Maybe Our Last Stop Along The Ausable River

On moving day, I stopped with the dogs at our favorite little rest stop along the Ausable River. The dogs ran down the steep bank to the trail with great excitement:

Even big ol' Seamus, he of ponderous proportions, did a bit of happy frolicking:

The trail ran alongside the Ausable River and I almost let the dogs run freely until I remembered my commitment to keeping them close at hand. No problem, they were more than happy to come when called:

Little Daphne went down to the river for a cool drink of Adirondack water:

And Madeline explored the mossy riverbank:

I captured this nifty moment with Madeline and Daphne on a carpet of green moss and the other dogs looking on from the background:

It was all very beautiful, but I also found it a somewhat melancholy experience because old Wally and Winky were no longer with us and because I'd probably never go there again since this was our final trip between the farm and Albany:

The dogs took another drink of water and I called them back toward the car:

Daphne had done lots of running and began to slow down. In fact, she was yawning when I snapped this photo:

Seamus led the way back to the car:

And all the dogs trotted around the campsite looking for goodies to scarf up:

But soon I had them all back in the car ready to complete our journey:

Alongside The Ausable River

It was almost crunch time, when I'd move the last of my animals and possessions up to the farm. I made a short trip up to the farm with a carload of dog beds and kitchen supplies. And then I spent my time at the farm working on gardens and the lawn, not taking a single photo. When it came time to drive home, the dogs and I made it all the way to our favorite Ausable River rest stop before I took out my camera - just in time to capture Fergus trotting off into the Adirondack forest:

It was cold and rainy, but the trees overhead made for pretty good umbrellas:

I kept true to my determination to keep the dogs closer to me, perhaps no farther than 15 feet:

And when they'd try to run ahead, I'd call out, "Stop!" and call them back. Of course they got petted and praised for doing so:

"What, Dad? What do you want this time?:"

The forest was vibrantly colored in the mist and glistening with raindrops:

Daphne and Madeline hung out together as we returned to the car:

The scenery was lovely, serene and quiet:

When we arrived at the car, we walked right past it:

And over to the steep bank below which the Ausable River raged. All that rain had swollen the river:

I did not go down to the river but kept the dogs and myself safely atop the hill:

But this was our one and only photo session for an entire trip. We all jumped back up into the car and finished the long drive back to Albany. The next trip north would be with the cats, guinea pig, parakeet, etc. I shuddered just thinking about it. But that will be a story for another post:

A return to our favorite Ausable River Rest Stop

When we arrived at the Ausable River on our journey home, I pulled far off the road into a hidden campsite which has been a favorite rest stop for the last several years. I let all the dogs out to relieve themselves, but old Wally and Winky didn't want to walk anywhere. So I lifted them back up into the car to snooze while I went exploring with the youngsters:

And explore we did, the dogs sniffing the base of every tree. Left to their own devices, I supposed they'd cover the whole forest, one tree at a time:

And then we climbed down the rocky hill to where a path followed the Ausable River:

The Ausable is a beautiful and wild river, surrounded by pines, spruces, balsams and moss covered ground:

The dogs found a campsite and fire ring and promptly checked for food drippings:

And then had a good romp through the forest:

No one headed down to the water, and I was leery myself because I'd taken a bad fall their last year:

So we stayed in the forest next to the river:

And went farther down the trail than we'd tried previously:

The dogs had lots of fun - as evidenced by this shot of Fergus in mid-leap with his ears out like wings:

Daphne and Fergus went down to the Ausable for a cool drink:

And then Seamus went in. Just ahead of him, you can see Clover taking a drink from the safety of the mossy riverbank. I stayed off the rocks and just enjoyed the scenery. But that was the end of this trip to farm. Now that I'm officially retired, I was sure that the next trip would be soon. In fact, I'll post about it tomorrow:

Essex County Route 69 (or is it 13A?)

We were driving on Route 73 through the Keene Valley when I saw a side road Labeled County Road #69 (although Google Maps calls it Rt 13A, or Hulls Falls Road). This spectacular old red barn and silo were on the corner, so of course I turned up the road to see what I could see:

There were small homes with wonderful porches and mountain views:

More old, red barns:

Some rather expensive looking homes with mountains in the background:

Smaller, more modern homes:

 

A red home with a turret for watching the beauties of nature in comfort:

The road ran alongside the Ausable River for a considerable distance and, at one point, half the road had fallen into the river and we had to thread our way across the remaining lane:

There were some very nice homes:

And log cabins:

And old farmsteads:

I'm not sure what this was - a barn, perhaps?:

And a home with a great rail fence. I didn't see any horses, though. When we got to the end of the road, I discovered that we'd arrived again on Route 73, so I just turned left and continued on my way:

A Wintry Rest Stop Near The Ausable River

Just after we got on Route 73, I pulled off the road for a rest stop at our favorite little camp site near the Ausable River. I let the dogs out of the car and we all climbed over the snow banks and into the forest:

Winky was slow and uncomfortable, and this photo captured him in a hunched over position which I am seeing more often these days. He's getting old and increasingly decrepit, though he still has fun and sometimes prances like a puppy. This day, however, he struggled:

The younger dogs raced ahead toward the bank over which we could have found the Ausable River. We didn't try going there, however. It was too cold, icy and snowy:

The youngsters reached the campsite but I held back, urging Winky and Wally along:

The two old timers were far behind and at this point, they both decided they'd had enough. They simply stopped walking and assumed I knew they wanted to go back to the warm car. They were right, I did know that's what they were trying to say:

So I called the youngsters:

And we all began walking back to the car which wasn't really very far away. Notice that Winky balked at walking that direction also. But he came along when we all proceeded without him:

We all moved slowly back toward the car, with the young dogs sniffing everything and the old dogs just moving slowly:

Seamus found an interesting smell along the way:

I got all of the dogs back into the car, counted noses several times and continued on the way to the farm: