Hiking Vroman's Nose, Part 3

I was hiking to the top of Vroman's Nose, a small mountain in New York's Schoharie Valley, with my four youngest dogs. I put them on leashes when we'd arrived at the first cliff's edge and scenic overlook. Then we climbed higher to another and then, just ahead of us, I saw a rocky crag where I was sure there'd be a third cliff and scenic overlook:

And there certainly was. The houses and barns which had looked so very far beneath us at the beginning were by now looking downright minuscule, like toys:

Those picturesque, twisted evergreens growing all over the rocky cliffs were a mystery to me. I wanted to call them Junipers but they were not the Juniper one might grow in a front yard. They were different. They had bark much like an Eastern White Cedar but the needles were not the same. I looked them up when I got home and decided that they were Eastern Red Cedar which are, it turned out, a variety of Juniper. Or you might be happy just enjoying their beauty:

Just in case you've been thinking I was exaggerating about the dangerous steepness of those cliffs, here's a photo to change your mind:

We kept hiking upwards and discovered yet a fourth rocky crag. This one had a little path right up through the bulky rocks:

And when I took that path I discovered a broad, flat expanse of rock. I've read that this is sometimes called the dance floor and it was actually much larger than it appears here:

I walked cautiously to the edge to take a look, keeping the dogs on their leashes and behind me:

Adventurous souls had been chiseling their initials into the rock of the dance floor for centuries. This one, with the initials of A.J.M., was chiseled in 1863:

I timidly approached the edge to look down on the farms and barns I'd seen at the very first overlook. Yep, they were still there but getting smaller:

And the view through the Red Cedars out across the Schoharie Valley was grand:

But we had lots more trail to hike. As I began, I kept the dogs on their leases because, as you can plainly see, the trail was very close to the edge of the cliff:

I don't remember how this photo of Daphne without a leash got in this sequence, but here it is. She's a sweet little sprite who can brighten up any experience. But we still weren't finished with this hike. I'll post more tomorrow:

Hiking Vroman's Nose, Part 2

I could tell that we were getting near the top of Vroman's Nose, but there hadn't been any scenic overlooks so far. But Clover and Daphne dashed about through the forest and the oak leaves like two little woodland elves. They were having a magnificent time:

Daphne runs up to me every few minutes to look up and see if she can get me to be more fun - and also to be sure I'm still happy with everything:

We were withing a few feet of a cliff and I was wondering if I'd better put the dogs on their leashes:

Aack!!! I quickly put the dogs on their leashes:

From this, the first of many scenic overlooks, I could see out over the Schoharie Valley to the mountains beyond:

Looking at the farms and barns in the Schoharie Valley below felt as if I was in an airplane looking down:

But wait, there's more! We continued to climb up to the next rocky crag where I felt sure there'd be more views:

And indeed there were - farm fields neatly squared and trimmed, with mountains just behind them:

That river is Schoharie Creek, not very impressive most of the year but a flooding, raging torrent many times in the spring melt. It's the Schoharie Creek which took down two bridge spans of the New York Thruway and just this past August took down a covered bridge after Tropical Storm Irene:

But the scene on that day was all pastoral loveliness and calmness, at least as long as I had the dogs on their leashes. But we weren't to the top yet. I'll post more tomorrow: