Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 2

We continued northward along the western shore of Black Pond:

There were lots of White Admiral butterflies along the trail:

And Daphne was a very happy girl:

We crossed a series of plank bridges which spanned tributaries. Seamus fell into one of them but was able to get back out without much trouble:

There were enough Balsams to perfume the air along much of the trail:

Newly emerging maple leaves were scarlet, shining in the sun:

Black Pond narrowed at its northern end:

And there were multitudes of Dragonflies and Damselflies of various species. This black and white dragonfly really did have a "smiley face" (click to enlarge for a better look) and was by far the most common species:

Fergus looked entirely noble as he rested along the trail:

Almost to the northern end of Black Pond:

The trail pulled away from the shoreline a bit:

And then we arrived at a fish barrier dam, designed to prevent the spread of invasive species, between Black Pond and Long Pond. Our next stop was Long Pond, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Chapter 4 - Discovering Floodwood Mountain

We'd enjoyed the scenic summit of Floodwood Mountain and were on our way back down to the trail head. The dogs stopped at every brook for a drink of cold water:

The trail was reinforced with White Birch logs for a spell, making for a dry and attractive walkway:

There were huge rocks providing walkways across each brook. I wondered if these were man made or naturally occurring but concluded that only very large equipment could have moved them into place - and there was no evidence of large equipment along that narrow path through the forest. Apparently they were just found like that when the trail was made:

We reached the sign at the bottom of the mountain which left only a short stretch of dirt road to take us back to our parked car:

And the scenery along the road was superb. These Pearly Everlastings were abundant and lovely. I imagined that many a pioneer family had dried them for a touch of beauty which lasted all winter long:

The dirt lane meandered through woods and fields:

We stopped at a small pond so the dogs could have another drink of water, but they'd already had their fill:

Happy, happy dogs in a spectacular natural setting:

Goldenrod was blooming along the road and, mixed with the blue Gentians, made a colorful display:

And this White Admiral butterfly was enjoying the ferns, flowers and sunshine. It seemed to be accompanying us along the way:

Here's a close-up of its wondrously colored wings:

But all good things must come to an end. We reached the car and the dogs jumped back inside. But I had to take one more photo as I stood there enjoying the aroma of pines and balsams. And then we continued on our way:

Exploring The Summit Of Mount Greylock

I had chosen a beautiful, sunny Sunday to drive up Mount Greylock and so had hundreds of bikers. Individual or groups of two to ten bikers were ascending or descending the winding mountain road and negotiating the hairpin turns. I joined this group parked on the shoulder of the road to admire the view out over the Berkshire Mountains:

The view was magnificent:

And we looked out over a small town which I believe may have been Adams, Massachusetts:

I snapped one more photo and then resumed my drive up to the summit. Notice the cloud shadows moving across the landscape:

There were a lot of visitors to the summit that day and a ranger was collecting the $2.00 parking fee. I parked way off at the end of the lot by myself, near this Thunderbolt Shelter, or pavilion, because I knew from previous visits that a woodland trail from there would serve as a shortcut to the scenic summit:

I could see the War Memorial Tower from the parking lot:

I hiked up the short trail through the forest into the sunshine where these butterflies flitted and danced. I couldn't remember what it was except that I remembered it had an odd name. Indeed, when I looked it up it was a White Admiral, Limenitis arthemis arthemis. I consider it an odd name because a mostly black butterfly is called white:

As I neared the views of the summit, I passed a large patch of Fireweed. I was almost there:

Just around the next bend I saw the beautiful War Memorial Tower:

But first I walked over to the grassy viewing area where I'd had my first experience of Mount Greylock many decades ago:

The views were as I'd remembered them except that the first time there were colorful hang gliders drifting on air currents below the summit:

I walked among the wildflowers at the summit enjoying the view before I went inside the War Memorial Tower, but I'll post about that tomorrow: