Peat Bog At Benz Pond

We were driving home from our short hike on the Madawaska Pond Trail (see yesterday's post) when I noticed Benz Pond through the trees. I parked on the side of the road (there was no traffic to worry about) and let the dogs out. They ran and I walked the short distance down to the pond:

Besides being a lovely Adirondack pond, Benz Pond offers a very nice floating peat bog. And this one floats in a very real sense. When I stepped onto the sphagnum mat to snap this picture, the whole floating mass bounced, clear out to where Clover was standing:

I saw no Pitcher Plants, Cranberries or Bog Rosemary, but it was scenic, with Azure Mountain in the background:

And there were plenty of Pale Laurels in bloom:

The dogs ran and played. No one fell into the water this time - not even Seamus:

Little Daphne looked dainty and cute as she strolled through the Pale Laurel blossoms:

Seamus was certainly not dainty, but he too looked good with the pink flowers and wild waters behind him:

Fergus, Daphne and Clover ran and played:

And then we all began moving back toward solid land:

The footing here is indeed boggy and my feet got quite wet. The little dogs had no such problem:

Daphne took one last drink of water before we climbed up the bank to our car:

I tried to entice them all to look out the window for a group photo but this was the best I could do - Daphne, Jack and Seamus. Clover and Fergus were occupied with other things at the time. But our hiking had ended for the day and I got back into the car and headed for home:

The Duck Pond Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I had hiked as far as the oxbow (see yesterday's post) but not all the way to Duck Pond. We began returning to our parked car. The dogs by then had run off some of their excess energy and were much better about staying close to me:

But they still had lots of fun, running and playing and exploring:

And it was a glorious day, with warm temperatures, sun and blue skies:

Though it doesn't show in these photos, I could see Azure Mountain through the trees almost the entire way, adding to the scenic beauty:

The road through the forest was lovely and I figured that flowers would be blooming in one more week:

The dogs continued playing and sniffing:

The pooches were happy, and so was I:

I saw this giant rock, a glacial erratic, leftover from the retreating glaciers, down in the woods and we veered off the road for a closer look:

The side trip was fun, but brief. We soon returned to the road and continued on our way back toward our parked car:

And soon we saw our bright red car, just ahead:

Another vehicle pulled in and parked just as I was loading the dogs back up into the car. A local man was using this for his base of operations, from which he planned to run on Blue Mountain Road. He came over to say hello to my dogs, who, I am glad to say, were perfectly behaved:

So we settled in for the drive home, with a much calmer Daphne, Jack and Clover on the seat beside me:

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:

Chapter 3, Azure Mountain Revisited

I'd hiked up to the summit of Azure Mountain with my sister, my niece and five dogs. We were exploring the summit and Fergus gave me a bit of a start when he walked right to the edge. I hollered for him to come back to me:

My sister had a bit of fun with the glacial erratic:

My niece and her beloved Papillon, Madeline, enjoyed the views:

And then we began walking back toward the fire tower:

Happy dogs, happy people, beautiful scenery. Life is good:

We tied the dogs to the base of the fire tower and climbed to the top. My niece checked out the map:

And my sister read the log entries. We saw a Bald Eagle soaring off in the distance but it didn't come any closer to us:

The view from the top offered even grander views:

And we could see off in directions which the trail could not give us:

We began our descent to the ground, where our five dogs waited anxiously:

But at that point, the hike was only at the mid-point. We had a lot of downhill trekking to do and would have to be careful about twisted ankles and knees:

But the downhill hike went smoothly and we arrived safely at our parked car. Yet the morning was still young and I knew of other spectacular hikes along Blue Mountain Road I wanted to show them. I'll post tomorrow about our next hike:

Chapter 2, Azure Mountain Revisited

I'd just reached the summit of Azure Mountain with my sister, my niece and five dogs. Our first order of business was to walk down to the edge to see the spectacular view and to feel the thrill of looking out over the Adirondacks from such a height:

We had to walk downhill from the fire tower to get to the rocky ledges:

Even the dogs seemed to find the view stunning. I was a little worried about one of them slipping off the edge, but they were all well behaved and I began to relax:

My niece sat and took in the lovely view, hugging her beloved Papillon, Madeline. She would be leaving Madeline with me when she drove back to Chicago and I knew her heart was probably breaking as she hugged her sweet little dog:

My sister is widely traveled and has seen lots of scenic overlooks. But I think she was impressed:

We began walking down the trail along the ridge, going farther than I had on my previous visit:

The fire tower (which we hadn't even climbed yet) got farther away as we hiked down along the ridge:

And there were new views opening up along the way. There was a very small road visible down in the valley and we thought for a moment it might be Blue Mountain Road, which we'd traveled to get to the trail head. But I didn't think that was it. A later look at a map has revealed McCavanaugh Pond Road, but it's all on private land and apparently not open to the public:

The dogs ran ahead to see a very large glacial erratic perched atop the mountain:

My sister and niece were behind me, walking slowly and enjoying the views:

So I went exploring with my dogs to look for new vistas:

My niece, my sister and Madeline rested to enjoy the view. I'd wanted my family to see how wonderful the Adirondacks could be, and this mountain was doing that nicely. But we still hadn't even climbed the fire tower yet. I'll post more tomorrow: