Chapter 2 - Wolf Lake State Park

We were hiking the Wolf Lake Loop Trail and enjoying the natural beauty of it all, including the small wonders such as a patch of Bunchberry, still in bloom so late in the year:

We entered a forest, a brief interlude between beaver ponds:

The walking was rocky and treacherous in many places, at least for a guy like me with damaged ankles:

Still more beaver ponds. By this time we'd already lost count. They sure were lovely, though:

The walking here was dicey. We had to make our way across the rocks between a giant fallen tree and the beaver pond. Daphne and Clover had no such problems. Instead, they simply walked the length of the log:

There were fewer mushrooms than I'd expected, but they were wondrous, intricate creations:

Back into the forest, my sister and Madeline (who is her "grand-dog") kept closely together:

The terrain lifted and became largely a series of huge, flat rocks. The trees grew on top of these flat rocks and several recent blow-downs made it clear to us that their root systems were indeed exceedingly shallow:

We finally arrived at lovely Moon Lake. But we kept on walking, as we were headed for Wolf Lake and would then return to Moon Lake and take a closer look:

We walked along Moon Lake briefly:

And then back into the forest:

We arrived at Wolf Lake in short order and it was a thing of beauty, a place of wild, natural peace. We decided to stop and rest here, but I'll post about that tomorrow in Part 3:

Chapter 1 - Wolf Lake State Park

On the last full day of my sister's visit, I wanted to take another hike. My ankles were painful, but I nevertheless suggested the Wolf Lake State Forest Loop. We left PeeWee at home, sleeping, and drove down to Edwards, New York:

The trail began gently uphill, but became increasingly rocky:

The dogs enjoyed the rocks, giving them something to climb and play on. For me, however, they were potential ankle twisters and I had to be very careful:

We climbed down a rocky hill, crossed a bridge made of a log sawed in half lengthwise, then across a field of rocks beside a beaver pond. The dogs were having the time of their lives even though I insisted they stay close to me, even putting them on leashes at times:

There were so many beaver ponds that I lost count, but they were lovely. This one had a large beaver lodge in its center:

And the evidence of beaver activity was easy to find:

I picked up one of the wood chunks at the base of the tree in the previous photo. It showed every tooth mark:

And then we continued on:

We came to another beaver dam, this one easily ten feet high. It was impressive and beautiful until I suggested imaging what it would be like if it suddenly gave way while we were standing below it. I guess I'm always the life of the party with such pleasant thoughts:

The beaver pond above the ten foot high dam was spectacular. Daphne walked over to take a look:

We walked along the rocky shores of more beaver ponds. The dogs ran and played and waded in the water:

I momentarily thought I saw cranberries, but a closer look (and also the habitat) informed me that I was seeing Teaberry. But we'd only just begun and had a lot of hiking ahead of us. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Huckleberry Lake, Part 3

We were on the last part of the Wolf Lake loop trail and had already passed by Moon Lake, Wolf Lake, Huckleberry Lake and numerous beaver ponds. The trail then took us into the Adirondack forest:

Past White Pines of great age, many of them at least five feet in diameter at the base:

Over rocks and streams:

And through pine forests:

We climbed up rocky hills and then down the other side:

All the while marveling at the great natural beauty:

We passed by more beaver ponds:

When the trail dropped sharply down a rocky slope toward another beaver pond, little Madeline wasn't at all sure she wanted to do that. She stayed at the top of the rocks and peered over the edge at the other dogs who were already down below with their feet in the water. But of course, when I climbed down, she did also:

I found this red-gold gem of a fungus hiding in the leaf litter:

And I was very happy in spite of my sprained ankle (which by this time was beginning to ache):

The trail leveled out as it entered what at one time had been farm fields, and I knew we had reached the final stretch:

And the dogs were as happy to spot our parked car as they were to begin the hike. Is there anything which doesn't make dogs happy? As for me, my ankle was fine but 5.5 miles of limping over rocks caused me a night of serious, debilitating cramps. But of course I recovered and look forward to hiking this magnificent trail again and again:

Huckleberry Lake, Part 2

We'd reached the magnificent Huckleberry Lake, one of three pristine gems in the Wolf Lake State Forest. The trail took us along a high, rocky ridge which formed the boundary of one side of the lake:

It was easy walking and plenty scenic. The dogs played and were very happy:

The dogs kept an eye on me but still had lots of fun. I could see islands in the lake just ahead of us:

The last time we'd hiked this trail I had to keep Seamus on a very short leash because he was still wobbly from his brush with heat stroke. But this time everything was perfectly happy and a spectacular experience for the senses:

The trail took a scenic turn downhill toward the lake shore. I had to be careful not to twist my ankle again as I climbed down the rocks:

We walked closer to the water's edge:

The ubiquitous reddish coating on the ground was old White Pine needles from the trees that appeared to be growing on nothing but rock:

I lost the trail at one point and had to backtrack, but that was just fine with little Madeline. It was all a fun adventure for dogs and they'd go whichever direction I wanted:

Over more rocks and past more scenic beauty:

I found this leather leash and control chain dog collar atop a rock by the edge of the lake, and that got me to speculating about what may have happened here. Was there a potentially out of control dog ahead of us on the trail? Had someone come here to end his dog's life? I never got an answer, but supposed a dog owner had simply forgotten it along the way. There were no other people (or dogs) anywhere. We had the forest all to ourselves:

I found the trail again and we continued on our way:

I took lots of photos (as you can see) because the place was so incredibly scenic, the dogs so happy and the weather so perfect. This was likely to be our last major hike of the year and I wanted to be able to fully share it:

Huckleberry Lake, Part 1

This was likely to have been our last hike of the season and so far it had been magnificent beyond anything I could have hoped. Even my sprained ankle was holding up fairly well. We'd already visited Moon Lake, Wolf Lake and then Moon Lake again. We were now on our way to Huckleberry Lake, the largest of the three. I remembered that it was hemmed in by large rocky outcroppings on one side and thought, as we climbed these rocks, that Huckleberry Lake would appear on the other side:

We found water, all right, yet it was not Huckleberry Lake but another of the numerous beaver ponds. Nevertheless, I knew that Huckleberry Lake was very close:

We dropped down a hill to the beaver pond:

And then waded through a flooded trail:

And finally caught our first glimpse of Huckleberry Lake:

We climbed up onto the rocky outcropping which formed the boundary of one side of the lake:

And followed the tail down to a lean-to at the water's edge:

Seamus went into the water and the other dogs took a drink. I rested briefly:

And then we climbed back up to the rocky ridge along the edge of the lake. That's where the trail was:

The lean-to looked picturesque and inviting down below us as we continued on our way:

The ridge trail was smooth and scenic, and the dogs ran and played:

The trail occasionally took us into the forest, but mostly we stayed on top of the ridge. But I'll post more tomorrow: