It wasn't too far to the fire tower and it was a stunning day.
It got a bit a steep in parts and the trail was exposed rocks. 
The view of Mansfield was different from what we were used to. It was windy enough that even I felt disinclined to go further than the second landing. Which means I got up there and my brain just shut down. Hell of a view though.
The view from Heather's boots...
And ignore the creepy guy behind the curtain.
What is also notable is where they used wood and where they didn't. For any complicated compound curve wood stepped in. I imagine it is much more forgiving than cast iron.
This is the actual barn. A unique structure build entirely around the children of a single stud. The horses themselves are not the most impressive of creatures in relation to stature but they are quite beautiful. The stalls were hard to see into so I didn't have any good pictures of them. After working at a studio in a horse farm this was a pleasant trip.
If you saw the fishing pole sticking out of my kayak, take a deep breath and don't worry: no fish were harmed in the making of these photos. Or ever.
It is deceptively beautiful. While there was much lush greenery everywhere the river itself was very dead. The water smelled of cow manure, so much so that after we went in a couple of miles and reached the road overpass (from which this river looked quite interesting) we turned around. We didn't bother trying to fish and my feet stayed well clear of the water.
Instead we headed out into Shelburne Bay. I was clear and no winds to blow us around. There were some superb fishing ground but because it is us we caught nothing. Still it was an excellent end to what had been an unpleasant kayaking trip. And from there we went home and had amazing food and a brilliant birthday.
Like Pharaoh Wilderness this too seemed to share in having old forest and few people. A truly nice combination.
Just a cool waterfall. A year ago this would have just been an amusing water feature but because I have a dog I now also consider them vital for re-hydration. His hardier stomach can drink what we can't so it serves us well to find water he can drink to prevent having to part with out own.
I am actually playing a Native American Love Flute. It is a beautiful sound drifting across the calm lake waters. There were a couple of other people staying in lean-toes there so I am sure it surprised them.
It may have been a little chilly. The fire was a much appreciated addition. 
Seriously you are going to get tired of these kind of kodak moment photos because I seem to take a lot of them at the places we go. One stunning morning after a substantially more restful night's sleep. The nighttime sounds were just a little less foreign and freaky because I had a bit more context.
Sal agreed things were looking up. What a strange dog.
We were headed to Pharaoh Lake, the body of water that was on the far side of Pharaoh Mountain which we had hiked a couple of weeks back.
It was a good hike with the exception of overgrown trails and nasty bugs that were not deterred by the remaining bug spray. It was soon discovered that a pine bough make an excellent bug re-distributor. 
This is the lean-to with our tent parked inside. A cool place to hang out and despite people at all the campsites around the lake, nicely private.
Yep this is the lake. The rock in the distance is about 15 feet tall. When we first got out there some kids with a canoe were swimming off of it.
This is the view proper in the morning. Just beautiful to wake up to. We lazed about and even took a further nap. The night had been a very restless one for me, it has been man years since camping out and the sound of animals kept me up. Sal, however, slept soundly the whole night. All in all a wonderful and pleasant first overnight hike.
This was an auspicious beginning... They weren't kidding, it would be messy to get a vehicle through there and I imagine the house opposite the sign had pulled more than a few silly motorist out.
For the most part the trails went in and out of state land and all were badly marked. There were more than a couple times where we guessed and just kept looking for markers. I even broke out the compass and actually used it to get us in the right direction. The heavy overgrowth of ferns made it impossible to find trails on the ground. This was an incredibly steep, maybe 45 degrees I think, of fern covered descent without trail markers. I think people ski this but wow it was steep.
One nice and obvious path. It was frustrating having to bushwack and get lost so much. And because of that fact I have no clue how long or how much elevation we covered. We were glad to find the car again.
We headed for the peak, 6.3 miles in and about 1,400 elevation gain.
What is hard to see in this picture is the size of these trees, the forest is old and for the most part untouched. I have never seen pine trees this big.
It became clear this area reaquired further exploration at a later date...
On the peak of Pharaoh Mountain. Not entirely bald but some beautiful open sections of rock, even a part where we both stretched out with our socks off and enjoyed the heat.
Sal claims all he can see.
