Huckleberry Lake, Part 2

We'd reached the magnificent Huckleberry Lake, one of three pristine gems in the Wolf Lake State Forest. The trail took us along a high, rocky ridge which formed the boundary of one side of the lake:

It was easy walking and plenty scenic. The dogs played and were very happy:

The dogs kept an eye on me but still had lots of fun. I could see islands in the lake just ahead of us:

The last time we'd hiked this trail I had to keep Seamus on a very short leash because he was still wobbly from his brush with heat stroke. But this time everything was perfectly happy and a spectacular experience for the senses:

The trail took a scenic turn downhill toward the lake shore. I had to be careful not to twist my ankle again as I climbed down the rocks:

We walked closer to the water's edge:

The ubiquitous reddish coating on the ground was old White Pine needles from the trees that appeared to be growing on nothing but rock:

I lost the trail at one point and had to backtrack, but that was just fine with little Madeline. It was all a fun adventure for dogs and they'd go whichever direction I wanted:

Over more rocks and past more scenic beauty:

I found this leather leash and control chain dog collar atop a rock by the edge of the lake, and that got me to speculating about what may have happened here. Was there a potentially out of control dog ahead of us on the trail? Had someone come here to end his dog's life? I never got an answer, but supposed a dog owner had simply forgotten it along the way. There were no other people (or dogs) anywhere. We had the forest all to ourselves:

I found the trail again and we continued on our way:

I took lots of photos (as you can see) because the place was so incredibly scenic, the dogs so happy and the weather so perfect. This was likely to be our last major hike of the year and I wanted to be able to fully share it: