Hiking The Pinnacle, Part 2

I was hiking up the trail to the scenic look-out on "The Pinnacle" in the northern Adirondacks. I had my four hiking dogs with me and they were ecstatic to be outdoors and hiking once again. I snapped a picture of little Daphne on the trail ahead of me as we climbed our way upward:

The trail ziq-zagged back and forth instead of going directly up the side of the mountain as had the Azure Mountain trail. This made the hiking much easier and more pleasant. My two little hiking Papillons, Daphne and Clover, were having a great time. They'd been spayed only 7 days ago and I was not sure if they were ready for hiking. But I needed have worried:

Big ol' giant Seamus had recently lost 10 pounds (though he was still 120 pounds!) and had a haircut. So he was more energetic than I've seen him in a long time. He too was having a grand time:

I tried to photograph some bright red Trillium berries at the base of a cliff, but just before I snapped the picture, Clover raced through and knocked them to the ground. Sigh. Well, such are the "delights" of hiking with rambunctious dogs:

We climbed higher and higher, and I could tell by looking through the forest canopy that we were already above the surrounding hills:

And then I saw a glimpse of the surrounding St. Regis River Valley and Adirondack mountains. It was nice, but I hoped this wasn't the best view which this hike had to offer:

A few more bends in the trail, however, led me to this wondrous overlook:

The north country spread out before me in an amazing display of great beauty:

Incongruously, there was a picnic table at the top of the mountain and I wondered how on earth they got it up there. It kind of spoiled the wilderness feeling but was handy for tying the dogs to keep them away from the steep edge:

Do you see that strip of blue water off in the distance? That's the St. Regis River, where it's been dammed at St. Regis Falls and Santa Clara. I'd hiked along its shoreline the previous day with my dogs:

These are the northern highlands of the Adirondack Park and only a few miles south of my farm. Who could ask for a more scenic, wonderful place to spend one's retirement? Notice the little bog at the base of the cliff just below where I was standing. This was most likely an old beaver pond beginning to fill in as the cycle of forest/pond/bog/forest continues. Well, I assumed that this was the end of the trail but wasn't yet ready to hike back down to the car. I'll post more tomorrow:

The Wild Adirondacks

My stay at the farm was over all too soon. I can only spend one afternoon and night there. The following morning it's time to head back to Albany - and even then, the parenting doves are looking for more food and water when I get back. I doubled their portions before leaving, but each pair is eating for four birds at this point. But I decided that I'd try once again to drive home on the small roads through the northern Adirondacks which got me lost last time in Owls Head, New York. This time I'd be more careful to follow the map.

So the dogs and I left the farm and headed down Port Kent Road. I bought gas in St. Regis Falls because I learned last time that there's no gas stations along those back roads. Then we traveled down Red Tavern Road heading southeast. I found where I'd missed the turn last time, but the road I was supposed to take had a big sign announcing that it was a limited use road, only seasonally maintained, for the next 9 miles. But I kept going anyway. I figured I could always turn back.

It was indeed a narrow, poorly maintained road with NO other cars or people, but the scenery was spectacular. But the dogs wanted a rest stop and so did I. When we passed a small road into State land, I pulled onto it and let the dogs out:

The ground there seemed to be nearly pure sand and the forest was filled with aromatic Balsams which perfumed the air. We all ignored the biting deer flies and went exploring. The two Papillon puppies thought they were the Queens Of The Jungle:

Wren did her business but mostly wanted to wait by the car:

But the rest of us went exploring:

Yes, Winky felt he should explore on his own:

And little Clover must have felt like a wild wolf puppy:

She was a force to be reckoned with, a dog conquering the wild Adirondacks:

"I know you're in there, bears, and I dare you to come out!:

"Are there really bears here, Dad?":

The aroma of Balsams and the songs of White-Throated Sparrows (and other birds) filled the air. I took this video of the dogs exploring the sandy area primarily to get a recording of the bird songs, but they turned out to not be very loud on the video, so you may have to turn up your sound. I can tell you that just listening to it releases tension in me and I begin to relax. The sounds of nature have always had that effect on me and so do the memories of my happy dogs exploring the Adirondacks: