A Surprise Thaw And A Hike To Moose Pond - Part 3

I had hiked with the dogs to Moose Pond (see Parts 1 and 2, previous posts) and we'd walked through the forest along the water's edge. When we discovered another good place to access the water, we went there:

The dogs played and sniffed everything. I took one more look at the high peaks which surrounded the lake:

I found the alternate trail and we began hiking back toward our parked car:

The trail was varied and always lovely and interesting:

Pines, birch, fir, balsam and beech lined the edge of the trail:

And the dogs were as excited as when we'd begun:

But I knew we were getting close to the trail head:

The dogs gave everything a most thorough sniffing:

It wasn't long before I could see the Saranac River up ahead through the trees, and I knew we were almost there:

We arrived at the footbridge over the river and returned to the car. The hike in to Moose Pond had been lovely, one I hope to take again:

A Surprise Thaw And A Hike To Moose Pond - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking the trail to Moose Pond in Bloomingdale, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). We arrived at an unmarked fork in the trail but luckily, I'd read that the easiest access to the lake was to take the left fork. The dogs wanted to take the right fork, but they gave up when it became clear I was going the other way:

It didn't take long before we could see Moose Pond ahead of us, as well as an old fireplace and chimney, a reminder of a cabin which once stood at the water's edge:

The lake was as lovely as I'd read, a wild, Adirondack treasure, surrounded by high peaks:

We walked out onto a large, flat rock to see and experience Moose Pond:

It was quite a wonderful place to be, and all the more so on a miraculously warm winter day:

Daphne and Clover, AKA "The Silly Sisters," ran and played at the water's edge:

Fergus, always more nervous than the others, was more hesitant. But he soon came out to join us and explore the shoreline:

My eyes were on the high peaks. I couldn't identify a single one of them, though I suspected that pointed one with the slide was Whiteface:

But I wasn't ready to stop exploring, so we began trekking through the forest along the edge of Moose Pond. I was hoping to locate that alternate trail which we'd passed by on our way here:

Fergus is a sensitive soul and checks with me often to be sure everything is OK and he's not in trouble. Clover is quite the opposite, and if I holler at Clover, she's unperturbed - but Fergus gets upset. I have to be careful. We continued exploring this lovely forest, following the shoreline and hoping to chance onto the alternate trail. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

A Surprise Thaw And A Hike To Moose Pond - Part 1

We had lots of snow and cold, followed by a warmer day with rain. Then it turned even warmer, an amazing 67 degrees. Well, I figured I needed to take the dogs on a pleasant hike and I already had a new one in mind to explore - Moose Pond, in the town of Bloomingdale. We parked at the trail head and crossed the Saranac River on a footbridge:

Entering the forest, the dogs began to run gleefully:

And I enjoyed the miniature "forests" of Princess Pines (AKA Tree Club Moss) and the smell of Balsams:

The trail was smooth and easy walking:

We only saw one other hiker, and that was at the beginning of our walk. A man with a rifle was just coming out of the forest to get into his car and go home. The rest of the time, we had the entire forest to ourselves:

This trail, I had read, was once a dirt road which led to Moose Pond. It was still in fine shape and no trail markers were needed (which was a good thing, because there weren't any):

I set Clover up on this old log for a photo, but she couldn't hold still very long:

The dogs drank from clear mountain streams:

And the air in many places smelled strongly of Balsams. That wonderful aroma seemed to me to be as sweet as candy. And because it was intermittent, it always came as a wonderful surprise:

These rocky ledges rose up on the left and continued on for a considerable distance. I knew we were getting close to Moose Pond, but I'll post about that tomorrow: