Eisenhower Lock, St. Lawrence Seaway

I had just left the Nature Center (see previous two posts) and was headed south toward home. The area between the Grasse River and the St. Lawrence River (and Seaway) was rife with ponds, streams and marshes (see the Google map, below):

I hadn't expected to take any more pictures, but I couldn't resist. And this was what stopped me and caused me to pull to the side of the road - two displaying male turkeys. They were intent on what they were doing and not much concerned with me:

I got back on the road but was again distracted, this time by the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway. I had to drive uphill to get a view of it:

Looking to the west, a large ship appeared to be coming through:

And looking to the east, where two seagulls were squawking at me:

There was a lot of construction going on. It was a busy place, though tourists couldn't get to the active areas:

I was just leaving the Eisenhower Lock when I stopped to photograph this pair of Canada Geese:

Remember I said that I had to drive uphill to get a view of the Eisenhower Lock? The road goes beneath it, though the tunnel seems so short that I had to look it up on a map when I got home:

What I learned when I checked Google Maps was that the Seaway narrows dramatically at the point where they built the Eisenhower Lock. Rather than build a bridge for the road, they built a tunnel:

I thought I was finished with photos when I noticed a small body of water with a blacktopped drive going down to it. There were a number of birds in the water, so I drove down for a better look. As you can see, there were two Canada Geese, two Mallards and a Loon. I was surprised by all the interesting things I saw while driving home from the nature center, but that's all the more reason to return soon:

Along The Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike

I was on my way home from a wonderful, active weekend up at the farm and traveling the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. This is now a series of small, back roads but was a major thoroughfare through the wilderness back in the 1800s. Even though it was early May, the deciduous trees had still not leafed out and I had wonderful views of the nearby Adirondack mountains. Clearly there was logging going on also:

I saw more mountains in every direction, mountains which are mostly hidden from view when the leaves are on the trees:

Daphne and Clover helped me watch for loons as we passed remote Adirondack ponds:

The boggy area around this pond featured fantastic Sheep Laurel in bloom last summer and crimson High Bush Blueberries last fall:

The Papillons were alert and seemed to be enjoying the scenery as much as I was:

I stopped the car and got out to take a picture. There is so very little traffic on this seasonal road that I just stopped in the road. There are no shoulders anyway. I'll post more tomorrow:

Long Pond, Headed South - Part 2

Long Pond viewed from the end of the pier was lovely - and it certainly showed the shape by which the pond was named:

I turned back toward the lean-to and began walking the pier back toward land. The dogs were already there, exploring and searching for any scraps of food which might have been dropped:

There was a loon out in Long Pond. It kept rather far away from us but did call loudly from time to time, its eerie voice echoing off the surrounding hills:

I hoped to entice Seamus to go swimming again, so I called the dogs all back out to the water. Alas, he'd already had his watery adventure and had no interest in doing it again right then:

So we examined the lean-to more closely and then continued on our way south:

These lands are managed (and probably owned) by Paul Smiths College, so budding young rangers have placed super-deluxe signs along the way, finer than any signs I've seen elsewhere:

We continued south along the eastern shore of Long Pond. My legs were feeling weaker by the mile, but at least the trail was level and smooth:

Another glimpse of Long Pond:

And yet another glimpse as we made our way southward towards the trail head:

As we came to the end of Long Pond I snapped another photo as I was enchanted by its wild beauty:

But Clover wasn't so much enchanted as looking for somewhere to play. She ran to the water's edge:

Both Papillons found some rocks which served admirably as play areas. My legs may have been week and sore, but I certainly had some very happy dogs!:

Driving Home On The Magnificent Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike

As soon as I'd eaten breakfast, shut off the water supply and cleaned my apartment, it was time to leave the farm for Albany. This trip had been far too short. But the weather was grand so I decided to take the scenic route home, traveling the old Hopkinton Port Kent Turnpike, once a major access road through the wilderness but now a series of back roads, some only seasonal. Along the way I passed a farm pond with Canada Geese in residence:

And that same farm had a small flock of red hens happily clucking around the barn. I was using my new camera's zoom lens:

Some of the more adventurous hens strayed farther from the barn and toward the woods. They looked happy and peaceful and I wished them well, but I also knew that lots of chicken eating wildlife lived in those woods:

And at that same farm were three contented horses who watched me with interest as I snapped their picture from my car:

But then I continued on along the Port Kent/Red Tavern Roads (part of the "Turnpike"), stopping when it came right up next to the St. Regis River:

The water level was surprisingly low for a spring day but I supposed the lack of snow that winter would mean less water all spring and summer. At any rate, the scenery was lovely:

The dogs waited, though not particularly patiently, for me in the car while I explored and took photos:

A little bit farther up the road I stopped again and walked down to the river to see Everton Falls:

When I got to the seasonal roads, I was happily surprised to find them in reasonably good shape and as scenic as always:

I heard one loon crying off in the distance but didn't see any on this trip:

The edges of this pond are so marshy that I couldn't get too close to the water. But the road is so remote and seldom traveled that I saw no other vehicles anywhere and could stop in the road at any time to take pictures. The mountain air was clean and fresh with a hint of Balsam and I was very much enjoying this journey. I'll post more about it tomorrow:

Mountain Pond And Hays Brook Horse Trail

I was on my way north with all 6 dogs in the car. It's a long journey, usually taking about 5 hours. We'd had one rest stop in Keene, New York, but about an hour and a half later I thought the dogs needed another chance to get out of the car and do their thing. And of course, I did also. I pulled off the road and alongside Mountain Pond. There was A handsome Loon swimming in the center and I took several photos hoping to crop them down to show the bird, but they were just not high enough resolution to get away with that. You'll have to take my word for it that an Adirondack Loon is floating happily in the center of this mountain lake:

The dogs cared not one whit about the Loon and just wanted out of the car. But first I had to get back inside with them and drive us on a littler farther:

I drove around the end of Mountain Pond to the parking lot for Hays Brook Horse Trail. Then both the dogs and I got out and, instead of taking the usual trail, we headed directly into the forest:

The forest, of course, was wild and beautiful. Little Winky was his usual, independent, pokey self:

Wally needed encouragement also, and Seamus hung around both to be close to me and, I think, to encourage Wally:

The edge of the forest was filled with ripe Lowbush Blueberries, so of course I ate some:

With Wally and Winky along, we can't get too far from the car. The youngsters were able to run back and forth at will between the forest and the parking lot. I discovered that I've been misspelling the name of this place all along. It is "Hays," not "Hayes." That means that all my previous posts and the labels at the bottom have been wrong. But I'll correct it from here forward instead of trying to find all the old posts and correct them:

Winky is able to get himself over fallen logs, he just does it slooooooooooowly:

But this was only a rest stop and we hadn't even arrived yet at the farm. So I got all 6 dogs back into the car and resumed the journey:

Travelling The Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike

One of my favorite routes through the northern Adirondacks is the series of small roads, some unpaved and seasonal, which began in the 1800s as a major thoroughfare. This important development in the opening up of our country's wilderness lands ran from Port Kent, on the western shore of Lake Champlain, to Hopkinton, a frontier town in northern New York. My farm is just a hop, skip and jump from Hopkinton, so it's a grand experience for me to take this route. The scenery is wonderful and there's almost no one else on the road at all:

And one of my favorite picture taking spots is this glorious, unspoiled wilderness wetland which abuts the road. On the day I passed by there were Orange Hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum, in bloom along the edge of the road:

These are the waters where I often see and hear Loons:

The water level comes right up to the road, covering the base of many of these trees. So I really can't go hiking in and exploring. The "Private Property - No Trespassing" signs, however, seem to have vanished:

The marshy edges which had many Wild Azaleas in bloom in May were now sporting red bunches of Sheep Laurel blossoms. If you click to enlarge this photo, you can see one of them. Or, for a closer view, click on the label, "Sheep Laurel" label below:

We traveled on and stopped once again at another tiny lane taking us deep into the forest alongside the waters of Grass Pond. The dogs were, of course, all excited:

Crabby little old Winky had a bit of trouble keeping up. It's hard to know with him if he has trouble walking that fast or is just being contrary. With him, it could be either or both. He seemed to want to stay near the car, but I urged him on:

Deeper and deeper into the forest:

And then back to the car to continue on our way. As you can see, turning around to head back to the main road is tricky business sometimes: