Beginning The Hike Up Jug End Ridge

Tropical Storm Irene presented me with not much of anything except a lot of rain, nothing I hadn't seen before. In fact, by the afternoon it was almost over and I went to the gym and the grocery store, complete unaware of the devastation that other places all around me had suffered.

The next morning, still not realizing that there'd been a lot of damage, I drove to Mount Everett Reservation in northwestern Massachusetts to hike Jug End Ridge. I found some washed out roads on my way there and heard news reports of the destruction some places had suffered. When I arrived at the Mount Everett Reservation, I found the gate locked. I figured either someone hadn't gotten out of bed early enough or Irene had washed out the mountain road. It was perhaps two miles to the trail head, so I parked my car and began to walk up the road:

I quickly discovered that the reason for the locked gate was the devastated road which would have been completely impassible for my car. But my feet still worked and the dogs were happy to be out, so we kept heading upwards:

It was about two miles to the parking area and to lovely Guilder Pond:

And on the way, Fergus posed in front of a very large Mountain Laurel bush, possibly the same bush I photographed in full bloom earlier in the year:

And just past the parking and picnic area, I joined the Appalachian trail which passes by, going right up over the peak of Mount Everett, down to the parking area and then up to Jug End Ridge, which is where we were heading:

The trail entered the woods looking pleasant, level and easy. The sun was shining and I quickly forgot about Tropical Storm Irene. Most of the brush alongside the trail was Mountain Laurel:

But then I began to encounter lots of wet trails. In this spot, someone had built a kind of log bridge. I used it but the dogs seemed to think it was silly:

Fascinating mushrooms of many varieties had sprung up in the mosses all around (and in) the trail:

And the trail got wetter. The dogs walked right through the water but I endeavored to rock hop or find alternate routes:

And then the trail became a veritable stream. I was able, however, to walk along the sides, out of the water:

And I continued to be amazed by all the mushrooms. This family of apple red fungi was so stunning that I decided to take photos of all the different kinds I could find along the way:

The dogs uttered a startling "W OOF!" and I looked up to discover another hiker with a large yellow Pit Bull/Lab mix:

The dog was named Everett (after the mountain) and was exceeding well behaved and playful, a wonderful combination. He and Seamus played and then Everett chased the Papillons for a bit. I discussed hiking with dogs with Everett's dad and then they moved on ahead of us. We were well on our way. I'll post more tomorrow:

Mount Everett, Part 4

This is the final post of my hike up Mount Everett. We were on our way back down the mountain when these photos were taken. This first is of all three dogs, Fergus, Seamus and Daphne, at the rocky shoulder which provided such grand panoramas:

You may need to click to enlarge this photo to see the dogs. Seamus is resting next to the trail on the left side of the picture and Daphne is cavorting, puppy-like, just beyond that big rock in the trail. And of course there's more wild Azaleas in full bloom:

Hey, Seamus is resting again! This big boy is not a ball of fire, but he sure is a companionable hiker as long as it's not too terribly hot and sunny. So we all took a brief rest on our way down the mountain. Descending is often more grueling than ascending because of the wear and tear on leg joints and the bruising of toes. At least it is for me, though the dogs seem just fine with the trips back down the mountains:

This picture demonstrates the dogs negotiating the large, sharp boulders in the trail. This seems to be par for the course when hiking in the Taconic Mountains:

And we arrived back at the stone lean-to with the nice view. The dogs were inspired by the large expanse of mowed lawn to run and play (as you saw in the video two posts ago):

Bluets and wild strawberries bloomed together in the grassy areas:

And violets mixed in with the wild strawberries in other places:

After we'd passed the stone lean-to, the trail was again a dirt road and much easier on the feet and legs. And still the wild Azaleas blossomed nearly everywhere I looked:

We continued hiking down the dirt road (which is closed to vehicles and therefore safe for dogs):

And I set the camera on a stump to get a self portrait. I'd wanted the dogs in the picture, but they were too busy playing:

Seamus did, however, pose in front of a large patch of Interrupted Ferns:

And also blooming was Clintonia, Clintonia borealis:

And Starflower, Trientalis borealis, aptly named as both flowers and leaves were star shaped:

When we reached the bottom of the mountain, I passed by our car and headed down to beautiful Guilder Pond. The dogs could get themselves cooled off and I could get myself all muddy:

The beavers had dammed up a corner of the pond, though it looked like they hadn't been active recently:

But the dogs surely enjoyed the muddy edges of the pond. Here's a couple of videos:



And a very brief video I'll just label "Mud Puppies:"

Mount Everett, Part 3

If you've read the previous posts, you know that Mount Everett is on the Appalachian Trail in western Massachusetts. I hiked up it with three of my dogs - Seamus, Fergus and Daphne. We reached the summit and found lots of rock and lots of very stunted, shrub-like trees:

I remembered the summit from my previous hikes (a decade or so ago) as being grassier, more open and most importantly of all, having a fire tower! But this time I saw no grass, I saw no fire tower:

And then I saw the four concrete piers upon which the four main beams of the fire tower had previously been anchored. It had been removed, perhaps for safety reasons, perhaps to make the summit more "natural." Well, it may be more natural, but one couldn't see much at all from the summit over those shrubby trees:

Our two young Appalachian hiker friends passed through about then and we found a note attached to one of the piers. It'd been left there as a friendly "hello" by a previous through-hiker about two weeks earlier. The note had been left in a plastic bag. I read it, felt connected and returned it to greet the next passerby:

The two young hikers continued on their way as they had a rather distant campsite as their day's goal. But I enjoyed the summit for awhile. I set the camera up and snapped my own photo just as Seamus and Fergus got in the way. I just tell people that Daphne took the picture:

Seamus rested while Daphne played and hunted for insects:

And then we headed back down the trail:

The trail was narrow and very rocky, and the dogs were much better at rock-hopping than I was:

The tree cover increased, though they were still mighty short as trees go:

And we stopped once again at the rocky shoulder with the spectacular views:

In this photo, Fergus must have been doing his "Keep On Trucking" impersonation. Daphne looks a little bit weaselly, if you ask me. I doubt that she was feeling fatigued:

In fact, while Seamus and I rested, the two youngsters explored the scrub pines which populated that rocky promontory:

Seamus looked regal:

And Daphne was just plain cute as she bounced up and down hunting bugs:

Fergus seldom holds still, but prefers to keep moving and exploring:

And to wind up this post, a video taken while hiking down the mountain. Notice the drop off into the valley below on the right of the screen towards the beginning. Mostly, though, I just wanted a video of a wild Azalea:

Mount Everett, Part 2

This was already proving to be a marvelous hike with some of the most outstanding scenery yet. I was happy, the dogs were happy and the weather was beautiful. We'd hiked up past the stone lean-to where the dirt road ended and the rocky trail ascended towards the summit. In this picture, you can see a smile on Fergus' face while Daphne frolics in the background:

You are likely already noticing that the wild Azaleas are blooming along the trail (don't miss them in the previous photo). Also, as we ascended the mountain, the trees became smaller:

Seamus no longer wants to run very much. He, like me, is happy to just plod along and enjoy the scenery:

We arrived at a rocky shoulder with an incredible view of the scenic valley below:

From this vantage point, one can see for many miles:

I didn't arrange it, but did happen to have my camera handy when all three dogs were together on a steep rock:

We hiked a bit higher:

And over more rocky trail. I got a minor stone bruise through the bottom of my sneaker by stepping too hard on a sharp rock surface:

But then we arrived at the best scenic overlook of them all. Even Fergus and Daphne seemed happy, though perhaps they just enjoyed the flat surface and cooling breezes. I liked the scenery:


Daphne, ever alert, scouted for insects, her natural prey:

I don't know what direction this is, but the flat valley landscape was extensive. And beautiful too, as the shadows of the clouds drifted over it:

The vegetation at this point was mostly scrub pines not more than 3 or 4 feet high. The pines, the sky and the valley below were a visual treat. The sun heated the pine sap and sent a wonderful aroma into the air:

A pair of young men hiking the Appalachian Trail with heavy backpacks met us here and snapped a photo of me with the dogs:

But I was still looking forward to the fire tower at the summit, so we pressed on. I've mentioned many times before how the trees become smaller and smaller as one ascends most rocky mountains. But in this case they became so small that they could truly be called shrubs. Notice the oak on the left and the pines on the right:

And just over that next rise we found the summit. But I'll present that in tomorrow's post. I do, however, have one video to share and I'll post that below this photo:

And here is a video of the dogs playing at the stone lean-to I've mentioned. They were having a grand time: