Part 4, Mountain Laurel Heaven

We were descending the trail down Mount Everett toward our parked car, the dogs and I. The day had been warm, sunny and breezy. At about the halfway point, the narrow, rocky trail became a gravel service road, making the walk easier. The rocky cliffs along the route provided magnificent scenery:

A mountain stream began flowing downhill along the edge of the trail and all four of my dogs were quick to help themselves to multiple drinks of clean, cool spring water:

We continued downhill, sometimes steeply and sometimes comfortably, through the emerald forest:

When we reached the car, I first had to spend some time with a large family of picnickers who fell in love with my dogs and wanted to hold the two Papillons. But then I began driving down the access road alongside beautiful Guilder Pond. When I saw a turn off, I took it and parked. There were even more Mountain Laurels here than on the steep mountainside, but most were still only in the bud stage:

The dogs and I threaded our way through the Mountain Laurels, Cedars and Hemlocks toward lovely Guilder Pond:

As Daphne and Clover, the two Papillon pups walked through the forest, passing beneath blossoming Mountain Laurels, the scene was surely magical:

And at last we arrived at the shore of Guilder Pond, with Mountain Laurels lighting up the forest like glorious little beacons:

Seamus wasted no time rushing toward the water:

Daphne and Clover found a safe spot to get a sip of water but were careful to keep their feet dry:

If there is a heaven, surely it must look like this. Or maybe we'll discover some day that this earth was heaven, and be judged for how we despoiled it or treated it with love:

Part 3, Mountain Laurel Heaven

We arrived at the summit of Mount Everett and my recovering injured calf muscle still felt fine. This summit used to be open and grassy, with a fire tower. But Massachusetts has removed the fire tower and small trees are now growing up all over, blocking most views. It is, nevertheless, a glorious summit and especially so on a fine June day such as this. Our friendly hiking group with the Yellow Lab took my photo (and I took theirs):

I explored the summit with my dogs for a bit hoping to find some place with a scenic overlook. I never found one. Another hiker or two passed by with heavy backpacks on their way along the Appalachian Trail:

It was time to begin our descent, but first one one more photo op, this time with Seamus in the picture (resting in the shade) and Molly, the friendly Yellow Lab:

And then we began descending the rocky, narrow trail:

When we arrived again at the rocky promontory with the scenic overlook, I couldn't resist making the detour once again:

The dogs don't much cotton to scenic overlooks, but they do somehow seem to understand that they are in a special, exciting and exhilarating place:

But then we continued our descent. The rocky trail along this stretch is treacherous, with many sharp edges and ankle twisting traps. I walked extremely carefully lest I again injure my healing leg or add a sprained ankle to my list of woes:

We began to pass more Mountain Laurels:

And always the air was clean, the sun warm, the breeze refreshing and the scenery outstanding:

I stopped at another scenic overlook which I'd missed on the way up. We continued carefully downhill, always more treacherous than hiking uphill, albeit less strenuous. But we were still had lots of trail to cover. I'll post more tomorrow:

Part 2, Mountain Laurel Heaven

I was hiking up Mt. Everett, in western Massachusetts, with four of my dogs. Both the weather and the Taconic Mountain scenery were magnificent. We climbed higher and higher up the rocky trail which was lined with budding Mountain Laurel bushes. Little Clover turned around to see what was taking me so long:

There had been lots of Mountain Laurels in full bloom on the entrance road, but here at this higher altitude there were mostly just buds. But still they were beautiful:

A close up view of a cluster of Mountain Laurel buds:

And then I saw these red beauties in the understory beneath the tall Mountain Laurels. They looked very much like a miniature Mountain Laurel and, in fact, turned out to be Sheep Laurel, Kalmia angustifolia, a close relative (same genus) of its taller relative, the Mountain Laurel:

Here's a close up of some Sheep Laurel blossoms:

And just around a rocky bend in the trail I came across a few Mountain Laurels with a few open flowers:

The trail turned both steeper and rockier. I was beginning to huff and puff, but the two young Papillons ran from rock to rock like miniature mountain goats:

Just below the summit, we scrambled up and out onto a rocky overlook where I knew the view was good:

At its highest point, the dogs and I relaxed in the warm June sun:

And looked out over the valley below and from there across the Taconic Mountains:

When I arrived at this scenic overlook, I erred by saying I was looking out over the Hudson Valley. I later realized that I was already east of the Hudson River and looking eastward out over southwestern Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut. The lake I saw was Washining Lake, one of the Twin Lakes just north of Salisbury, Connecticut. In spite of my misidentifying of the landscape, the scene was lovely:

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 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: