Deer River State Forest - Part 1

I discovered this State Forest on the internet. It's only 15 miles from home, so I decided it was time to go take a look:

The forest was big, but set up differently than any other I've seen. There were dirt roads all through the forest, with campsites set up along them. I saw no foot trails of the kind I'm used to, though the narrow lanes into empty campsites could be walked. I stopped when I saw the Deer River, and the dogs ran right down to the water's edge:

The Deer River itself was a series of rapids and waterfalls, with giant rock formations. I was impressed, and imagine that it's filled with swimmers in hot weather:

There were placid pools as well as rapids:

Upstream I saw a waterfall. We never went that far but did reach the giant rocks you see on the left:

The dogs were excited, and running every which way. The water was swift enough for me to want to keep them from falling into it:

But we all explored the rocks along the river's edge:

I had hoped to get onto those biggest flat rocks, but they were not accessible to an old fart with five dogs. I'll bet young, agile folk go out there in the summertime, though:

Jack led us up a path toward another access point:

Fergus and Seamus explored along the river:

And then got a little too close to the water for my comfort:

When the other dogs joined them, I decided to call them back toward the car so we could continue to explore this State Forest. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Moira-North Lawrence Road - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) on the Moira-North Lawrence Road. It was Franklin County Route 6 at first, but became St. Lawrence County Route 52 at the county line. I passed by parts of the Brasher State Forest, though what I saw was pretty brushy, without many big trees:

A small, neat and tidy home, nestled in the pines:

A large farm house:

The homes began to change from farm house to village house style as I entered North Lawrence. I especially liked this small home, dressed up with Adirondack style log paneling, posts and railings:

A comfy looking home with a sheltered porch and nice Spruce for wind and sun protection:

Then I rounded the bend and saw this surreal scene - a large factory in the middle of all this rural and small town charm. I've seen it before and wasn't surprised, but I remember the first time I chanced onto it a number of years ago. It was then a closed Yogurt factory. It's since been reopened and modernized under new ownership:

If you've ever eaten Upstate Farms yogurt, it was likely produced here in tiny, scenic North Lawrence, New York. If you are interested, you can also check out these links to a Public Radio Story or this website About North Country Dairy:

I continued on past the yogurt plant and entered the little village of North Lawrence:

The homes, like most in the area, sported a lot of old fashioned front porches. I think that visiting with neighbors and seeing the scenery are popular in the north country, and even new homes often have large, comfortable porches:

I remember from a summertime view that this home had solar panels, though they didn't appear to be very useful with so much snow cover:

I crossed the scenic Deer River into the heart of North Lawrence, where I intended to end my driving tour:

West Cotter Road In The Town Of Brasher, New York

A friend was searching the internet for small farms for sale, so I did a quick internet search for this area. I learned of a 17 acre farm in the nearby town of Brasher and I had free time, so - why not? I drove to West Cotter Road to take a look, turning it into a driving tour at the same time. This road was surrounded by Brasher State Forest and most of the homes were set back into the trees:

The homes tended to be smaller and spaced far apart, always set back into the forest:

And then, up ahead, I saw the barns of the home which was for sale. They certainly were impressive:

This was the home. It, the complex of barns and 17 acres were for sale for $89,000. Here's the website address, assuming it hasn't sold by the time you read this:
Small Farm For Sale

I continued driving, and found West Cotter to be an entirely pleasant, scenic road:

The road roughly follows the Deer River and, pretty soon, the river meandered right up alongside the road. It was quite pretty:

The houses became smaller and closer together along the river's edge:

In fact, I think they were not year 'round homes but vacation cottages, though one can never tell. They may have been a mixture of both:

But there were other homes on the road:

There were no other farms or farm fields along West Cotter Road, though there were more homes:

I passed by another stretch of the Deer River:

West Cotter Road is a dead end, though it branches at the end into two smaller, dead end roads. The other two roads were too short and had too few homes for a blog post, so I turned around and drove back to the county road where I'd begun. There was an East Cotter Road on the other side of the county road, but it turned out to be only two tire tracks through the forest:

State Route 11B, From The County Line To Nicholville - Part 1

I was on the road on a lovely, sunny day and decided to take a driving tour of State Route 11B in St. Lawrence County, from the Deer River to the town of Nicholville:

This is farm country and the first farm at which I stopped had these huge grain bins (and barking dogs who were not happy that I'd stopped along the road):

This lovely old farm house had built a brand new barn just recently:

This farmstead had freshly washed quilts flapping in the wind to dry. It is spring cleaning time, after all:

There were a number of Amish farms along the road, all of them looking prosperous, but this was the only one without Amish people working out front. Knowing how they dislike being photographed, I don't usually stop for pictures when they're outside working:

I stopped at this old silo, standing all alone beside the foundation of its former barn. I was intrigued by the picnic table nearby. Does some family have picnics there?:

A small house with a bright red roof and a tractor parked out back:

An enclosed front porch:

This small, abandoned house got me wondering who had lived there and what life may have been like for them:

A red barn and a greenhouse:

A farm stand and several barns were part of this farmstead. This was indeed beautiful, rural countryside and I had more distance to go before I arrived in Nicholville, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Helena, New York - Part 1

I'd just watched the Tri-Town Winter Carnival parade and snowmobile races (previous posts) and, since I was in town already, decided to take a driving photo tour of the tiny village of Helena:

Helena is located at the confluence of the St. Regis and Deer Rivers. Most the houses look old and were built very close to the road:

This was house was especially close to the road and I wondered if the snow plows found it difficult there - especially this winter:

I thought this home was particularly interesting, with its gazebo and ship play-station. But I discovered, when I got home and took a closer look at the photo, that this was the Brasher Town Hall. Helena is located in the town of Brasher:

This home was built next to an old, double span bridge which was closed to traffic:

A nice front porch for summertime lemonade:

This was the historic bridge, now closed and replaced with a newer, safer bridge:

This false front building looked historic and reminded me of buildings from western towns:

And this wrap-around porch had a scenic view over the river. But there was yet more to see in Helena, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: