The Santa Clara Tract Northern Flow - Part 1

I looked on Google Maps and found a hidden lake at the end of a local dirt road, all on New York State lands. Well, that seemed promising, so I drove there and discovered that the road was gated and all the land was both private and posted. The nearest place I could think of as an alternative was the St. Regis River boat launch in Santa Clara, so that's where we went:

A group of women had just launched their canoes and kayaks for a paddle, but two kayaks had lagged behind to be sure their car doors were locked. The dogs barked happily and wagged their tails while the women greeted them with equal enthusiasm. It was a nice way to begin our walk:

I called the dogs away from the boat launch and to the trail, but we didn't get far before I stopped to photograph these stunning Gentian flowers. We used to call this color "royal blue." I never hear that expression anymore, but it seems apt:

Every August/September I find blue Gentian flowers along Adirondack trails, but I am seldom sure which species they are. This time, the leaves gave them away as Narrow-Leaved Gentian, Gentiana linearis. I like calling any of them Blue Bottle Gentians because it is so perfectly descriptive:

But the dogs didn't care about flowers. They wanted to run, pee and smell things:

We'd barely begun when I veered off the trail to explore this mossy meadow, dotted with Reindeer Lichen:

Clover and Daphne found lots of interesting smells, but little Jack just kept running:

Seamus has been on a strict diet. With his thick, woolly hair, it doesn't show much but I think he has lost a lot of weight:

The photo doesn't capture it well, but this mushroom was metallic gold colored. I've seen bright red and purple mushrooms, but this was the first one which was metallic gold:

The trail took us alongside the Northern Flow, the wide reservoir created by a dam at St. Regis Falls. So we stopped frequently to explore the shoreline. Daphne went right into the water:

The next thing I knew, Daphne Seamus and Clover were all in the water. This adventure had begun rather well, I thought, and there was much more yet to explore. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: