Clear Pond - Part 2

The dogs and I were walking along the edge of the Adirondacks' Clear Pond, in the White Hill Wild Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday), and I was surprised by all the wildflowers I was seeing. At first I didn't see any Blue Flag, but Clover and Daphne found one:

Blue Flag is our native wild Iris, and it is a beauty:

Clover looked at the pond wistfully but didn't go in:

And then Daphne joined her to explore around the rocks. You can see here what a gorgeous wild pond this is:

Little Jack, who most commonly runs in continuous big circles by himself, couldn't resist joining Clover and Daphne for a bit of water fun:

And then they split up to continue exploring:

 Back in the forest again, I was surprised to find this long stemmed violet. I usually don't try to identify violet species, but I looked in my field guide when I got home and decided this was definitely Marsh Blue Violet:

The trail took us through beautiful forest scenery:

And then deeper into the dark interior, the dogs leading the way:

But our main intent was to stay near the water, so we returned to the pond every chance we got:

 I was enamored of these jewel-like patches of Partridgeberry and mosses:

Daphne and Fergus again ran down to the water for a drink and some play. We were almost back to where we'd begun, and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Surprise Snowstorm, Wondrous Beauty

I awoke yesterday morning to find a beautiful snowfall had coated everything overnight. The apple orchard was frosted in white:

Looking out my driveway, past the Lilac and Cedar, to the fields across the county road:

After I did the morning chores, I took a drive down the gravel road which bisects my property. I wanted to get pictures of the lovely snow before it was gone. It is spring, even here, despite the appearances to the contrary:

The brushy woodlands, former farm fields, along the road:

A gate into a field which is still fairly open, even though it hasn't been used in many years:

The remains of a giant maple along the road, possibly the mother of many of the maples growing up in the adjoining forest:

And the young maples are being tapped right now, producing maple syrup:

Red Pines had a unique beauty:

And Beech trees continued to hold on to their leaves:

More Red Pines, recently thinned by logging:

My Amish neighbor's farm, carved out of the forest and built by himself:

I continued on, knowing I had enough photos but unable to quit because it was so lovely:

Beech, Birch, Red Pine - my favorite photo of the day:

I finally did turn around and returned home, passing my cattle and horses, scarfing down hay. That reminded me that I needed to give them a new bale before the day was over:

I pulled onto the county road so that I could park facing eastward. I snapped a photo of my own house and barn before I turned in to the driveway:

The Town Of Duane Nature Walk - Part 2

The dogs and I were walking the Duane Nature Walk in Duane, New York. I hadn't expected to find snow and was wearing only sneakers, but it was lovely and the dogs were overjoyed (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). After walking for some distance, however, I realized that I didn't know where we were:

We kept trying new directions and trails, and eventually we found this:

I walked up the ramp and found that the structure overlooked a beautiful Adirondack pond:


This sign explained the wonders of nature to be found there:


But it was too cold and snowy to explore a pond and peat bog. Besides, we were lost, so we went right back to walking the trails:

I realized that I should be looking for my own tracks, made on the way into the forest. That should have been easy, but five dogs running on ahead made it difficult. Despite my enjoyment in seeing them having so much fun, I finally made them heel to avoid them messing up my tracks:

And it wasn't long before I saw my tracks and began following them back the way we'd come. I let the dogs have some fun again:

I love this photo because I can see Seamus' excitement as he picks up his pace, realizing that we were almost back to the car. The picture also shows the loveliness of the forest:

To me, the snow was a beautiful hindrance. To the dogs, it was a great joy and a great toy, adding to their fun:

 Knowing our hike was almost over, I began to wish it could have lasted longer. Just look at the beautiful forest through which we walked:

This was the last photo I took of our hike, for the trail head and our parked car were just at the end of the snowy trail ahead of us:

Once in the car, I began driving home, but stopped at the little church we'd seen from the trail. The sign said that it was the Duane Methodist Episcopal Church and on the National Register Of Historic Places. I Googled it when I got home and learned that the church was completed in 1885.
In 1982 the church was closed due to declining membership and was purchased by the town. Since then it has been used for meetings, weddings, and other events:

The Town Of Duane Nature Walk - Part 1

We were sunny, with temperatures in the forties, and I decided to drive the dogs down for a hike to Debar Pond, about 30 miles from home. As I traveled, I began to see snow and downed trees from the previous night. The snow got deeper as I continued on into the town of Duane, New York. I found the one lane dirt road into Debar Pond passable and drove in almost a mile until I came upon a big truck blocking the way, with a road crew clearing downed trees. So I backed out to a place where I could turn my car around and began heading home. When I saw this sign, I stopped and let the dogs out:

The map made the trails system look interesting and not too challenging. I wore only sneakers on my feet but they were already wet, so I decided to give it a try:

The dogs, needless to say, were overjoyed to hit the ground and began running wildly through the wintry forest. As usual, I spent the early part of the hike yelling "Stop!," "No!" and "Get back here!" But also as usual, they calmed down after a bit and we all got to relax and enjoy our walk:

The snow on the ground was four to twelve inches deep and no one had walked the trail before us. Little Jack was so excited that he ran back and forth as well as in circles:

The woods were quiet and lovely, the dogs happy:

The trail veered close to the road where we passed the back side of a historic church. I made a mental note to find out more about it later:

Except for when I hollered at the dogs, everything was quiet and still:

Seamus was especially animated and energetic. I told him once that he was a lot easier to deal with when he was obese. But he sure looked noble, standing beneath the trees:

I chuckled when I noticed that in this photo, Jack was going the opposite direction of the others. That was common, though, as all the dogs, but especially Jack, were running in different directions:

And there was a real sense of exploring a beautiful, mysterious wild forest:

About the only leaves still on the trees were Beech, and they were a beautiful coppery orange:

I came to a connector trail and turned right. We kept hiking until I began to see more connector trails and realized that I was not at all sure where we were. What I was seeing did not match my memory of the map at the trail head. But it wasn't a big area, so we kept walking. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: