Water Loving Dogs At Whippoorwill Corners - Part 1

I'd been thinking about our first trip to Whippoorwill Corners State Forest last year which didn't go well because we began at the wrong end of the trail. I promised myself to go to the nicer part of the trail this year. So, with a heat wave expected to begin that afternoon, I drove there early in the morning, parked in the shade and let the dogs out to run:

The trail runs right along the banks of beautiful Plumb Brook (Plum Brook, without the "b," is north of here):

Plumb Brook is noted for its rapids and cascades, but most of it was relatively placid, and it certainly thrilled the dogs:

They investigated the cool waters at every opportunity - and even more so as the day warmed up:

I don't know if that dam is something beavers made or just the result of water rushing between the rocks, where the sticks get jammed (I suspect it was the latter), but either way, the dogs loved it:

And they went right in. In this photo, they appeared to be calling to Clover to come down and join in the fun:

In places, the trail went uphill, above the turbulent water below:

And in the dark, damp forest there were lots of Partridgeberries blooming. You can see their four-petaled white flowers and pink buds. You can also see one red berry and a White Pine cone from last year:

Fergus and Jack were very well behaved:

Oh look, Seamus, a quiet spot where we can swim:

And swim they did, prancing and splashing like happy children:

And then we again hit the trail. Jack and Daphne raced past a large Yellow Birch. But we were just getting started. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Part 2, Hiking Mount Arab

We continued our way up Mount Arab. The trail was well maintained and not at all difficult, but was rather unrelentingly uphill. That's something an old geezer like me notices:

The dogs were very happy in spite of the rain, or perhaps the rain was helping keep them cool and free of deer fly attack:

We all stopped at the base of a rocky cliff covered with vegetation:

Wild Blackberries were in full bloom - in fact, they were past their flowering prime and many were beginning to become berries already:

I was especially taken by this venerable old Yellow Birch. I later read that some of these are 120 years old or more. They had been spared from cutting in the heyday of logging because Yellow Birch wasn't worth much then. If one wanted to commune with the trees, this friendly, wise old fellow would be a good place to begin:

The rain became heavier as we neared the summit and I realized that I wasn't going to see much in the way of scenic overlooks:

I knew we were almost there by the rock formations and the miniaturized trees:

And indeed I was right. Seamus led the way as we broke out of the forest and saw the fire tower and caretaker's cabin directly ahead of us:

The fire tower was built on a rocky outcropping and the dogs ran ahead to check it out. It was built, I later read, in 1918:

I tied the dogs to the base of the tower and climbed to the top. But all I could see was a solid wall of whitish-gray fog. I was disappointed, but then reminded myself that I'd known it was raining and cloudy when I'd begun the hike. It would be ridiculous to expect God to part the clouds for my benefit. I'd just have to give up the idea of taking photos. Just then, the clouds began to lift and part, revealing a hint of the spectacular Adirondack landscape below:

I kept shooting pictures in all directions as the clouds continued to roll off and away. This shot was of the moving cloud bank as it moved past the caretaker's cabin. You can see the trail we arrived on just to the right of the cabin. I stayed up in the top of the fire tower to take photos of the landscape as the clouds cleared, but I'll post more about that tomorrow: