Upper St. Regis Lake, A Surprise Find

I was on my way up to the farm via Route 3 heading north out of Tupper Lake and looking for a place to give the dogs a rest stop. I saw a turn-off with what used to be a New York State sign of the type which usually indicates natural areas, boat launches, etc - but only the post and frame remained, the sign itself was gone. I turned onto the little access road and drove into the forest. I found an empty parking lot and a nice trail leading ----- well, somewhere. Of course we all piled out of the car and started down the trail:

The young dogs all ran excitedly ahead but little old Winky was pokey:

And so was old Wally. These two old guys keep me on my toes. The youngsters want to rush ahead but I have to slow them down while simultaneously urging the two oldsters forward:

And then to my surprise I saw a spectacular Adirondack lake just ahead! Of course I had no idea what lake it was, but later on checked a map and decided that it had been Upper St. Regis Lake:

The dogs ran forward onto the sandy beach and I was amazed at the great, unspoiled beauty of it all. If it had been summer, perhaps the beach would have been filled with sunbathers, but I doubted that this remote, unmarked gem got that much attention:

The soil in much of the northern Adirondacks is sandy and it shouldn't be any surprise to find such a nice, sandy beach. But I was surprised and delighted. The dogs were having a grand time running and sniffing:

It took a while, but old Wally and Winky finally arrived, moving slowly and checking out every scent along the way:

We all explored the forest along the sandy lake edge:

There was a broad, wide, level trail running parallel to the shoreline and the Papillons wanted to explore it, but  we had been on the road for a long time and were perhaps a half hour from the farm. So I gave the dogs a call and started moving them back toward our parked car:

Fergus, Clover and Daphne ran on ahead:

Wally, Winky and Seamus lagged behind as if reluctant to depart such a beautiful spot:

But I got them all moving in the right direction and, eventually, loaded back up into the car so we could continue our journey to the farm. But I'll post more about that tomorrow: