From Grass Pond To Vermontville On Scenic Route 3

I'd just left from our rest stop in the Boreal Forest along the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike when I saw this sign for Grass Pond Fishing Access Site. Just completed a year or two ago, it is a handicapped accessible walk down to the lovely Grass Pond. Of course I stopped:

Since we'd just had a rest stop, I left old Wally and Winky napping in the car and proceeded down the walkway with the four younger dogs:

It wasn't far, and I shortly saw Grass Pond just ahead:

We walked to the edge of the pond and took in the magnificent Adirondack views:

Aptly named, Grass Pond's edges are chock full of grasses which seem to filling in the pond from the perimeter in, much in the same way that Sphagnum does:

Clover and Daphne wasted no time and ran right out onto the grass/water combination. They were light enough to get away with it but I knew better than to try it myself:

But then giant Seamus ran out there also and he didn't seem to be sinking. Nonetheless, I decided not to chance it myself. Maybe some other time:

But as always, this was only a brief rest stop and withing a few minutes I called the dogs back toward our parked car where Wally and Winky snoozed comfortably:

Seamus was reluctant to leave the water but ran right ahead of me after he'd done so:

We turned south on Route 3. By then it was lunch time, so I stopped at the Birch Bark Deli for a sub. Their restroom was not yet open. That had to wait for summer when they didn't have to worry about frozen pipes:

I headed south on Route 3 toward Bloomingdale, where I passed this field of Herefords with a backdrop of mountains. This looks more like Wyoming than New York. I guess that's part of why they call it the Empire State:

The farms along the way were beautiful, framed with forests and mountain peaks. I ate my sub and kept driving toward home. When I got to the town of Saranac Lake, I turned onto Route 86 and continued on our usual route:

Part 2 - The Fire Tower On Beebe Hill

The hike up Beebe Hill to the fire tower was quite brief, less than 1.5 miles, and it wasn't long before I spotted the caretaker's cabin up ahead with the fire tower itself rising up behind it:

A man with two little girls and a small dog arrived at the same time we did. He told me that he hadn't brought a leash for his dog and didn't want her interacting with mine, so I said I'd wait by the caretaker's cabin while he and his girls went on ahead to the fire tower. While I was waiting with my dogs on a leash, a friendly family of six adults arrived to explore the tower for themselves:

I tied Seamus and Fergus at the bottom of the fire tower:

And Clover and Daphne to the other side. I didn't want any of them attempting to follow me up those steps:

And then I began ascending the fire tower. As I climbed, the caretaker's cabin began to look smaller and smaller down below. The Taconic Mountains formed an attractive backdrop:

One couple did not want to climb the tower, so they waited on the ground for the rest of their party, by now at the top of the fire tower. My dogs were barking for attention and by time I arrived back down on ground level, this couple had made friends with all four dogs:

And the view from the top was superb, clearer than I'd ever seen it before. I could clearly see the windmills atop Brodie Mountain and Mount Greylock in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Alas, the photo doesn't show enough detail to be of much help, but even my aging eyes were able to clearly see the windmills' details. I couldn't, however, make out the tower atop Mount Greylock:

The towers of the Empire State Plaza in Albany rose up above the trees like the city of Oz in the distance, about 40 miles away:

I enlarged and cropped the above photo to help illustrate what I so clearly saw on that sunny afternoon. Because most of Albany's downtown sits down in a valley, only the Empire State Plaza (and sometimes the State University towers) are usually visible from mountaintops. Can't you just imagine Dorothy, Toto and friends following the yellow brick road toward that city in the distance?:

And the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley stretched out below us in another direction:

Seamus and Fergus looked quite tiny down on the ground below:

I had a nice conversation about hiking with a man from Pittsfield, Massachusetts as we stood at the top of the fire tower enjoying the view. But it was windy and my dogs were anxious, so I began to descend the stairs to continue the hike back to the trail head:

Albany In The Distance

It was a fine December day with very little snow on the ground and I was driving to Wal-Mart to do my weekly shopping. But when I saw the Albany skyline deep down in the Hudson River Valley below, I just had to stop and snap a few photos:

I cropped this photo so that you could see some detail. That boxy building on the left is the State Museum and towers are the Empire State Plaza, of which The Egg is a part. To the far right is a black tower and there's a white spot just to the right of it. That's Nipper, the RCA dog:

The Empire State Plaza

This is the final installment of the posts of my Sunday morning breakfast and walking tour. I'd begun the day intending merely to have breakfast at the Miss Albany Diner but found them closed. So instead I began a walking photography tour of downtown Albany. That became a driving tour when I got tired and became even longer when I noticed the Albany Pedestrian Bridge and walked that also while I snapped photos. I finally made it to the Miss Albany Diner which was by then open and had my breakfast - and from there to the Unitarian Universalist Society for the morning service. It had been a busy morning and I was on my way home when I just had to stop and get a better picture of the State Education Building with its massive and numerous columns:

And by shifting my camera just a bit I could include not only the Education Building but also the State Capital and the Albany City Hall:

Well, I should have gone straight home then but instead I turned the corner and headed toward the Empire State Plaza. That tower is part of it and that church is the Cathedral Of The Immaculate Conception:

I'd pulled off the road to snap the above photo and then realized that I was parked almost next to "The Egg," another part of the Empire State Plaza. It's got several theaters inside and is used for performance events, conventions etc:

The New York State Museum used to be one of my favorite places but it's now been many years since I've been inside. Perhaps another walking tour is in order soon:

I parked and walked up onto the elevated part of the Empire State Plaza where the office towers, The Egg and the State Capitol were all in view. The reflecting pool and fountains were still shut down for the winter. I should come back in the summertime when its all green and lovely. Perhaps the construction on the Capitol will be finished by then also:

Everything is stone, marble, steel and glass. It looks a bit like a 1950s vision of the future:

More of the Empire State Plaza:

And as I drove away intending only to go home and tend to my animals, I noticed that the State Capital had no construction in evidence on this side. So I stopped for one final photo:

The New York State Capitol Building

What I'd intended to be a simple breakfast at the Miss Albany Diner had morphed into a walking tour of downtown Albany and then into a driving tour in the area of the New York State Capitol building and Empire State Plaza. The Capitol building was under (restorative) construction and therefore not particularly picturesque, but hopefully it will be in excellent condition this summer. You can see the long stairway into the building. Do the State Legislators walk up those stairs? I'm sure they do not, but instead enter the doors beneath the stairs and ride the elevators:

The stonework on the Capitol is ornate and beautiful. There are human faces carved all over the building and I once was told that the stone carvers used the faces of the workmen all around them as their models:

A close-up of some of the stone carvings. I think the bird must be a wild turkey even though it kind of looks like a peacock:

Directly across from the State Capitol is the brownstone Albany City Hall. It also is high on a hill and its spire is visible for many miles:

The New York State Education building has some of the most impressive columns in the country. I've read that it used to house the State Museum until the new museum building was built in 1976 in the Empire State Plaza:

A better view of the Albany City Hall. That tower houses a carillon which broadcasts bell music at regular intervals. A nationwide carillonneur (musician who plays the carillon) convention was held here a few years ago:

Looking up the road with the State Capitol on the left and the Education Building on the right:

I thought this building was particularly lovely and wondered if it might be a private residence. If so, it belongs to someone very wealthy:

Turning back toward the river and the downtown center, I noticed the four-pronged church steeple. That turned out to be St. Peter's Episcopal Church. I once attended a pipe organ concert there:

A domed building whose identity was unknown to me. It sure looks official, though:

Views Of Downtown Albany On A February Day

I had a day off of work and errands to run which involved driving to the City Clerk for a dog license renewal and to the Post Office to mail some bill payments. The Rensselaer Post Office is located in the Amtrak Station and from there, one can get a good view across the Hudson River to downtown Albany. Luckily, I had my camera with me:

And a closer cropped view shows the Empire State Plaza. That's the New York State Museum on the left, four office towers and "The Egg," a performance venue. That stone building on the lower right with the multiple spires is the New York State Capitol:

The Amtrak Station (and the Post Office). When I was in there, a bomb sniffing security dog was being led around and I almost asked if I could photograph him at work. But my camera was out in the car and its batteries were almost dead anyway. Maybe I'll get another opportunity some day:

This is a view of downtown Albany just north of the Empire State Plaza:

And later in the day, I drove east into rural Rensselaer County to pick up my completed income tax forms. On the way home, I saw this stunning view of the city of Albany down in the Hudson River Valley: