The Ledges Hike Finished And A Return To The Salmon River

The dogs and I were just finishing up our hike to The Ledges, an Adirondack overlook just south of Malone, New York. We were almost back to the trail head, moving slowly and carefully down an unrelentingly steep and treacherous grade. We stopped often to rest:

Colorful Red Maple and Bigtooth Aspen leaves were collecting on the forest floor, making an especially nice display when contrasted against a patch of bright emerald moss:

I stopped to admire a family of mushrooms which were an unusually beefy color:

And had another look at the snow white shelf fungus I'd passed on the way up. I tried to search out an identity for these beauties but never found it:

And there was our car. The dogs broke into a run. They're always excited to leave the car and excited to find it again. They're excited to hike and most happy to rest. What better companions could there be?:

I exited the forest via the incredibly rough Lee Road (a better name would be "Lee Deer Path") and then headed south on Studley Hill Road along the Salmon River:

The hills along the Salmon River were gloriously arrayed in autumn colors and I thought about what an absolutely perfect day it had been. One of the great benefits of writing this blog is that it constantly reminds me of how blessed I am. It's hard to get depressed in the presence of such natural splendor and happy dogs:

There was a tiny town on the riverbank consisting of perhaps ten houses and named Chasm Falls. There were several houses for sale, including one with this view. I looked it up later and found a listing with photos. It was a magnificent house and garage on 1.7 acres for $128.500. If I'd been in the market for a home (and had money) I might have bought it on the spot. If you'd like to see the Realtor's listing, click here. Or click here to see the photos of the place:

My car was low on gas and we were so far out in the country that I didn't think I'd find a gas station without driving into the town of Malone. But I kept stopping along the banks of the Salmon River to enjoy the scenery and autumn air:

One last stop before I headed into Malone to fill my gas tank. That's the county road, Studley Hill Road, behind us, by the way. You can see what a tiny dirt road it is. It's also the same road on which I visited a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle several years ago. A young couple had cleared a patch of forest and were raising a herd of those magnificent beasts. But our hike was over and I knew we had to get going. I'll post more tomorrow:

Oops - Wrong Hike!

The dogs and I were on our way to hike The Ledges, just off Route 30 south of Malone, New York. We turned onto a narrow county road and then south on Studley Hill Road in the scenic but very tiny town of Chasm Falls which is situated on the banks of the Salmon River:

We had to drive quite a way down Studley Hill Road and then, according to the directions, turn right onto Lee Road. I felt sure that Lee Road would be so minuscule and unmarked as to be almost unrecognizable, but on we went - after I took one more photo of the lovely Salmon River:

I found a small, unmarked one lane dirt road bearing off to the right at just about the right distance from the previous intersection and turned onto it. I didn't get far, however, before it became too rough to proceed. I parked on a flat spot beside the road and we began hiking through the Adirondack forest, using the "road" as our trail:

There were very deep pools of water all along the road, no problem for hikers but a hazard to my little red car. I once again was not sure if I was on the trail or the access road to the trail head. Or did I not even have the right road? I didn't know, so we just kept hiking uphill:

In spite of (or because of?) my confusion about whether we were on the trail, I decided to just stop worrying and enjoy the autumn scenery:

It was a pleasant path through the forest, and easy walking:

The dogs stopped to lap up water from the muddy pools in the road. I didn't think this was probably a good idea, but how could I stop them? I'm happy to say that no one got sick:

I'd tied a red and white pillow case around Seamus' neck so he wouldn't look too much like a bear. A hunter had warned me that bear season for bow hunters was open:

It was a lovely wild forest but I'd still had no indication that I was on the right trail - or, for that matter, on a trail at all:

We eventually came to a gate with many large signs forbidding trespassing of any kind. Apparently this road was just an access road for someone's private cabin. There was nothing else to be done but to head back down to the car:

I found the car where I'd parked it and we began carefully and slowly back down that rough lane toward Studley Hill Road. I'd seen no other turns which might have been Lee Road, so I was trying to think of where else I might hike in the area. I'll post more tomorrow: