Our Favorite St. Regis River Waterfall - Part 2

My sister, her husband and all five dogs had hiked in to the waterfall in Santa Clara, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). We'd seen the base of the falls, so we began climbing the rocky trail which took us upstream:

The trail was lovely and wild, and my sister enjoyed the Adirondack scenery:

I stopped for this scene with Partridgeberry, mushroom and Sphagnum moss. The red and green had a kind of Christmas look to it:

The little dogs ventured out onto some rocks which were too scary for Seamus and me, both of us old and lame. I put Seamus on a leash for safety and the two of us took the safest routes we could find:

The trail took us upstream, where we could see the St. Regis River rushing through a narrow gorge:

But the trail ended, so we returned to the base of the falls:

We took a side trip on another trail along the St. Regis River and stopped to see these two gigantic rocks. Alas, the photo doesn't convey their huge size, but they were mammoth:

The trail had veered away from the river but soon brought us back again:

And once again, the autumn views were lovely and serene:

But soon we were headed back out to our car:

Lynn and Tim posed for a fun photo in the forest, and then we got in the car and drove to another nearby hike. I'll post about that tomorrow:

Glorious October

October, sort of the opposite of March, comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. This year, early October brought lots of Monarch butterflies. This one was in the pasture, near the compost pile:

 And a number of them swarmed the New England Asters in the front yard:

 Monarchs don't hold still often, and usually close their wings when they do, so I was excited to get some nice photos of them on the Asters:

 And the new, baby roses put out a last burst of flowers. This one was the Emily Carr:

And the Morden Sunrise:

 The Rugosa roses on the side of the house also continued to bloom:

 The giant sunflowers were almost finished blooming and their seed was now feeding the wild birds, but a few tiny miniature sunflowers continued to bloom at their feet:

 Perhaps the last vase of flowers to go to church this year consisted of some small sunflowers, three kinds of roses (Morden Sunrise, Emily Carr and a Morden Blush bud), one Delphinium, New England Asters and a branch of dark red leaves from the Ninebark bush:

And the local scenery took on the look of October with roadside displays of pumpkins for sale:

 Red Sumac and purple New England Asters along the road:

 I stopped at a bridge over the St. Regis River to take this photo:

 Then I walked out toward the middle of the bridge to get more of the river in the picture. October in the north country is a wonderful time of year:

Adirondack Autumn Color - Part 2

The dogs and I were headed home, driving on Route 458 through the Adirondacks (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I was stopping along the way to capture some of the early autumn color:

I almost drove past these cliffs, then stopped at this small, red sapling:

I backed up and found a safe parking spot to photograph some of the other scenery around the cliffs:

I'm not sure why the reds were so bright here, but I was thrilled to see them:

Driving through the Adirondacks in autumn is wonderful scenic experience:

I thought the colors would fade as we came down out of the mountains, but they were still bright:

I took a small detour to drive along the St. Regis River and found this peaceful scene. Wouldn't you like to live here?

Mountain Ash beside someone's gravel driveway:

The three small dogs were watching out the front passenger window, the two bigger dogs were in the back:

Back on the highway again, I continued to find lovely autumn colors:

And a wide variety of species and mixtures. But of course I had to put the camera away and concentrate on driving home. It was time for lunch:

An Attempted Hike To Meacham Falls - Part 1

We've been to a waterfall on the St. Regis River several times, but I read about another waterfall, just several miles upstream, near the outlet of Meacham Lake. So one day I drove there, pulled onto a gravel lane, parked and let the dogs out:

It was a lovely woodland and the dogs were excited:

Fergus and Jack found a Hobblebush with bright red berries:

Alas, we'd only gone a short distance when we came to a closed gate and many "Private Property, No Trespassing" signs. I searched for a legal trail but found none:

So we enjoyed retracing our steps as we returned to the car:

Another Hobblebush, this one with no berries but bright red leaves:

I drove across the highway to a parking area on State Park land, right at the outlet of Meacham Lake. It was beautiful:

I'd hoped to find a legal trail to the waterfall from there, but there was none. But there was no sense wasting such a wonderful place, so the dogs went into the water and played:

I pointed my camera up Meacham Lake. The sun blurred the shot, but the surrounding mountains framed the water:

Autumn ferns added color:

I decided to find a trail which would take us along the shore of Meacham Lake, so the dogs and I set out to explore. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Five Overexcited Dogs In The Wild Forest - Part 3

The dogs and I had just hiked the Indian Rock Waterway Access trail (see also previous two posts) to the St. Regis River and the dogs were very happily enjoying the clean, clear water:

As for me, I climbed up onto a mound of earth to get a photo of the river beyond our location. People carry their canoes to this point so they can paddle into the wilderness and enjoy this spectacular scenery:

We explored the area a bit, but there wasn't much else to see so we began our return journey:

The dogs had slowed down a bit by this point, but not much:

These tiny plants were sporting whitish berries and I wondered if they were Partridgeberry or Wintergreen. I thought it was the latter, so I crushed a leaf and indeed, the aroma of Wintergreen filled my nostrils:

Seamus lagged behind and, given his age and faltering condition, I thought I'd better go back and find him. He was smelling something and seemed to have forgotten about us, so I got him back with his pack and we began walking the trail back to our car:

The little dogs were as spry and excited as ever - maybe more so:

It was a perfect day except for my constant yelling to keep the dogs close by me:

The dogs ran ahead barking at one point and, when I caught up with them, discovered they'd met a couple carrying two canoes. Luckily, they thought my friendly dogs were fun. Reindeer Lichen, Bracken Ferns and various mosses lined the sides of the trail:

We took occasional side trips to see the sights:

But mostly we stayed on the main trail:

When the parking area appeared ahead of us, I almost called the dogs to heel, but decided it didn't make much difference here:

So I let them run ahead to reach the car before me. I always marvel how they're just as excited to find the car as they were to leave it and begin their adventure: