St. Regis River Access Plants - Part 3

I was hiking with the dogs at the St. Regis River Access (see also previous two posts) and discovering a wealth of wildflowers, including Red Clover and Queen Anne's Lace:

And a surprising number of Yellow Loosestrife, sometimes called Swamp Candles. They are not related to the invasive Purple Loosestrife:

Even without flowers or fruit, I recognized this as Spreading Dogbane. I still remember the first time I noticed it (it was flowering) and looked it up in my field guide. Now that I know what it is, I seem to see it everywhere. There sure was plenty along this trail:

Tiny, colorful Birdfoot Trefoil:

I usually come to this trail in the summer to see Cardinal Flowers and in the early fall to see Gentian flowers. I didn't expect any this day, but the Narrow-Leaved Gentians were right there along the trail:

Blue wildflowers are not common, but the Gentians are not only blue but a deep, dramatic blue:

I moved in for a closeup:

I saw Lowbush Blueberry bushes all along the hike but it wasn't until I got near the end that I began to find ripe berries. I ate quite a few of them:

Lowbush Blueberries are pretty plants, and I wonder if anyone grows them as ornamentals. I'll bet someone does:

Then I noticed a whole patch of minuscule plants with flowers so tiny I could barely make out what they looked like:

I got a closeup for identification and looked them up when I got home. I learned that they are called Eyebright because they used to be used for eye maladies. They are a member of the Snapdragon family. So I now know a new plant which I've never noticed before:

The last plant photo I took was of Reindeer Lichen, moss and Lowbush Blueberries. It seemed to me the quintessential Adirondack plant grouping and a fitting way to conclude this post:

The Duck Pond And Oxbow Trail - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking the Duck Pond trail and had made it to the Oxbow (see yesterday's post), but hadn't found any easy access to the water. So we headed off along a deer path which skirted a side hill:

The brush was thick, and there were many fallen trees, causing me much difficulty walking because of my leg braces. Many of the pictures I took were unusable because it was difficult for me to keep my footing and because the brush hid the dogs I was trying to photograph. But I did snap this photo of Seamus and Fergus with their new haircuts:

And I got a photo of these Blue Bottle Gentians (Narrow-Leaved Gentians) along the way:

Despite the difficulty of taking good photos at close range in all that brush, the vistas out over the Oxbow were magnificent:

I kept hoping to find an easy path to those lovely waters, but I never did:

Eventually we gave up and turned back toward the trail:

We started back toward our car, an occasion every bit as joyful for the dogs as when we'd begun our hike:

This was lovely country:

The dogs had slowed down by this time and took numerous side trips to sniff interesting things:

As for me, I was happy to stop and eat wild raspberries:

I remembered seeing Azure Mountain from this trail in the past, but never spotted it on this hike. So we just walked happily along:

We don't hike far anymore, and shortly we were back at the car. I hope to return soon and drive in as far as we hiked this time in order to explore farther:

The Santa Clara Tract Northern Flow - Part 1

I looked on Google Maps and found a hidden lake at the end of a local dirt road, all on New York State lands. Well, that seemed promising, so I drove there and discovered that the road was gated and all the land was both private and posted. The nearest place I could think of as an alternative was the St. Regis River boat launch in Santa Clara, so that's where we went:

A group of women had just launched their canoes and kayaks for a paddle, but two kayaks had lagged behind to be sure their car doors were locked. The dogs barked happily and wagged their tails while the women greeted them with equal enthusiasm. It was a nice way to begin our walk:

I called the dogs away from the boat launch and to the trail, but we didn't get far before I stopped to photograph these stunning Gentian flowers. We used to call this color "royal blue." I never hear that expression anymore, but it seems apt:

Every August/September I find blue Gentian flowers along Adirondack trails, but I am seldom sure which species they are. This time, the leaves gave them away as Narrow-Leaved Gentian, Gentiana linearis. I like calling any of them Blue Bottle Gentians because it is so perfectly descriptive:

But the dogs didn't care about flowers. They wanted to run, pee and smell things:

We'd barely begun when I veered off the trail to explore this mossy meadow, dotted with Reindeer Lichen:

Clover and Daphne found lots of interesting smells, but little Jack just kept running:

Seamus has been on a strict diet. With his thick, woolly hair, it doesn't show much but I think he has lost a lot of weight:

The photo doesn't capture it well, but this mushroom was metallic gold colored. I've seen bright red and purple mushrooms, but this was the first one which was metallic gold:

The trail took us alongside the Northern Flow, the wide reservoir created by a dam at St. Regis Falls. So we stopped frequently to explore the shoreline. Daphne went right into the water:

The next thing I knew, Daphne Seamus and Clover were all in the water. This adventure had begun rather well, I thought, and there was much more yet to explore. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

St. Regis River Walk, Part 2

I was walking along the St. Regis River in the tiny Adirondack town of Santa Clara, New York with 4 of my dogs and enjoying the scenery. I began seeing lots of these blue flowers which I then believed were called Blue Bottle Gentian:

I snapped some photos and looked them up when I got home. There is such a plant as Bottle Gentian, and sometimes it's grown as a garden ornamental. Its more proper name is Closed Gentian. But these plants, I decided, were a closely related species, Narrow-Leaved Gentian, Gentiana linearis. They sure were beautiful and a pleasure to have blooming all along the trail:

And the common and lovely Joe-Pye-Weed. Once again I looked it up when I got home and learned that there are 3 species. This one, I feel quite sure, was the Spotted Joe-Pye-Weed, Eupatorium maculatum:

Our trail strayed away from the St. Regis River, but we came upon a muddy marsh and Seamus climbed right into without a second thought:

Seamus is huge, overweight (though on a diet) and black, so he was hot. He sat right down in the cool muck and gave his hind quarters a mud bath:

But I stayed out of the mud and just enjoyed the view:

Daphne and Clover, the silly young Papillons, mostly just ran and played. Running and playing are, after all, their specialties:

I came upon more Lowbush Blueberries:

And once again helped myself:

The trail took a broad turn, so broad that I didn't even notice. I found myself back at the starting point without even realizing we'd gone in a circle. Figuring I'd missed a turn-off, I walked it all once again but without success. So I enjoyed the lovely views of the St. Regis River and greeted the guitar man once again. Seamus went into some clean water this time, rippling the surface and causing the cloud reflections to dance in the sunshine. It had been a pleasant afternoon: