Driving Home Through The Adirondack Mountains

Another visit to the farm with all six of my dogs was over and we were driving through the Adirondacks on our way back to Albany. I made it a point to stop at the Hayes Brook Horse Trail for a rest area to see if the road was still blocked by a fallen tree. The tree had been cleared, but only by being pushed a bit to the side, giving me the idea that an ambitious traveler had done it, not a State employee. But the road was passable and I drove all the way into the forest and around the bend to Mountain Pond where the dogs got out to run. You can see in the shoreline behind Winky that the lake was still flooded:

But the scenery was as spectacular as always and we had the whole lake to ourselves:

The dogs are now quite used to these brief run/sniff/poop/pee breaks and their enthusiasm is remarkable:

After taking a break at Mountain Pond, we continued southward to the town of Brighton where a former hay field was being converted to a housing development. I turned up the construction road to take a look:

The views were fantastic, but I couldn't help but lament the loss of a hay field for expensive housing:

The utilities were in place, the lots were marked and some had already been sold. I suspect that building will be in progress by the next time I drive up to the farm:

And houses with views like this will surely not be cheap:

We continued on our way back toward Albany. When I saw that the little lakeside park along the Cascade Chain was free of snow and the steep access road passable, I turned in to give both the dogs and myself another rest stop. There was a mountain waterfall there to which I hoped to hike. You can see it in this picture if you click to enlarge it. I discovered the woods too muddy, however, so we never did climb up there:

We all jumped out of the car and headed into the woods. There were other people there also, but I managed to keep the dogs away and in the woods:

We walked across a small bridge toward the very nearby mountainside:

The time quickly arrived for us all to resume our journey southward, so I collected the dogs and once again made extra sure that all six were in the car with me (I've seen too many sitcoms of parents leaving a child behind at a gas station). I snapped one last photo and we were on our way back home: