Part 4 - Finishing The Beebe Hill Hike

I'd hiked with my four youngest dogs up to the Beebe Hill fire tower on an exceptionally mild, sunny Sunday afternoon. We'd taken a different trail back down toward our parked car and were enjoying the woodsy walk. I could see more Taconic Mountains off through the trees and supposed that Harvey Mountain, another of my favorite hiking spots, was one of those:

I continued to see many burls in the trees and noted that they were all in Black Cherry trees. It seemed that whatever parasite was causing those burls was species specific:

Most of the snow had melted and there were many Princess Pines poking up through the dead oak leaves. Many of them looked a bit wilted, but they seemed to be thriving nonetheless:

The trail became quite steep in places and the mud made it slippery and hazardous. When I got home I discovered that I had no photos of the steep sections and realized that was because I'd had to put my camera in my pocket on the steep slopes to hold on to the trees to keep from falling, But on the more level spots, the dogs continued to run and play. We met several hikers on their way up to the fire tower and they all quickly made friends with my sociable dogs:

There were many old stone walls in the woods, evidence that these hills were once farm fields:

The dogs ran on ahead and crossed a little bridge spanning a ravine. I could still see Taconic mountains ahead of us through the trees. Daphne, Clover and Fergus were the first to cross:

And then tubby Seamus followed. Of course, I was still far behind Seamus so I called to the dogs and insisted they wait for me to catch up:

Once we'd crossed the little creek bed, Clover wanted to run down along its length and explore the woods. I thought this was a fine idea and since I knew it'd take us toward our car, I left the trail and began following the ravine down through the woods:

But that still wasn't active enough for Clover who danced merrily across the ravine and up its other side. She perched playfully on the other bank encouraging us to follow her example. We didn't, though, but continued our way down through the forest toward the trail head:

Another large burl on a Black Cherry tree with little Clover trotting happily in the background:

Daphne and Clover were the first to reach the log bridge spanning the brook by the trail head:

Fergus and Seamus arrived next, with me bringing up the rear. That's my little red car in the background There was an old cemetery on the hill behind my car and we went over to investigate, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Part 2 - The Fire Tower On Beebe Hill

The hike up Beebe Hill to the fire tower was quite brief, less than 1.5 miles, and it wasn't long before I spotted the caretaker's cabin up ahead with the fire tower itself rising up behind it:

A man with two little girls and a small dog arrived at the same time we did. He told me that he hadn't brought a leash for his dog and didn't want her interacting with mine, so I said I'd wait by the caretaker's cabin while he and his girls went on ahead to the fire tower. While I was waiting with my dogs on a leash, a friendly family of six adults arrived to explore the tower for themselves:

I tied Seamus and Fergus at the bottom of the fire tower:

And Clover and Daphne to the other side. I didn't want any of them attempting to follow me up those steps:

And then I began ascending the fire tower. As I climbed, the caretaker's cabin began to look smaller and smaller down below. The Taconic Mountains formed an attractive backdrop:

One couple did not want to climb the tower, so they waited on the ground for the rest of their party, by now at the top of the fire tower. My dogs were barking for attention and by time I arrived back down on ground level, this couple had made friends with all four dogs:

And the view from the top was superb, clearer than I'd ever seen it before. I could clearly see the windmills atop Brodie Mountain and Mount Greylock in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Alas, the photo doesn't show enough detail to be of much help, but even my aging eyes were able to clearly see the windmills' details. I couldn't, however, make out the tower atop Mount Greylock:

The towers of the Empire State Plaza in Albany rose up above the trees like the city of Oz in the distance, about 40 miles away:

I enlarged and cropped the above photo to help illustrate what I so clearly saw on that sunny afternoon. Because most of Albany's downtown sits down in a valley, only the Empire State Plaza (and sometimes the State University towers) are usually visible from mountaintops. Can't you just imagine Dorothy, Toto and friends following the yellow brick road toward that city in the distance?:

And the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley stretched out below us in another direction:

Seamus and Fergus looked quite tiny down on the ground below:

I had a nice conversation about hiking with a man from Pittsfield, Massachusetts as we stood at the top of the fire tower enjoying the view. But it was windy and my dogs were anxious, so I began to descend the stairs to continue the hike back to the trail head:

Finishing Our Hike On The Taconic Crest Trail

We were on our way back to the trail head and my parked car. It had certainly not been a difficult hike, perhaps only 5.5 miles and mostly level, but my legs felt like rubber. I knew this muscle weakness was a bad side effect of a drug my doctor'd had me try. I would certainly stop taking it, but for now I just needed to make it back to the car:

Though I was feeling increasingly weak and tired, the four pooches were having themselves a merry old time, When they'd run too far ahead, I'd just call them back to me and they'd come running with enormous enthusiasm. A little petting and praise works wonders:

Being late December, the sun set very early and we were mostly walking right towards it. The setting sun and slanting sunshine gave everything a magical appearance:

I knew that just before the trail head was a scenic overlook not too far from the path. I gave a call for the dogs and walked over there, tired legs and all:

This view looked out over the Taconic Valley and the towns of Petersburgh and Berlin. Of course I couldn't see that far, but Albany also lay off in that direction:

Route 2 runs up the valley between where we stood and that next mountain. My car was parked at the foot of that mountain. I heard no more laughter so assumed the sledding children had all gone home:

Farm fields cut out of the forest down in the valley:

But the lengthening shadows and my very weak legs gave me good reason to continue on toward the car:

I put the dogs all on leashes in order to cross the highway. I then loaded them up into the car and snapped one last photo of Massachusetts' Mount Greylock not too far away:

The dogs were not at all tired. They'd have loved to hike some more but I wanted to go home:

One last glance across the road to the start of the trail we'd just hiked and I began driving home:

And on the way stopped for a quick photo of the house I used to own, in which I lived when I adopted my two boys. The hayloft of that barn is where I lived for three years before that. It brought back lots of memories, some good and some bad. But it was time to drive home and take a rest:

The Turn-Around Point On The Taconic Crest Trail

The dogs and I continued climbing up to the top of this almost denuded peak and I kept trying to figure out what had happened there. The tree trunks were still lying on the ground with the brush and some trunks had actually been chopped into shorter pieces. I figured that meant the cutting was neither for pulp nor for lumber:

There were some nice views from the peak and a few trees had been left standing. This inclined me to believe that Williams College was planning to build something here. If so, it would have to do without an access road or electricity:

Most of the trees left standing did not look like perfect enough specimens to have been intended as seed trees. Once the brush had been cleared, however, there would be a nice park-like clearing at the peak, at least if it was kept mowed:

After I got home, I placed a call to the manager of the Hopkins Memorial Forest for Williams College. He didn't answer, so I left a message asking about the cutting and just received a return call from him. He explained that they cut a 5 acre patch in the middle of solid forest to allow brush to grow up and accommodate species which prefer the edges of forests, increasing the wildlife variety and density. The brush and trunks will be left where they fell and new growth of berries, etc. will support many species which are now absent or in decline. The trees left standing were for nesting and wildlife dens. He was a very kind man and willing to talk at length about their plans:

After passing through the cut peak, we continued on along the Taconic Crest Trail

Five trail markers on one unfortunate small tree, and there would have six if one hadn't fallen off! I couldn't help but think this was excessive:

We began to climb up an incline which I knew from previous hikes would yield a wonderful view:

And indeed it did. As the dogs ran ahead playfully, I entered into the clearing where I was planning to turn around and begin the return trip:

The dogs weren't impressed with the view, but they did enjoy the smells on the uphill side of the clearing:

I could see clear across the valley to the Petersburgh Pass where we'd parked. You can see Route 2 winding its way up the mountain:

And to the southwest I could see out over the Taconic Valley towns of Petersburgh and Berlin (where I once lived):

Daphne and Seamus stopped their play for a moment to watch me climbing around as I took pictures:

And Fergus found a safe, quiet spot from which to keep an eye on me. Our human endeavors must sometimes seem strange from a dog's point of view:

Shocking Discovery On The Taconic Crest Trail

We were about midway on our Taconic Crest Trail hike the day after Christmas. As we quietly plodded along the snow covered trail I could see Taconic and Berkshire mountains through the leafless trees. At this spot I could actually see Williamstown, Massachusetts down in the valley:

Some square beams had thoughtfully been placed across some boggy areas to keep hikers' feet dry and also, I'd assume, to prevent undue erosion. There was still liquid water even on December 26th!:

And green ferns could still be seen awaiting springtime beneath a scant layer of snow:

This part of the Taconic Mountains is notable for its abundance of white quartzite and it was abundant along this section of the trail. In fact, two of the closest peaks to the Snow Hole are named White Rock and White Rocks:

We hiked onward, admiring the silent beauty of the forest:

Fergus tends to run too far ahead and I have to call him back occasionally:

White quartzite and ice needles together in the snow:

And then we began an uphill climb toward one of the higher peaks:

I was suffering from a weakness in my legs caused by a bad side effect from a prescription drug (which I no longer take) and was slowing down considerably. Daphne and Clover ran back to see what was taking me so long:

As I neared the summit I was horrified to see almost all the trees cut down and strewn around the ground:

A few trees were left, almost as if someone intended to turn this into a park with grassy areas and a few scattered trees. But the remaining trees were not, I didn't think, left as seed trees because they didn't seem to me to be appropriate choices:

And the trunks were left strewn on the ground with the branches. Nothing had been taken for either pulp or for lumber. Very strange indeed. I'll post more about our hike tomorrow: