowest water level I'd ever seen:

Giant icicles were breaking off the cliffs and falling with great crashes to the ground below. I made a mental note to stay far away from that area:

And Chapel Pond, for all that its water was low, was still lovely:

I walked around, enjoying the spectacular scenery:

And I could see more peaks through the adjacent mountain passes:

But I knew that I had a carload of dogs who would go into barking madness if anyone walked by, so I began looking for a new, drier route back to the road:

I stayed on the sandy areas as much as possible. I'd already learned my lesson about stepping on what appeared to be only leaves when my foot dropped through the floating leaves into a foot of water:

I saw what appeared to be an access route back to road and began heading in that direction:

I turned back once to admire the beauty of Chapel Pond and then began climbing up to the road, twisting my already sprained ankle in the process:

And there, waiting for me, was a whole carload of very anxious dogs. They were delighted to have me back. There's no welcome on earth as hearty as one's dogs provide at every return. We continued our way toward the farm:

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