Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 4

We were hiking southward, back the way we'd come, and passed the fish barrier dam between Long Pond and Black Pond:

 This was only my second "real" hike in my new braces and, while they were keeping my ankles from pain, they were making the rest of my feet and legs both tired and sore. I stopped for a rest along the shore of Black Pond:

 My seated position gave me a good opportunity to photograph the happy dogs. Fergus was again looking noble:

 And Daphne, I noticed, had filled out with a full, adult, Papillon hair coat:

Clover was looking regal::

 We got up and started hiking again. Daphne took a detour into the Horsetails:

 The trail took us along the western shore of Black Pond:

 Another species of dragonfly, differently colored than the smiley-face species I'd seen before, but similar enough that I wondered if it was closely related:

 The pooches stopped for a cool drink:

 The trail was extremely scenic, and Wood Duck nest boxes were attached to trees at intervals:

 Even Clover and Daphne were slowing down at this point:

 We rounded a bend and I was thinking ahead to taking more photos at the Black Pond lean-to when my camera's memory card beeped that it was full. So I put my camera away and we finished our hike without any more photos:

Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 3

We had hiked northward along the western edge of Black Pond (previous two posts) and had arrived along the shore of the smaller Long Pond. Wild blackberries were blooming wherever a bit of sun got through the forest canopy:

We stopped when we got to the Long Pond lean-to:

The big attraction at the lean-to was its pier, leading out into the water and providing wonderful views:

The dogs and I all walked out on the pier, but only the smaller dogs went right to the end of it. Seamus and I stayed back a bit because the end was tipping and sinking:

This was the view looking south, down the length of Long Pond, while standing on the pier at the lean-to:

Clover and Seamus were very happy:

I had to arrange this posed picture of the dogs in the Long Pond lean-to, but by this time they'd expended all their excess energy and were willing to hold still - temporarily:

Wide patches of Bunchberries in bloom filled the forest floor:

And I discovered a new wildflower I'd never seen before or even heard of. It was Twinflower, in the Honeysuckle family, with double, pink, trumpet shaped blossoms. It's a creeping ground cover which likes cold, northern forests - so it sure was growing in the right place:

Fergus waited for me to catch up:

We turned back south from the lean-to and were retracing our steps along Long Pond:

The dogs were happy and often traveled in a little cluster. I told them to heel for much of the hike and they seemed to enjoy it just as much as running free. I liked it because I didn't need to keep hollering at them for running too far ahead. All in all, they behaved better on this hike than ever before:

Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 2

We continued northward along the western shore of Black Pond:

There were lots of White Admiral butterflies along the trail:

And Daphne was a very happy girl:

We crossed a series of plank bridges which spanned tributaries. Seamus fell into one of them but was able to get back out without much trouble:

There were enough Balsams to perfume the air along much of the trail:

Newly emerging maple leaves were scarlet, shining in the sun:

Black Pond narrowed at its northern end:

And there were multitudes of Dragonflies and Damselflies of various species. This black and white dragonfly really did have a "smiley face" (click to enlarge for a better look) and was by far the most common species:

Fergus looked entirely noble as he rested along the trail:

Almost to the northern end of Black Pond:

The trail pulled away from the shoreline a bit:

And then we arrived at a fish barrier dam, designed to prevent the spread of invasive species, between Black Pond and Long Pond. Our next stop was Long Pond, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Black And Long Ponds, Keese Mills - Part 1

I decided to take a clear, beautiful day off from farm work and drove down near Paul Smith's College with the dogs to hike the trail along Black Pond and Long Pond. We began at Black Pond, where there was a sunken rowboat, a remnant of earlier times:

The outlet of Black Pond was somewhat swampy and filled with Green Frogs whose banjo-like twangs echoed through the trees:

A loon floated quietly and peacefully on Black Pond:

The trail was level and mostly easy to navigate, though my braces gave me trouble at the rocky places:

We arrived at the Black Pond lean-to and the dogs ran ahead to the water's edge:

They were overjoyed and went in far enough to get their feet wet:

Bunchberries were in bloom in great numbers:

We continued northward along the western shore of Black Pond:

I saw one canoe, quietly paddling across the lake:

Clover and Daphne explored the water's edge:

And Clover was a very good girl, not running ahead like she used to do:

Common Wood Sorrel in bloom. We'd just gotten started and there was still a lot to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Deep In The Wild Forest - Keese Mill, New York, Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of Keese Mill, New York (see yesterday's post) and I was very much impressed. In addition to the lovely forests, there were pristine ponds everywhere, on both sides of the road:

I passed sizable homes, most of which seemed quite old but all fixed up:

And I again visited the St. Regis Presbyterian Church, which I had first discovered after I'd hiked Black and Long Ponds on the Jenkins Mountain trail:

But this time I parked and walked right up to this beautiful church, peering in its windows.

And out behind the church, through a small section of woods, was yet another pond:

I continued on my way, photographing the homes of Keese Mill. As I said yesterday, browns and greens predominated:

This old home looked as if it had remained unchanged for a hundred years:

This one also, though this one had apparently been remodeled:

A smaller, comfortable home with a satellite dish, a boat and Adirondack chairs:

And a large, rather deluxe home with an extensive perennial garden:

More earth tones and a practical, screened porch:

Keese Mill has only one road with no side roads - and that one road tapers off into a seasonal gravel lane through state land. So all homes were deep in the wild forest and it was apparent that was just the way they like it. I liked it too. But I was on my way to go hiking, so I put my camera away and continued traveling south on Route 30. But I'll post about that tomorrow: