We should have known. Mid-May in the Adirondacks presupposes black flies. There are swarming black flies and there are swarming and biting black flies. We encountered the latter. A few squirts of high test Deet on my hat and a quick application of oil of citronella on face and arms seemed to work well until the carbon dioxide we produced while huffing and puffing in earnest attracted hoards of the annoying "beasts." We decided on a loop hike, first ascending to a cabin with great mountain views, and then walking .5 miles to the summit of Thomas Mt.
It rained for a short time while we walked the undulating ridge to Cat Mt..
I put on a "Dri-Duck" light-weight rain jacket. Weight is negligible at the expense of ruggedness, so, at the first contact with a pricker, the jacket received its first tear. After lunch, the rain left and we were treated to sunshine, but the black flies continued to annoy so we kept on moving. Even at the summit, we enjoyed the views for only a short time. One member of our party thought he would take a nap on a flat rock complete with bug net, long-sleeved shirt and pants, but the rest of our party wanted to keep moving so his nap was cut short.
The loop trail took us down a rocky road. We weren't surprised to pass a high-water beaver pond.
The well-established beaver lodge was easily recognized on the other side of the pond.
Some of the trail along the pond was flooded but we found some good hopping rocks to avoid wet feet.
The GPS said that our walk was 7.5 miles with about 2300' of elevation change due to lots of ups and downs along the ridges. A pleasant workout, despite the challenges of those black devils!