Descending Elephant Head Mountain

It had been a brief but beautiful hike through a wild Adirondack forest to a spectacular view over Lake Titus north toward the St. Lawrence Seaway. But it was still early in the day and it was time to hike back down to our parked car. Daphne, Clover and Daphne were all excited - but then they get all excited about everything. I guess that's part of why dogs are such a joy to have around - everything fills them with happiness:

We hiked back down the mountain past giant boulders strewn about by the retreating glaciers:

And these exquisite bushes filled the forest with color. The are called Hobble Bush or Witch Hobble, Viburnum lantanoides:

Down through the hardwood forest:

Through shrubby sections, probably once clear cut by loggers:

While all the while the "Silly Sisters" wrestled, raced and played:

We made a left turn at the trail sign (notice Daphne's great joy):

And arrived back at the clearing which should have been the trail head and parking area:

We, however, had parked about two miles down the road. So we began walking:

Even the road was a pleasant hike:

There was another car parked where I'd parked. It was there when we arrived, though we saw no one the entire time we were there:

I stopped once again at a very deep, water filled hole in the road. I'd driven through it on the way up but it was the final straw which had convinced me to go no further on the access road. But our hike was over and I had to drive home for lunch and to let Wally and Winky out. They were waiting for us back at the farm apartment. And I had yet another hike planed for the afternoon:

The Summit Of Elephant Head Mountain

The trail sign said that the distance to the summit was only a half mile, but I'd have sworn it was longer than that. Or perhaps I was swayed by the added couple of miles we'd walked because the access road was in such poor condition. At any rate, it was a pleasure to see this nice view looking off to the south:

I had to look over the tops of the trees to see the nearby mountains:

Well, this was all very nice but to be honest, I was fighting feelings of disappointment. Perhaps I've been spoiled by all the spectacular mountaintop views I've recently experienced, but this was not much of a view to be a hiking destination:

But I tried to stifle my dissatisfaction and be grateful for the beauty before me. And then I walked to the north side of the summit and was encouraged to see that the view there was better:

In fact, it was not only better - it was magnificent! That's Lake Titus below. My farm is located off to the upper left of the photo (behind the tree branches), not too far away. As you can see in the lower right of the photo, Clover and Daphne went exploring:

And to the northeast was a rather large, unidentified mountain covered with trees just beginning to clothe themselves in autumn colors:

The view to the northwest was even more colorful and I sat down to relax and allow the mountaintop quiet and serenity to fill me up:

When it came time to leave, I made one more pass by the southerly view:

And then we began hiking back to the car. When we arrived at the rough stairs, Fergus and the Papillons ran down them with great joy:

Seamus, however, waddled down them with his extra-wide hips swaying like an obese hula dancer. Oh, how I wished I'd have been able to capture it on video! But this photo is all I was able to save: