Bear Mountain, In The Cranberry Lake Wild Forest - Part 2

We were hiking the trail to the summit of Bear Mountain and were almost to the top:

When we reached the summit, there was only this limited view of Cranberry Lake. Clover didn't care, as she was busy playing on the rocks:

Here's a little better view of Cranberry Lake from the summit:

Hoping there might be another scenic overlook, we continued on the trail for some time. We never found another viewing spot, but there were giant rocks which the dogs thought were canine playgrounds:

All four dogs climbed up and down the rocks, enjoying themselves immensely:

They didn't care about scenic overlooks. This was just what they enjoyed:

Seamus and Fergus found the highest spot of all and posed as nobly as they were able. Their haircuts were only one day old and they did look nice up there:

But there was nothing more to see, so we began our way back down to the car, passing the scenic overlook one more time along the way:

The trail dropped off as we left the summit and we began the downhill hike, maneuvering around rocks, mudslides and fallen leaves:

It was still chilly and I had to put something over my bald head to keep the heat in:

The trail became more level and less rocky as we neared the trail head:

The final shot of the day was of Clover, who had climbed up on a fallen log. We reached our car and began our journey back home, stopping for lunch along the way:

The Stradivarius Of Canoes, Built In St. Lawrence County

Part of the museum attached to the Silas Wright House was an exhibit of the legendary canoe building skills of John Henry Rushton, born in 1843. A small man of 98 pounds, he set up Dragonfly Canoe Works in Canton in 1875. His canoes and other small boats achieved world renown, even being called the "Stradivarius of canoes:"

I was able to see this canoe up close, so I walked over to inspect it:

I was surprised to see that it was constructed largely of what looked to me like clapboards fitted ever so tightly together:

And when I looked at the underside, I saw the boards were hand nailed with what must surely have been thousands of nails:

I believe, though I'm not sure, that this Rushton creation was called a Rob Roy decked canoe:

A photo of George Washington Sears, who wrote about his adventures and travels in "Forest And Stream" under the name of Nessmuk. Rushton built a series of canoes for him and, in turn, earned acclaim as a master builder:

Rushton's son, Harry, outside their boat shop in Canton. The canoe was a model called "Indian Girl" which became very popular:

The employees of the Rushton Boat Shop in 1904. Rushton died in 1906:

The man himself, in 1884:

At a camp on Cranberry Lake about 1891. The two young boys were Rushton's sons:

Another shot of Carter's Camp on Cranberry Lake, with John Henry Rushton, his wife and two sons:

The Rushton St. Lawrence Canoe Club in 1886, on an island in the St. Lawrence River. This was all a part of history about which I'd known nothing and it was nice to learn a bit of St. Lawrence history:

Cranberry Lake, New York On - - - Well, On Cranberry Lake

I left Newton Falls, returning to Route 3, and then headed east on my way back to the farm. But I passed through the hamlet of Cranberry Lake on my way and decided to take some pictures:

Like Newton Falls (yesterday's post), Cranberry Lake is a hamlet in the town of Clifton. But Cranberry Lake had the good fortune to be located right on Route 3 as well as on the shores of beautiful Cranberry Lake. It has, therefore, become a tourist destination and a place with lovely waterfront homes and camps:

It was common to see boats in this lakefront village:

And the Lakeside General Store was booming:

I noted this sign made all of birch logs and birch bark. Now, that's real Adirondack styling:

I imagine this home in Cranberry Lake will, because of its location, command a much steeper price than the home in Newton Falls about which I posted yesterday:

There was an old fashioned motel:

And the Stone Manor Diner:

There was a public beach on Cranberry Lake:

And flowers blooming everywhere:

This lovely church sat right on the lake:

And it was evident that folks with money had found Cranberry Lake a nice vacation or retirement destination. Sadly, I'd just come from Newton Falls whose fate had not been so good and whose future did not look so rosy. But I was on my way back to the farm where old Wally and Winky were undoubtedly snoozing and would want to go outside as soon as I arrived. So I said goodbye to Cranberry Lake and headed homeward:

The Ranger School At Wanakena

It had been a busy Monday morning. I'd hiked up to the Cathedral Rock fire tower and back, and then I'd taken a driving tour of the Adirondack hamlet of Wanakena. But Wanakena is best known as the location of the State University Of New York (SUNY) Ranger School. I had to go see it, so I turned at this sign which indicated that the school was three miles thataway:

And what a spectacular three miles it was, with waters on both sides of the road. This was a lake on the left whose name I didn't know. Its waters were dotted with untold thousands of white water lilies:

And I passed by the Pinecone Restaurant. I figured it must be a college hangout, but then noticed that it was closed and for sale. You can see that it sat on the shore of the Oswegatchie River:

We saw many beautiful scenes of the Oswegatchie River, which at that point was also an arm of Cranberry Lake:

And there were many nice, well tended homes/summer camps along the shoreline:

Most of the cabins were decidedly woodsy looking:

And then I arrived at the Ranger School:

They had tennis courts, badminton nets, baseball fields and what I guessed to be apparatus for woodsman's days contests:

And one very large building, which suggested to me that all the classrooms and perhaps even living quarters where housed in one location. That would be quite handy in the wintertime except I would think that ranger students would be spending a great deal of time outdoors anyway:

They had docks on the Oswegatchie/Cranberry Lake:

And a separate maintenance building:

They had lots of canoes. I supposed that a ranger would have to be quite skilled with a canoe, It was all very beautiful, but I had many more miles to travel and several more stops I wanted to make before I returned to the farm. I'll post more tomorrow:

Spectacular Wanakena, New York - Part 1

I was having a great weekend up at the farm and had just hiked up to the Cathedral Rock fire tower and back. But the day was still young, so I drove to the hamlet of Wanakena:

Wanakena is a hamlet on the shores of the Oswegatchie River and Cranberry Lake. I once began a week long wilderness canoe adventure in Wanakena, so I remembered much about the village and this felt a like a bit of a homecoming. The Cranberry Lake Wild Forest was evident even in the hamlet itself, with big trees shading the homes:

And many of the homes had a summer camp feel to them. Indeed, many of them were only summer residences:

And nearly all front porches were screened. This is prime Black Fly and Deer Fly country:

It was a relaxed and friendly place:

And water was everywhere, so owning a boat was a natural thing to do. The golf cart, I guessed, was for driving around town:

Adirondack siding. How appropriate:

Red Adirondack chairs on a deck without screening. Oh wait, there's a screened porch behind the deck. Black Fly and Deer Fly seasons are not to be trifled with:

I stopped at the Post Office and General Store to buy myself a sandwich for lunch. They had prepared sandwiches, all organic and very healthy at - well, very healthy prices. Apparently this is a high-end tourist town:

This 171 foot suspension footbridge was constructed in 1908 between the village and the Rich Brothers Lumber Mill to get employees to and from work. It still stands today and has become a bit of a tourist destination. I remembered walking across it when I was in Wanakena years ago for my canoe trip:

I was enjoying my driving tour of Wanakena and thinking how pleasant it must be to spend summers here. But there was still more to see. I'll post more tomorrow: