Sunset on Piper

 

My hiking plans for the weekend were many and varied. I didn’t get much sleep Thursday night. I had an early wake-up scheduled for Saturday morning. The sensible thing after work on Friday would have been to take the dogs for a quick leg-stretch and then fall into bed.

But it was warm — near 80! — and I wanted to hike. We headed to the Belknaps instead.

 

Good dogs share water holes on hot days.

 

Piper is one of those bang-for-buck mountains: not even 3 miles round trip but views for days.

Restricted view on the ascent.

We had the trail and summit to ourselves and the dogs did really well. They even consented to pose a bit!

Holding court at the east-facing throne. There’s a west-facing one, too. I know not why.

The most Titus picture ever taken.

View to the east.

I notices the rich golden sky to the west during the ascent and hoped to find a good spot to watch from, even if it meant descending in the dark. There were trees where I wanted to stand, though, and I had forgotten Lilo ‘s beacon (and didn’t relish strapping a glow stick to her). After some peering, we headed down — which meant we got to enjoy the sunset from several angles along the way!

Pretty spectacular, even without an unimpeded view! I actually suspect this wound be a great sunrise peak. Maybe we’ll try that next.