Adventure To Debar Pond Lodge - Part 2

The dogs and I were exploring the former Debar Pond Lodge, once a rich family's estate but now abandoned and belonging to New York State. This building appeared to be a former carriage house:

A caretaker's house?:

Then we walked through the gate to the main lodge. It was spectacular:

From the main lodge, we headed down to the pond, where there was an old boathouse and floating pier:


Of course the dogs ran right out onto the pier:

And I followed them out onto the first part, but the second two floating piers seemed far too unstable. I let the dogs have their fun without me:


From there, we walked along the edge of Debar Pond, passing by the front of the main lodge. The state intended to tear it down but the local people raised a ruckus and want it maintained and used for educational purposes. No final decision has been made:

Debar Pond is itself a scenic attraction, a jewel of a pond, surrounded by Adirondack mountains:

We began walking toward the place where the raised boardwalk trail reached the edge of the pond:

With such beauty all around us, who could ask for anything more?

We passed by the side of the main lodge and the caretaker's cabin:

And then along the water's edge as we skirted an inlet. We weren't done yet. There was more to see, and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Adventure To Debar Pond Lodge - Part 1

The last time I tried to get to the Debar Pond Lodge, I was blocked by a snowstorm and fallen trees. So I tried again eight days later. It was cloudy, but warmer and pleasant. I parked the car and started down the lane with the dogs:

We passed by the official trail to Debar Pond. It crosses a marsh on elevated boards which have become dangerously dilapidated and difficult for me and my leg braces. Besides, I wanted to see the lodge which is now the property of New York State:

The forest smelled sweetly of Balsam and the lane was entirely pleasant walking:

I could see a mountain and marsh through the trees. I supposed it to be Debar Mountain, but there are several peaks clustered there and I don't really know which of them is Debar:

This was easy hiking but in a totally wild setting, with no one else around for many miles:

And I was very glad we were there:

We crested a small rise and saw a wide expanse ahead, dotted with many outbuildings, all of them now abandoned:

The first two seemed to me to be a woodshed and a lawnmower shed:

A wonderful greenhouse. What a shame that it has so deteriorated:

I couldn't even guess what this building was for, though a neighbor later told me it had once been a chicken coop:

A barn, perhaps for livestock. Or maybe this was used for crops when the property was a hops farm:

The dogs cared not one whit for history, but only wanted to run and investigate. I let them run since I was sure no other person was there and the land was open so I could keep them in sight. This was much more impressive than I had imagined, and we hadn't even arrived at the pond or the bigger buildings. But I'll cover that in Part 2, tomorrow: