Oops - Wrong Hike!

The dogs and I were on our way to hike The Ledges, just off Route 30 south of Malone, New York. We turned onto a narrow county road and then south on Studley Hill Road in the scenic but very tiny town of Chasm Falls which is situated on the banks of the Salmon River:

We had to drive quite a way down Studley Hill Road and then, according to the directions, turn right onto Lee Road. I felt sure that Lee Road would be so minuscule and unmarked as to be almost unrecognizable, but on we went - after I took one more photo of the lovely Salmon River:

I found a small, unmarked one lane dirt road bearing off to the right at just about the right distance from the previous intersection and turned onto it. I didn't get far, however, before it became too rough to proceed. I parked on a flat spot beside the road and we began hiking through the Adirondack forest, using the "road" as our trail:

There were very deep pools of water all along the road, no problem for hikers but a hazard to my little red car. I once again was not sure if I was on the trail or the access road to the trail head. Or did I not even have the right road? I didn't know, so we just kept hiking uphill:

In spite of (or because of?) my confusion about whether we were on the trail, I decided to just stop worrying and enjoy the autumn scenery:

It was a pleasant path through the forest, and easy walking:

The dogs stopped to lap up water from the muddy pools in the road. I didn't think this was probably a good idea, but how could I stop them? I'm happy to say that no one got sick:

I'd tied a red and white pillow case around Seamus' neck so he wouldn't look too much like a bear. A hunter had warned me that bear season for bow hunters was open:

It was a lovely wild forest but I'd still had no indication that I was on the right trail - or, for that matter, on a trail at all:

We eventually came to a gate with many large signs forbidding trespassing of any kind. Apparently this road was just an access road for someone's private cabin. There was nothing else to be done but to head back down to the car:

I found the car where I'd parked it and we began carefully and slowly back down that rough lane toward Studley Hill Road. I'd seen no other turns which might have been Lee Road, so I was trying to think of where else I might hike in the area. I'll post more tomorrow: