Deer Come For Dinner

We've had several snow storms lately, some of them a surprise to all of us, including the weather forecasters. I got these photos in my email one recent morning, taken by Mary Ellen, a friend from my days volunteering at the Animal Shelter, out her dining room window. You'll have to click to enlarge this first photo to see them well, but I count four deer in her back yard:

When I first saw this photo, I remarked that this was a petite doe, possibly quite young. But Mary Ellen called my attention to the fact that she was eating out of the bird feeder:

So I cropped and enlarged that part of the photo so I could see it better. Mary Ellen commented that the doe must be darn hungry to come up so close and eat out of the bird feeder. Indeed, we'll all be very happy for spring to arrive:

The Corning Preserve Trail, Part 2

I was hiking on the Corning Preserve Trail which traverses north and south between the western shore of the Hudson River and downtown Albany. I had my four youngest dogs with me and clearly they were having a wonderful time:

The trail was difficult to walk, pock-marked with foot prints which had softened in the sun and then re-frozen. Beneath it all was water which soaked quickly through the shoes I thought were waterproof. So we didn't go far and soon turned back toward the car. But when I saw footprints heading from the trail down through the snow towards the riverbank, I just had to explore. It led us down along a little feeder stream where we could see the downtown railroad bridge in the distance:

The two Papillon puppies, Clover and Daphne, were having a grand time and were light enough to float right over the crusted snow:

For Seamus it was more difficult. He, like me, kept sinking in the snow:

Fergus is perfectly designed as a snow dog. He has a thick, waterproof woolly coat and lots of energy. He and Daphne were great playmates:

Clover insisted on stopping to watch the Mallards. Seamus didn't much care, but I think that Clover would have trekked down there to see them if I'd have let her:

As we got near the parking area, the two pups ran ahead:

The parking area is beneath this elevated highway (Rt 787) and protected from the rain and snow:

The railroad bridge appears to be very old and spans the river between Rensselaer and Albany. Instead of one section raising when a tall ship passes, it pivots and turns sideways. It's quite a sight to see. I walked across this bridge once and found it a bit intimidating with big spaces between the timbers and a much bigger distance down to the water below than you would think looking at this photo:

I put the dogs back in the car and snapped this final photo of some of Albany's buildings nearby. It had been a brief excursion but much needed. I can hardly wait for the snow to melt so that we can get back out into the forests and mountains:

The Corning Preserve Trail, Part 1

Our temperatures had reached a relatively balmy 30 degrees and I was getting cabin fever. I knew the hiking trails had several feet of snow on them, but perhaps the paved city trail along the river would be plowed. So I loaded the four younger dogs into the car and headed across the river. I found the trail unplowed, but passable. So we set off on a snowy adventure along the Hudson River on The Corning Preserve Trail:

Having been photographing Albany from the eastern side of the river just that same morning, it seemed odd to be doing the reverse. But this is the city of Rensselaer (in Rensselaer County) on the eastern shore of the Hudson River as seen from the city of Albany on the western shore. You may notice that road climbing steeply up the hill out of the river valley. I travel that road to and from work every day and it's quite hazardous after a snowfall:

The Corning Preserve Trail is quite narrow at the beginning, squeezed between a multi-lane highway and the Hudson River. It soon widens into a park, but we had some awkward walking through crusty slush before we got that far:

That green square is the top of a sort of lighthouse/warning buoy alerting ships to a rocky peninsula:

Once we left the parking lot, I let the dogs off of their leashes. This made them very happy:

We passed a quiet, unfrozen inlet filled with Mallards:

And a closer view of the ducks. I think there were other species also, but I couldn't see them very well and my identification skills are rusty anyway. But most of them were Mallards:

The quiet inlet seemed to be a continuation of another stream feeding the Hudson River and it curled to the right and around a rocky peninsula before it joined the bigger river:

But the dogs saw none of this. For them it was play time. Even Seamus roused himself into a frolicking mood:

When we arrived at the spot where the park widens out, we all stopped for a look around. That's the I-90 bridge off in the distance on the right. It's just about one mile north of my house and of where we were on the trail. I'll post more tomorrow:

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:

The Long Pond Trail - Part 3

I was hiking along the shoreline of Long Pond, one of the lakes in Grafton Lakes (New York) State Park. We'd bushwhacked through the woods down to the trail. Then we came to some remote piers intended for fishing and for launching canoes. This was a fine, open spot for Papillon puppies to play (well, I guess ALL places are in that category):

The piers had been pulled up for the winter so that most of their bulk was on land. But I still could (and did) walk out on them over the water. From that vantage point I could watch the dogs playing:

Clover climbed up onto a concrete structure while Fergus explored in the grass and Seamus once again contemplated entering the chilly water. He never did go in:

And from my position out at the end of the pier I got an unobstructed view of the shoreline of Long Pond, clothed in the rusty colors of late autumn:

If you enlarge this picture you can get an idea of why this lake was called Long Pond. It's quite long and skinny. At that far end, way down as far as you can see, is the State Park swimming beach and facilities, a very popular spot on hot summer days:

Along this shore was the trail on which we'd just arrived:

It doesn't show in the photos, but by this point it was snowing lightly and the temperature had dropped. I decided it was time to head back to the car so we started down the trail toward where we joined it. There were numerous signs, such as these two toppled trees, of a big storm in Grafton's recent past. The winters in these parts can be fierce. But it sure was pleasant on this autumn afternoon:

Daphne has become quite comfortable in the woods and unafraid to go wherever the trail leads. She didn't hesitate to trot right out onto some floating debris to grab herself a cold drink:

The hike was almost over so I set the camera on a rock, turned it to self-timer and snapped a photo of us all. Fergus is there too, barely visible behind my legs:

We Arrive At Grafton Lakes State Park

I was making a photographic record of the rural Rensselaer County scenery while driving to Grafton Lakes State Park to hike with four of my dogs. I'd made it to the Grafton, New York area and noticed what I thought was a flock of sheep up on a hill. I stopped the car to take a photo and then realized that this was a flock of white turkeys inside a fence. This was probably a movable fence, relocated daily so that the turkeys had fresh grazing:

This very old house and adjacent barns brought back memories from when I lived and worked in the area. A friend had told me that it was the home of bachelor brother farmers. It seems that I later heard they'd all died and the home had fallen into disrepair. But I noticed on this day that someone had lights on inside and had placed a jack-o-lantern in the window. Apparently there's still someone living there:

And since I was making this a memory tour, I turned up the road to what used to be the Fitzgerald Brothers gravel bank. This tiny road snaked up a mountain to the gravel bank and I was once driven up it and over the top as a shortcut to another mountain where the logging crew on which I was working would be cutting that day. But all things change. The gravel bank now has a new owner and is fenced and gated. One can no longer drive to the top or continue on to the roads on the other side of the mountain. I did, however, catch this one view from the side of the mountain:

But my trip down memory lane eventually ended as I arrived at Grafton Lakes State Park. The hiking trails are accessed not from the main park entrance, but from a back road which passes by a series of lakes. The first one I passed was Mill Pond, a popular local swimming hole in days gone by:

And then we passed Second Pond, a lovely spot which most visitors to Grafton Lakes State Park are never privileged to see:

Second Pond's trees were mostly bare, but the shoreline was dotted with blueberry bushes and their flaming red leaves:

And then on toward the far end of Long Pond and the entrance to a whole series of hiking trails. I'd planned to hike the Spruce Bog Trail, not because I knew anything about it but because it looked interesting on the map. However, as I began passing trail heads I also began seeing these warning signs. Hunting season was open and hikers would have to share the trails with hunters. I was dressed in black and brown and would be hiking with four dogs. This was beginning to look like a very bad idea:

I kept driving and eventually noticed that all the signs warning of hunting were on the right side of the road. There were signs on the left side of the road proclaiming it a no hunting zone. My plans changed immediately and I parked my car and entered the woods with the dogs. We began in what I thought was a trail but turned out to be cleared strip for telephone lines. It was pleasant nonetheless, but I knew that Long Pond was just downhill from us, so I entered the woods and began bushwhacking down toward the lake:

The forest was quiet and there were no sounds other than the running dogs and the crunchy leaves underfoot:

There were occasional bursts of colorful leaves or emerald green moss in this otherwise brown landscape. But to the dogs it was just a giant playground:

The dogs can't appreciate the color and I can't appreciate the scents which their noses can pick up. I watched with wonderment as they investigated one spot or another as we traipsed through the fallen leaves. We were descending what the locals would call a "side-hill" (I've never understood why) as we made our way down to the shoreline of Long Pond. I'll post more tomorrow:

Rural Rensselaer County Tour - Part 2

I was driving through rural Rensselaer County on my way to Grafton Lakes State Park to go hiking with four of my dogs. The scenery along the highways was so beautiful that I kept stopping to take pictures. This, of course, lengthened the trip but some of the resulting photos were worth it:

When I passed tiny Reichard Road in the town of Poestenkill, I was reminded of a friend who lived at the end of that road many years ago. It was very isolated and remote back then. His uncle owned a dairy farm on that road and I wondered how the passing years had changed things, so I turned up it. There were new suburban type houses, but also some of the old farm houses:

My friend's uncle's farm was still there, though there were no longer any cattle. His barn was a beauty:

The road winds slowly uphill, providing nice views of the surrounding countryside and big skies:

I drove up to the end of the road, almost to the house of my friend's parents. Then I turned back and headed downhill back toward the highway. The uncle's farm lay directly ahead:

I found this old barn especially remarkable with its Socony (which later became the Mobil Oil Co.) sign and Sinclair Dino gasoline pump:

And farther on down the road were these crumbling old sheds. When I passed by them again later on in the day, young Holsteins were grazing there:

The skies were darkening ominously as I passed this beautiful old barn and cattle:

But up ahead, the Grafton Mountains still looked to have a bit of sun and a bit of autumn color:

Whenever I stopped to snap a photo, all the dogs watched me with keen interest. This time you can see Fergus' white head and black eyes just peeking over the top of the back door. But I guess Daphne had decided to snooze:

Heading due east on Route 2, I began to see familiar things which brought back memories from when I lived and worked out that way. The White Lily Lodge's sign is now so faded that it's difficult to read. This was turning into a pleasant Sunday excursion and I took many more pictures, some of which I'll post tomorrow: