Wonderful Debar Pond - Part 2

A friend and I were walking a trail along the shore of the Adirondacks' Debar Pond (see also Part 1, posted yesterday), and arrived at a small stream. The dogs thought it was great fun but we humans decided to turn back toward the easier walking and the buildings:


We all walked back to the lodge and peeked in the windows. It must surely have been a luxurious mansion in its day:

The group of people and their dogs were all gone by the time we arrived, so we ambled over to the water's edge and enjoyed the scenery and serenity. A cluster of pink Joe-Pye-Weed stood on the shore:

And then a Red Admiral butterfly began flitting from flower head to flower head and a bee joined it, making a lovely scene:

And this shoreline was much easier for the dogs to swim in. Seamus was able to walk easily out and not have any trouble with his back legs. Daphne and Clover went in, but stayed closer to shore:

I gave them all a call they waded back in to join us:

My friend and I enjoyed the dogs' company as we surveyed the scenery:

The dogs walked over to the old boathouse and then went back into the water. Seamus disappeared and we called loudly for him until we found him:

Seamus, of course, loves the water and couldn't stay out of it. Even Jack went swimming

We began walking again, passing by the old caretaker's residence:

And out onto the lawn, which is still kept mowed, beneath the towering White Pines:

We made a happy caravan as we proceeded onto the dirt lane which would return us to our parked car:

My happy dogs continued to sniff and search everywhere along the way. We stopped for lunch at a small general store where we could eat at a picnic table with the dogs. It had been a good day:

Wonderful Debar Pond - Part 1

It had been several years since I visited Debar Pond and I decided it was time for another visit. I brought along a friend and my five dogs. We drove into the forest on a long, one lane dirt road. It was lined with what I thought were Foxglove plants in bloom. Then we parked and began walking:

That's when I discovered that the flowers I'd seen had not been Foxgloves at all, but some kind of Bellflower:

I looked them up when I got home and learned that they were Creeping Bellflower, not because their stems were low to the ground (they were all about three feet tall or more) but because their roots send out runners. Furthermore, I learned that they were a garden escapee, not a native wildflower. There were many hundreds of them, all along the road:

We walked the dirt lane toward Debar Pond and passed by this ancient White Pine. It had to have been at least eight feet diameter at its base:

Normally I have Debar Pond all to myself, but this time there was a group of about ten people with big dogs, so we put my dogs on leashes. My friend took the three little dogs and I took Seamus and Fergus:

As we approached the former home site, we passed many abandoned barns and this picturesque greenhouse/potting shed:

And a garden filled with red Bee Balm (Monarda):

We arrived at the abandoned mansion, an Adirondack Great Camp on the shore of lovely Debar Pond. If I remember my history correctly, this was once the home of an eccentric and wealthy German hops farmer. Now it is empty and owned by New York State:

Alas, the serene nature of the site was turned into a boisterous day for about ten people and four big dogs. Some of the dogs were worrisome around my small dogs, so we walked uphill, away from the pond and toward the old mansion. This white dog, named Aspen, came running with us and ignored his owner's calls:

We arrived at the mansion and turned to look out over the pond and mountains:

And then we continued on a trail into the forest, where my dogs could do some swimming without worrying about the big dogs:

Big ol' Seamus waded out too far and then his back legs kept collapsing. He didn't seem able to stand up, and I was just about to wade in after him when he managed to make it back to shore:

Yes, he then went back out where he'd been before - and little Daphne swam out to join him. But we had much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Part Two, Just Can't Stay Away From Debar Pond

My sister and I were exploring the abandoned estate at Debar Pond, in the Adirondacks (see also Part 1, posted yesterday)

We followed a trail down to where a dam of sorts would lead us along the water's edge and into the forest:

We stopped to admire the scenery but the dogs were anxious to get moving. Well, Seamus had a good scare earlier and he was temporarily content to stay right next to us:

We followed a trail through the woods for a short distance but decided it would be wiser to return the way we'd come:

My sister stopped along the edge of Debar Pond and the dogs ran up for some attention, which she was happy to provide:

And then we continued on our way back through the trees toward the lodge:

What a procession we made, marching single file through the forest:

With occasional stops to pet the dogs:

We walked back around the inlet:

And up to the front of the lodge, where my sister discovered a rope swing. Her face and hair in the picture look to me much like she did as a little girl. I guess happiness can do that for a person:

But it was time to go, so we continued back toward our parked car:

We got settled in the car and headed back home. We stopped to view a waterfall along the way but I didn't take any pictures of it. All in all, it was a wonderful excursion:

Part One, Just Can't Stay Away From Debar Pond

My sister drove from Ohio to spend the weekend with me and, as if that wasn't good enough, our weather her first day was sunny with a high near 70(F). I took her (with the dogs, of course) to the Debar Pond Lodge, the best combination of interesting sights and wild scenery I know. We parked and walked to the clearing, but instead of turning right toward the lake and the lodge, we first turned left to explore a clearing I'd noticed on Google Maps:

We walked along the edge of the trees:

And made several small excursions into the woods just to see what we could see:

The forest was lovely but of course we wanted to go see the lake and the lodge - so off we went:

Because we were walking directly into the sun, I didn't take any photos until we reached the lodge and began exploring. This was part of a grand estate which is now abandoned and owned by New York state. The authorities want to tear it down, but the locals want it restored and used for Adirondack natural history education:

We explored many of the outbuildings and the lodge, then headed down toward the Lake (Debar Pond):

Debar Pond was as wild and beautiful as ever. We were the only two people anywhere and had it all to ourselves:

We walked along an inlet on whose banks a stone fire pit and picnic table still awaited any picnickers:

We explored around the side of the lodge, headed back along the inlet:

And marveled at the Adirondack scenery:

Well, my sister and I marveled. The dogs just played and had fun:

We lost Seamus for awhile and called frantically until he showed up. We theorized that he'd become confused inside one of the barns we'd looked at and had trouble figuring out how to get out. But figure it out he did. He and I then strolled in the shade of the pine trees behind the lodge. But there was more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: