The Duck Pond Trail - Part 1

It was a lovely April day and I drove the dogs down Blue Mountain Road, planning to take a couple of the short hikes located along its length. I got about 8 miles into the forest when the road became so covered with snow and ice, obviously not plowed all winter long, that I backed up and began returning home. Then I saw this sign and remembered that here was a pleasant hike to a little pothole called Duck Pond:

The "road" (I use the term loosely) was closed, but there was a nice parking spot. By the way, that's Azure Mountain ahead of us:

This was so far from any traffic or other people that I left Jack off leash altogether. He did make a few exuberant runs, just to use up some excess energy, but was otherwise perfectly behaved:

There was no green yet of any kind - except for one large patch of Shining Clubmoss, a most welcome sight:

There were still patches of snow and frozen waters, but not enough to slow us down. Clover thought the snow was there for her to play in:

And Jack delighted in rolling in the snow:

The only other time I'd been here, I drove this road instead of walking. Being on foot was surely better, and it I was surprised, when I saw the Oxbows ahead, at how quickly we'd arrived:

This oxbow is a a portion of the St. Regis River which became severed from the main current when the river washed out a new shortcut. We headed down for a closer view:

There was supposed to be a canoe put-in on the oxbow, but everywhere I looked, I found steep banks:

So we veered to the left, where I thought I detected the overgrown remains of an old path or road:

It took us close to the water but still there was no easy access and, with my damaged ankles and resulting clumsiness, I didn't want to take any chances:

So we simply enjoyed the views and then turned back toward the car. But I'll post about that tomorrow: