Hi, I'm Dickens the peripatetic Welsh terrier and this is one of my favorite hikes.  It didn't hurt that the weather was sunny and mild, perfect for hiking.  We arrived at Thirteenth Lake at 9:54 AM.  The 6.2 mile trail to Peaked Mtn (2919') goes along the shore of Thirteenth Lake, then up Peaked Mtn Brook to a remote pond, then steeply up to the rocky summit of a high, pointy mountain. 
     The sunlight danced on the waters and we saw a lone canoe out on the lake, with forested Balm of Gilead Mtn. in the distance.  This made us think of the hymn, "There is a balm in Gilead..."  But suddenly we met a tall, blue-eyed man with a large Samoyed type dog named Little Bear.  He told us there was a family of mergansers out on the lake, and soon we saw them for ourselves.  We think they were hooded mergansers, although they could have been common mergansers.
     Farther down along the shore, before we turned to go upstream, we heard yodeling and, to our surprise, we saw three loons swimming out on the lake. 
     By 10:42 we started up Peaked Mtn Brook.  It was steep at first and had a series of small waterfalls and one flume.  At 11:11 we crossed the brook and started going past a series of large, overgrown and filled in former beaver ponds.  As we approached Peaked Mtn Pond there were some good views of the precipitous rock cliffs on the summit of the mountain ahead. 
     We met a young couple heading towards Thirteenth Lake with a large black dog named Joe.  After that we met two pretty young ladies from East Rockaway and Syosset. Long Island, who were heading back to a family campsite onThirteenth Lake.  Shortly thereafter we came out onto the shore of Peaked Mtn Pond where a former beaver dam creates a small bay at the extreme south end.   We reached this pond at noon but Bruce decided to press on and have lunch on the summit.
      The trail to the pond had been  fairly primitive with an endless succession of ups and downs and innumerable rocks and roots to negotiate, but the trail up to the top of the mountain was even more primitive than that.  It is very steep with no switchbacks or rock steps and a few slant rock faces to try to clamber up.  Since today was quite dry these were fine, but in wet conditions they could be difficult.
     By 12:50 PM we arrived at the top which has three main ledges with great views.  We sat on the rocks on the highest, central ledge and had lunch.  This ledge has great views of the route in from Thirteenth Lake as well as lofty Gore Mtn off to the left. 
     While we were here soaking up the sunshine and views, a man and woman about 45-50 or so came up and told us that they had had lunch on the ledge to the right of us and had seen a moose crossing Peaked Mtn Pond.  Evidently they had been on the top before us and when we arrived we had not noticed them.
     We then explored the other two lookouts on the summit.  Where the couple had been is a great view of the pond down below as well as some mountains to the west, one of which we assume is Snowy Mountain.  You can also see Blue Mtn off to the northwest.
     We also went over to the lookout off to the left of the central one.  This has views of Gore Mtn but, more spectacularly, in two spots,  there are marvellous views of the high peaks, including Marcy and Gothics.  We could see Dix Mtn which Bruce has climbed four times.  We could also see Killington and Pico faintly off on the horizon in far off Vermont.
     A family came up to the summit with two young children, ages 12 and 10 or so.  The husband told us that they had been down on the shore of the pond when the moose appeared.   After them a young couple came up onto the summit.  They had not seen or heard anything about the moose. 
     The two of us started back down at 1:32 PM.  In trees on the slopes of the mountain, we saw a Nashville warbler, a species rumored to nest in abandoned guitars.
     We were back at the pond at 2:20 PM, nary a moose in sight.  On the way back, however, we did see a clublike tuning fork mushroom.  We also spotted two toads and a spring peeper, and lots of whorled wood asters, a sure sign of coming autumn.  We also met up with Joe again as he and the young couple returned to the pond. 
     When we got back down to Thirteenth Pond we noticed that the loons were gone and in their place there were a large number of kayakers and canoers out enjoying the pretty lake.  But, alas, none of these were yodeling.   We saw the family of mergansers again near our shore.  While we were looking out at the lake a green winged teal flew by us, heading northeast.  This was the first time we had ever seen a teal. 
     We took our time  ambling back along the lake and arrived back at the car at 4:50 PM.   Overall this was a really gorgeous hike with wonderful views and lots of interesting wildlife.

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