The Cornell University Maple Research Center

My sister and I had just visited the John Brown farm in Lake Placid, NY (see yesterday's post) and began driving back to the main road. But we had to stop for photo of the Adirondack high peaks behind the John Brown farm. You can just see the peak of the John Brown farm house above the little shed. As for the mountains, I can't identify them although I probably hiked a good number of them when I was younger:

We could also see the Lake Placid Olympic ski jumps from the John Brown farm:

So before getting back on the main road, we pulled in for a closer look. The picture doesn't convey the immense size of these things. They were impressive!

Before leaving Lake Placid, we stopped at the Cornell University Maple Research Station:

It was very much open, even though they weren't currently boiling sap:

We went inside the sugar house to see the huge, modern evaporator:

Signs explained the operation:

And maple syrup was available for folks to buy if they arrived when the building wasn't open:

And then we went into the main building:

That was a busy place, with a number of people unpacking boxes of empty jugs and then filling them with syrup:

There was, of course, maple syrup for sale - and lots of it:

One man began explaining the operation to us:

They also make birch syrup, so he gave us a taste. The funny thing was that everyone described the taste differently. The man said it was savory, not sweet. My sister said it was fruity. I thought it tasted like molasses. Some people say it has a mineral taste. One thing I can say is that it is much more expensive than maple syrup, largely because it takes more sap per gallon of syrup, but also (I suspect) because there are fewer big birch trees in the forest and a smaller market for it. My sister purchased both types of syrup to take back with her to Ohio. This was the end of our Adirondack excursion, so we headed back to the farm to let the dogs out. They were sure happy to see us:

At The Foot Of Gore Mountain

I drove out of Riparius (see previous posts), continuing on Route 8 and then turning northwest on Route 28. When I arrived at the Adirondack Town of North Creek (home of the Gore Mountain ski resort), I stopped at the town park:

The signs called this the Jacques Grumblatt Memorial Beach. I'd stopped here once before last year and discovered the amazing Orange Peel Fungus. I hoped I'd find it again, but the dogs needed a rest stop in any case:

I drove past the beach, past the pavilion and back to the forested area. That's where I'd found the Orange Peel Fungus last year and it was an ideal spot for the dogs to do their running:

There was no fungus to be found, but I did note that the wild strawberries were blooming:

Madeline got "stuck" on a smell near the car and then couldn't figure out where we'd gone to. I gave her a holler and she then came running:

These pretty flowers were everywhere and I snapped a photo to identify later. Alas, the details of the flower were insufficient and I couldn't tell which leaves belonged to which plant. So I'll just caption this, "Oh, look at the pretty white flowers:"

Life is grand when you can run full speed through the wild strawberries:

It was a lovely day for happy dogs to explore:

We turned and began heading back to the car:

But when we got there, I decided to continue on to the earthen dam and see the water:

It was an altogether wonderful sight as Clover walked near the water's edge with mountain peaks in the background:

I loaded the dogs back into the car and we drove out of the park, passing this trail head on the way. The lettering was falling off and I couldn't tell which hike it was. I've since searched the internet and decided that it was the Schaefer trail, which is 4.8 miles long and leads to the summit of Gore Mountain. But we were on our way to the farm and I pulled back onto the highway to continue the journey:

Newcomb, New York, A Mountain Town

The next stop on our journey was the Adirondack town of Newcomb. I didn't spend much time there or take many photos, but how could I resist stopping a moment and taking in such beauty?:

The views from Newcomb are majestic and there's a sign identifying the mountains. I didn't linger, though:

The dogs had to see the sights from inside the car, but they'd just had two rest stops:

It was Sunday morning, and church services were in progress right across the street:

One last look at the surrounding peaks and I was on my way again:

Part 3 - A Journey On The Port Kent Road

I was on the way home from a weekend at the farm and driving the seasonal roads of the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. Views like this one should explain why I chose that route:

Wetlands, mountains, loons, wildflowers, the smells of pine and balsam - all on a dirt road which almost nobody else seems to use. It was, as always, magical:

I often seen ducks, geese and loons here, but there were none that day:

I don't know which mountains those are in the background, or even if they have a name. There are so many in every direction that I just can't keep track of them. Even the 46 high peaks are impossible for me to know when I see them poking up above the others. Sometimes I can guess from their profiles, though, such as with Nippletop and Rooster Comb:

But I'd taken lots of photos and it was time to continue on our way:

The Port Kent Road took us along past more wetlands, more mountains:

And up a hill where the scenery reminded me of my Oregon summers as a boy:

But I stopped once again when we reached Grass Pond:

Wally and Winky were too old and tired to even want to get out, so I left them snoozing in the car while the youngsters raced down the boardwalk to the water:

Just ahead was Grass Pond, a scenic paradise:

The boardwalk was built by the state to make it handicapped accessible, but I noticed it also kept people (and dogs) from churning up the soil and trampling plants:

The boardwalk took a rather serpentine path, presumably so it wouldn't be too steep. Imagine a wheelchair running amok and racing down a steep slope, right into the lake. No, it was better that the boardwalk be zigzag. I'll post more tomorrow:

Part 2 - A Journey On The Port Kent Road

I was on my way back from a weekend up at the farm with all seven dogs via the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. I pulled off the road to give the dogs a rest stop at the scenic Deer River Flow:

Both old dogs, Winky and Wally, were faltering and showing signs of aging. I helped them in and out of the car and also kept an eye on them lest they wander off and get lost:

Seamus and the other young dogs, however, had no lack of energy. They covered a lot of ground as they checked everything out:

The three Papillons trotted around together:

I put them all back into the car and pulled back onto the Port Kent Road:

The road became a seasonal road, but we kept going because I knew there was lovely scenery in every direction. This view, for instance:

The road became unpaved and lifted us uphill to a higher elevation. I could see mountains just off the side of the road:

Mountains in every direction:

We passed by a wild pond where I've never seen another human being or sign of human activity. But this time I saw a canoe on the far bank - but no people:

Daphne and Madeline watched the passing scenery with great interest:

And scenic it was indeed:

I've often seen loons in this lake, but there were none on this date. But we kept driving the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. I'll post more tomorrow: