Part 2 - A Walk In The North Hay Field

We'd passed through the gate at the far end of the north hay field and reached the little stream, where an old steel culvert lay exposed and rusting. It surely wasn't doing any good there, but I suppose I'll leave it alone. At least it isn't doing any harm - and what would I do with it anyway?:

But there wasn't much to see and the briers were ripping at my legs. So we turned back toward the house and barn:

But then we made a side trip along the fence line. Sadly, I discovered that I already have many fence repairs to do:

It gave the youngsters another opportunity to run, though. And as for me, how could I fail to be thrilled with such scenery?:

The trees were budding. Yes, this walk occurred some weeks ago. I built up a cache of blog posts to see me through the moving process. So these posts are from May:

And Shadbush was blooming here and there all along the fence line:

I got up close to one Shadbush (also called Shadblow) for a photo:

The house and barn looked far away at that point but I loved the big skies:

We began making our way back toward the house. Fergus, ever the Nervous Nelly, got spooked by something and moved far off by himself, keeping an eye on us but not getting too close until we reached the road:

It was a fine day to be alive and having such an adventure. That white spot up ahead, by the way, is Fergus waiting for us. He'd circled wide around the field to avoid whatever bogeymen he'd imagined:

Now, Fergus, can you see that everything is OK?:

I told the dogs to heel (with varying degrees of success) as we crossed back over the dirt road and that ended our adventure in the north hay field:

Part One - Rural Woodland Road All Frosted With White

When Tuesday morning arrived, I loaded up the car, and headed toward home. But to get the highway I took a small, dirt road which abuts my barn and, in fact, bisects my property. And it was beautifully adorned in white, icy lace:

I drove past the Amish family who are carving a farm out of the forest, and on through the trees until I could stand it no more. I had to take some pictures of all this wondrous winter scenery:

Gracefully arching branches, snow frosted saplings, beauty everywhere:

One big old conifer out behind the leafless hardwoods:

Aspens along the road with a baby Beech beside them:

And pines - not the usual White Pines, so I guessed they were Red Pines:

A small tree bursting out of the ground like white fireworks:

More conifers, and these looked like White Pines to me:

I suspect those small understory trees were Shadbush, often called Shadblow. They fill the woods with white flowers in the springtime and fulfill their duty to make the woods gorgeous once again in the winter:

Small hardwoods, bigger conifers:

Lacy white filigree:

Madawaska Pond, Part 1

I parked at the trail head to Madawaska Pond, let the dogs out and signed the register. There were no other cars or people in sight anywhere. I'd feared an attack by black flies, but I didn't see any of them either so I left my bug spray in the car:

The trail was broad, smooth and level, taking us through a lovely coniferous forest:

And the trees became older and taller as we walked:

In no time at all I caught my first glimpse of Madawaska Pond through the trees:

There was what appeared to be an extensive peat bog covering one whole side of the pond. Mountains watched over us from the horizon:

The "grassy" slope leading down to the pond was largely filled with Reindeer Lichens, Wild Strawberries and Lowbush Blueberries in bloom:

But the trail continued around the edge of Madawaska Pond, so we walked back up to it and continued on our way:

The pond was indeed lovely, peaceful and much larger than it at first appeared, The Shadblow was in bloom that weekend:

There were sunny openings in the forest and I guessed that cabins once stood in those clearings:

And the dogs were happy. For that matter, so was I. I decided that this was one of the most beautiful places in the Adirondacks:

We came upon a beaver canal, which they'd dug to float trees to the pond. The drag marks to the canal were clear to see. The dogs were fascinated and so was I so we walked alongside it toward Madawaska Pond:

Well, actually Seamus walked right through the water. This was a wonderful experience and I was sure glad I'd finally made it. I'll post more tomorrow:

A Stop Along The Boreas River

I just leaving the Adirondack Buffalo Company (see yesterday's post) when I had an idea. I went back inside and asked the woman at the counter where on Blue Ridge Road I might find a place to let my carload of dogs out for a run. She told me that there was a nice grassy area just up the road a piece past the "Forever Wild" lands. It was on the Boreas River and had a picnic table:

There was another vehicle parked there, but I saw no people. I guessed that they were hiking. I let the dogs out and headed for the Boreas River:

Seamus, water lover that he is, was the first to arrive at the river. Clover and Daphne went with him but couldn't hold still long enough to do much exploring:

Fergus was using the grassy area as a place to run and run and run. He had lots of excess energy built up from the long trip in the car:

But I wanted a closer view of the Boreas River. It was rather small here, so I concluded we must be near the headwaters:

The Shadblow was in bloom along the river's banks:

All four younger dogs came down to the water with me while old Wally and Winky wandered in the grass just above us:

I got a chuckle at little Clover trying to squeeze under a fallen sapling:

But this was only a rest stop, so I called the dogs back toward the car:

Winky was having a fine time investigating all the interesting sights and smells:

And so was Wally. His eyesight is almost totally gone now, but he still enjoys life very much:

But it was time to travel on. I called for the dogs to come back to the car, fastened my seat belt and continued on my way toward the farm. I'll post more tomorrow:

The North Hay Field In Springtime

Sunday morning at the farm dawned clear and lovely. I left little old Winky and Wally in my apartment and headed out for a walk with the other four dogs across the north hay field:

As we crossed the hay field, a glance back provided a nice view of the farm house and barn:

The woods ahead of us were beginning to leaf out and the Shadbush was in bloom:

The dogs were happy and full of fun. This is the sort of moment when dogs make such perfect companions:



When we reached the other side of the north hay field at the edge of the woods, the Shad-bush was at its peak of beauty. Spring was rather late this year and back at the farm house, neither Lilac nor Flowering Crab was yet beginning to bloom. This was Sunday, May 8:

A close up revealed the stunning white flowers:

The hay fields are marvelous places to take walks with the dogs when the grass is short, but it won't be too long before the vegetation is so high that we won't be walking across them again. Well, at least not until they've been cut:

We'd had our walk and it was time to return to the house. I had a lot of overgrown lawn to mow before we began the journey back home to Albany: