Chapter 3, Azure Mountain Revisited

I'd hiked up to the summit of Azure Mountain with my sister, my niece and five dogs. We were exploring the summit and Fergus gave me a bit of a start when he walked right to the edge. I hollered for him to come back to me:

My sister had a bit of fun with the glacial erratic:

My niece and her beloved Papillon, Madeline, enjoyed the views:

And then we began walking back toward the fire tower:

Happy dogs, happy people, beautiful scenery. Life is good:

We tied the dogs to the base of the fire tower and climbed to the top. My niece checked out the map:

And my sister read the log entries. We saw a Bald Eagle soaring off in the distance but it didn't come any closer to us:

The view from the top offered even grander views:

And we could see off in directions which the trail could not give us:

We began our descent to the ground, where our five dogs waited anxiously:

But at that point, the hike was only at the mid-point. We had a lot of downhill trekking to do and would have to be careful about twisted ankles and knees:

But the downhill hike went smoothly and we arrived safely at our parked car. Yet the morning was still young and I knew of other spectacular hikes along Blue Mountain Road I wanted to show them. I'll post tomorrow about our next hike:

Chapter 2, Azure Mountain Revisited

I'd just reached the summit of Azure Mountain with my sister, my niece and five dogs. Our first order of business was to walk down to the edge to see the spectacular view and to feel the thrill of looking out over the Adirondacks from such a height:

We had to walk downhill from the fire tower to get to the rocky ledges:

Even the dogs seemed to find the view stunning. I was a little worried about one of them slipping off the edge, but they were all well behaved and I began to relax:

My niece sat and took in the lovely view, hugging her beloved Papillon, Madeline. She would be leaving Madeline with me when she drove back to Chicago and I knew her heart was probably breaking as she hugged her sweet little dog:

My sister is widely traveled and has seen lots of scenic overlooks. But I think she was impressed:

We began walking down the trail along the ridge, going farther than I had on my previous visit:

The fire tower (which we hadn't even climbed yet) got farther away as we hiked down along the ridge:

And there were new views opening up along the way. There was a very small road visible down in the valley and we thought for a moment it might be Blue Mountain Road, which we'd traveled to get to the trail head. But I didn't think that was it. A later look at a map has revealed McCavanaugh Pond Road, but it's all on private land and apparently not open to the public:

The dogs ran ahead to see a very large glacial erratic perched atop the mountain:

My sister and niece were behind me, walking slowly and enjoying the views:

So I went exploring with my dogs to look for new vistas:

My niece, my sister and Madeline rested to enjoy the view. I'd wanted my family to see how wonderful the Adirondacks could be, and this mountain was doing that nicely. But we still hadn't even climbed the fire tower yet. I'll post more tomorrow:

Tooley Pond Mountain, Part 1

We'd just hiked in to Basford Falls and Copper Rock Falls, two beautiful spots on the Grasse River along Tooley Pond Road. But there was one more hike on that road which I'd missed the last time I hike here, and that was Tooley Pond Mountain. So that's where we headed next:

The trail began as a pleasant, level walk through ferny forests:

Tooley Pond Mountain had lost most of its attraction when its fire tower was relocated to Cathedral Rock many years ago, so I didn't expect to meet any other hikers. We had the whole mountain to ourselves:

We crossed a small bridge over a stream:

And then the trail began to head uphill:

Patches of Shining Clubmoss added color and enchantment to the forest floor:

The trail was marked with red discs and was really quite an easy hike:

We arrived at the summit:

I looked down at my feet and saw Fergus' bandanna on the ground. I didn't put it back on him, but just stuffed it in my pocket for the rest of the trip:

And there was a view, though not a particularly good one. If the trees grow much more, there won't be any view at all:

There was a concrete step which must have once been part of the caretaker's cabin. It was marked, if I remember correctly, 1919:

I had to stand on my toes to see any view at all, but still this was a pleasant and remote site which I enjoyed very much. I'll post more about Tooley Pond Mountain tomorrow:

Chapter 3, Cathedral Rock Fire Tower

We were on our way back down the trail from the Cathedral Rock fire tower on a beautifully perfect day in the Cranberry Lake Wild Forest. I was happy and the dogs were happy. Fergus trotted down the trail:

The wild blackberries would be ripe soon and it looked to me like there would be a bumper crop:

The wild raspberries were already ripe and I helped myself:

Happy dogs, perfect weather, idyllic forest scenery. Life was good:

Usnea, also known as Old Man's Beard or Treemoss, hung from dead branches along the trail:

There were lots of Tamaracks along the trail, a tree which is a favorite of mine but which I don't often see:

We continued happily along the smooth trail through a canyon of trees:

We never saw another person the whole time we were there, but I insisted the dogs stick close to me in an effort to improve their "trail manners:"

Clover and Daphne were especially keen explorers, investigating everything:

We arrived back at the wetlands area where I noticed the same white flowers which had been blooming back at my place. I still suspect they were Elderberries:

When we got to the water, Seamus walked right in:

The Papillons and I followed him, but Fergus was nervous about the unsteady footing. He was wise to be cautious as I slipped and got my feet soaked. But our car was just ahead and our hike to the Cathedral Rock fire tower was over. But the day was young and there were several hamlets I wanted to explore before driving home. I'll post more about them in days to come:

Chapter 2, Cathedral Rock Fire Tower

I was hiking up to the Cathedral Rock fire tower with my four youngest dogs in the Cranberry Lake Wild Forest on a perfectly lovely, sunny day:

Clover, who loves to run ahead, was the first to see the fire tower. "Look what I found, everybody!:"

And they all broke into a run to go see it. Just look at Fergus' foot pads as he sprints ahead:

I tied the dogs to the base of the fire tower to prevent them from following me up the stairs. I climbed to the top and was rewarded with this stunning view of the Cranberry Lake Wild Forest:

Cathedral Rock was not an original fire tower location. The old fire tower on Tooley Pond Mountain was disassembled, relocated to Cathedral Rock and rebuilt by the students at the Wanakena Ranger School. I'll post more about the Ranger School soon:

This was not real mountainous terrain and Cathedral Rock would not have been high enough for a working fire tower, but it sure made a wonderful, short hike in a beautiful location:

I snapped a photo in each direction and was surprised that I couldn't see nearby Cranberry Lake:

I could, however, see Route 3. This was wild and largely unsettled territory, though, and I noticed very little traffic on the highway:

I started back down the steps and could see my four dogs waiting anxiously for me down below:

I got the pooches' picture before untying them:

And then we began hiking back down the trail, passing many flowers in bloom such as this St. Johnswort:

The trail had been not too long and not too steep. Even tubby old Seamus was not tired. But I'll post more tomorrow: