A Walk Along Clear Pond - Part 1

I'd been wanting to take the dogs out to some forest and photograph the early spring flowers, but was just too busy. When I finally could wait no longer, we all went to Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest. It's a favorite spot for both the dogs and for me. I signed in at the trail head register and headed through the woods toward the pond. The dogs knew what was ahead and broke into a run:

There was a campfire site near the water and that caused more excitement than the natural smells. When it comes to possible bacon drippings, hope springs eternal:

 I found several Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) bushes in bloom, right near the water, their usual preferred location:

 My photos of the Leatherleaf flowers were not good enough, so I got this picture off the internet. They are lovely, waxy, little white bells:

With no bacon drippings to be found, Seamus began exploring the water's edge:

The shallows were filled with giant bullfrog tadpoles, sometimes in groups of two to four, sometimes in what appeared to be hundreds:

Clear Pond is a place of spectacular beauty and the dogs were enjoying it as much as I was. The only drawback was that black flies followed us everywhere and some photos were ruined because they swarmed the camera lens. That's a black fly on the upper left. The good news was that it was still cool enough so they weren't yet biting:

These were joyful dogs! What a happy life they live:

They drank pond water and explored everywhere:

The trail took us back into the forest and I continued on, looking for early spring wildflowers and heading for the next access point to Clear Pond:

The dogs ran ahead, then I called them and they came running back - joyful at all times:

 There were small mini-forests of Tree Club Moss (Princess Pine) along the trail - and there was much more yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Madawaska Pond Trail

The road to beautiful Madawaska Pond crosses private property and has been closed for several years. There is a trail which supposedly leads there from Blue Mountain Road, in the Adirondack Santa Clara Tract, but the last section of it too is closed to the public. I knew that when I began this trail with the dogs, but it's a wonderful trail anyway, through a magnificent example of boreal forest:

Balsam Firs are abundant here, and the aroma fills the air. Unfortunately, black flies also filled the air and I quickly got covered with bites in spite of using bug spray. In fact, I cut the hike short and headed back early to the car:

But the scenery was lovely and the dogs had a grand time. The black flies didn't seem to bother them. I suppose they didn't need to bite dogs when I was providing such an easy meal:

One of Clover's hind feet seemed to bother her and she was walking on three legs. I stopped to see what was wrong but found nothing. She began to run and play normally again - and then reverted to walking on three legs. I never did find the problem. Whatever it was, it fixed itself:

I stopped to photograph these tiny British Soldier Lichens, mixed in with Reindeer Lichens and what I call star mosses:

Seamus and Clover investigated some interesting smells, but the forest is so incredibly dense and the footing so treacherous that even the dogs refused to leave the trail:

We traveled onward, a happy band of travelers, making me feel like I was headed for the Emerald City:

But the heat and black flies were getting the best of me, and I decided to turn back toward the car. The dogs didn't care. They were happy to go either direction:

Seeing the impenetrable forest on either side of this former road got me wondering how it was built in the first place. It must have been a major engineering feat, and all the more so back when things had to be done without benefit of modern power equipment:

There were small white violets and Reindeer Lichen growing right in the middle of the trail:

But we were almost back to the car:

Jack was the first to spot the gate. He knew our car was parked just the other side of it and he broke into a run. There were no people and no cars to worry about, so I just let him run ahead and wait at the car for us to catch up:

Southville State Forest - Part 1

My sister had been planning a springtime visit but my mention of black fly season seemed to dampen her enthusiasm. So I decided to take the dogs to a nearby forest for a short walk in order to evaluate the severity of the black fly explosion. We arrived at the Southville State Forest and began our walk:

To my surprise, there were no black flies and only one deer fly during the entire hike. There were some mosquitoes, but just a normal amount. So we proceeded happily down the trail, enjoying the scenery:

The trails are really wood roads and are therefore quite easy walking. This one took us into a forest of Red Pine:

Seamus and Fergus had new haircuts and Seamus had lost weight, so this hike was going especially well:

I detoured off the trail and into the Red Pines. The walking was easy as there was almost no underbrush:

The forest floor was almost pure sand and littered with the trunks of Red Pines which had not made it to maturity, as well as lichens and mosses:

I began looking for spring wildflowers but wasn't finding any:

Fergus was being a very good boy and tried to stay close to me, a true change from his former ways:

And then I came upon my first Pink Ladyslipper orchid of the year, and it was truly beautiful:

We'd been off the trail for some time and I began to think we'd better find it again, so we headed in that direction. The forest had a magical look to it which reminded me of old View-Master scenes of Little Red Riding Hood:

Our trail was just ahead, through those Beech trees:

I stopped momentarily to photograph some Partridgeberries, and then we continued on our way. But I'll post tomorrow about the next leg of the hike:

St. Regis Canoe Carry Trail - Part 1

My second hike with my new braces was the canoe carry to the St. Regis River, just off of Blue Mountain Road. I parked the car and let the dogs out:

The trail was short and level, just what I needed. It was also beautiful, a walk through a Boreal Forest, perfumed with balsam and pine:

There was an unnamed pond at the beginning of the trail, and it was a gem:

So we veered off the trail, following a dry, sandy path covered with Reindeer Lichen:

It appeared to me that there had once been a road through the forest here, and it made a nice place for us to explore:

There was red Partridgeberry fruit left over from the previous summer, mixed in with the blue/green of the Reindeer Lichen:

I couldn't get near the water of the pond, but little Clover found a place to get her feet wet:

Since we really couldn't find access to the pond, we returned to the main trail and continued our hike:

The black flies were out and pesky, but the wind was blowing and that kept them at bay:

The ground underfoot was almost pure sand and the trail was level and smooth. It was a fine day for the dogs to be hiking and a good, easy walk for me with my new braces:

Clover, who normally tries to stay dry, jumped in the water repeatedly on this hike, though only enough to get her feet cooled off. But the St. Regis River was just ahead of us and I knew we'd be there soon. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Walk In A Boreal Forest

I'd worn my new ankle braces for about a week when I decided to try a short hike. Besides, the weather was lovely and the dogs were anxious to get outdoors and run. So I drove to Blue Mountain Road in the Santa Clara Easement of the northern Adirondacks, parked and let the pooches out:

I chose the trail to Madawaska Pond, knowing full well that private landowners had posted the last segment of the trail against trespassing. I only wanted a pleasant, easy walk through the Boreal Forest with my dogs and to test out the new braces:

Daphne was a happy dog and seldom stopped to rest:

And the scenery was spectacular. The black flies had begun but weren't biting (much) yet. They were swarming and pesky, but not painful. They ruined many of my photos by swarming in front of the camera or landing on its lens:

The air was perfumed with sweet Balsam and Pine. Ravens croaked and White Throated Sparrows sang from the trees:

Fergus and Seamus had both been sheared the previous day and Fergus seemed embarrassed by his new haircut. I didn't tell him so, but he really did look kind of silly:

The forest on either side of the trail was dense and almost impenetrable, so we stayed on the road:

We crossed over a roaring brook:

It was only a short trail and I didn't even walk to the end of it. I just walked until my legs began to feel a bit tired and the black flies had exasperated me. Then I turned around and called the dogs back toward the car:

Seamus' new haircut:

The "Silly Sisters," Daphne and Clover, hung together as they explored the mossy sides of the trail:

We hadn't gone far, so we were back at our parked car in a jiffy. It had been just right. I got to try out my new braces, the dogs had gotten to run, and we'd all enjoyed an afternoon in the Boreal Forest: