Stone Valley Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking on the Stone Valley Trail, alongside the magnificent Raquette River. Summertime water levels were low, yet still there were waterfalls and rapids to add beauty to our excursion:

I couldn't maneuver the rocks because of my braces, but the dogs took great delight in exploring along the edges of the river:

In some places, the Raquette River was calm and quiet:

And the trail beneath the Hemlocks was peaceful:

Fergus trotted down to a pool of water:

I went as far as I thought I could manage, given my braces and the heat of the day, and then we turned back toward our parked car:

"This is fun, Dad. Come on down:"

Seamus isn't much for running and playing these days, despite having shed more than ten percent of his former body weight. Mostly he just follows along and looks happy:

We stopped to enjoy every scenic overlook:

And relished the cool shade of the forest. Back in the sun, the day was very hot:

We crossed back over the bridge which spanned the giant water pipe:

And I looked northward toward where the pipe was headed. It was an amazing sight. But our hike was over. We hurried back to the car, rolled all the windows down and got back on the road quickly to get the air flowing again: