Black And Long Ponds - Part 2

My sister and I were hiking with the dogs along the Adirondacks' Black Pond (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). It was not only beautiful, but also aromatic, thanks to the Balsam Firs along the trail:

We reached the end of Black Pond but stayed on the trail, which continued northward:

At the north end of Black Pond was a fish barrier, dividing Black Pond and Long Pond and designed to prevent the spread of invasive species. We checked it out but then continued on our original trail so we could see Long Pond:

Long Pond was both smaller and narrower, yet still incredibly beautiful:

We stopped to enjoy the wild scenery and quietude at the Long Pond lean-to:

And then walked out onto the pier which jutted into Long Pond. It had deteriorated and was much shorter than it used to be:

The dogs walked out onto it also, but none of them fell off (which I had thought might happen):

Seamus and Fergus got some loving attention at the lean-to:

And then we turned back southward toward the trail head:

All along the way were places for the dogs to access the water and they often made use of them:

As we neared the trail head, Black Pond narrowed, and we looked back at the bigger pond which we had just visited:

Jack and Daphne played in the water. None of my dogs actually swim, but they've gradually become comfortable with splashing and wading:

My sister spotted the Common Merganser family again and pointed them out:

But this hike was almost over. Our car was just ahead. We called the dogs and put them on leashes for the last little bit of trail:

Black And Long Ponds - Part 1

My sister usually visits me each autumn and the visits are mostly brief, so I try to make good use of our time together. This year we took the dogs south to the Black Pond trail in the Adirondacks. We parked and began at this small section of Black Pond. It was lovely, but I knew there was much more up ahead along the trail:

We saw some ducks, apparently a family group which was traveling north up the lake at about the same speed as we were walking. We used a zoom lens for a better look and identified them as Common Mergansers, diving ducks. We got a chance to see them in a communal feeding frenzy, apparently when they'd located a school of fish:

We approached the first of several lean-tos:

We walked to the lean-to and stood, taking in the wild beauty of Black Pond:

And then we continued on our way up the trail. The trail is mostly level, but not entirely flat and easy to walk for a guy like me with leg braces and awkward gait:

The trail never left the shoreline, and the dogs were able to take a drink whenever they pleased:

There were patches of Balsam Fir trees, and we knew when we entered one of them by the heavy Balsam perfume:

Parts of the trail were easy even for me:

And there were planks across the marshy places:

Seamus waded in up to his chest to get a drink and cool himself off:

The little dogs liked the water also, though they picked shallower spots and only got their feet wet:

We saw evidence of beaver activity, though most of it looked old:

The trail ran between a tall esker on the left, and the pond on the right. An esker, by the way, is a gravel ridge, left behind by melting glaciers:

My sister stopped beside a Winterberry Holly, laden with scarlet fruit. We were headed north along the shore of Black Pond and there was much more yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

2017 Saranac Lake, NY Ice Palace

Perhaps my favorite local yearly event is the Saranac Lake, NY Winter Carnival. I arrived this year on the very first day and found that nothing was up and running yet except for the ice palace. That was OK with me, since it's my favorite part. I parked and entered the building site on the edge of frozen Lake Flower, my first view of the rear of the palace:

 But first I had to go see the ice lean-to, which honored the traditional Adirondack structure. This was the first year I'd seen a lean-to::

 I walked out onto frozen Lake Flower to snap a photo of the front of the lean-to. There was a pile of wood in front of it, just as campers might supply the real forest versions. I supposed they kept fires burning during the night:

 And also honoring the Adirondacks were two ice sculptures of Adirondack chairs for visitors to sit in:

 I walked from the lean-to toward the rear of the ice palace. Notice the crawl hole for children:

 The structures on the rear were mazes. This year I didn't fully investigate them, though I have in the past:
 

 I walked around to the side entrance and saw lots of other visitors already exploring the interior of the ice palace:

 In the rear were two thrones, for the Winter Carnival King and Queen:

 Behind the thrones were buck and doe ice sculptures, with a fawn between them:

 And off to one side was a giant ice beaver, perhaps eight feet long:

 And two howling wolves, next to a crawl hole for children:

 I took the adult tunnel, which led out to front exterior of the ice palace:

 There it was explained that this year's theme was "Adirondack Wildlife." A giant ice bear stood on each side of the entrance doorway and an ice eagle perched on the top:

 The two bears were popular for taking pictures:

 The smaller bear was kind of cute:

 Outside, by the road, was a gigantic moose:

 And that was the end of my ice palace tour. I had to walk around to the back of it again to get to my car. Maybe next year I'll bring Seamus with me. I see dogs there every year:

Bear Mountain, In The Cranberry Lake Wild Forest - Part 1

On day two of my sister's visit, we made PeeWee comfortable, put the other dogs in the car and drove down Route 30 toward the village of Tupper Lake. But on the way, we stopped at Lake Clear to walk the sandy beaches:

It was still early in the morning, the winds were strong, the temperature frigid and the waves pounded the shoreline almost like we were at the ocean:

We walked a short distance on the golden sands and admired the autumn colors and distant mountains:

We explored into the forest just a bit to get a look at a tributary:

But then we headed back to our parked car. The dogs loved this romp on the beach but frankly, I was shivering:

We drove to Tupper Lake and then turned west toward Cranberry Lake, where we located the trail head for Bear Mountain and began hiking up the trail:

The trail began easy enough, and the autumn leaves were lovely. The dogs ran and played:

I set Fergus on a mossy log for a picture, but he seemed to be embarrassed about it:

We passed a lean-to, and stopped briefly to take a closer look:

It rained several times while we were on the trail, but the trees overhead protected us:

The trail became steeper and much more rocky, presenting my injured ankles with some tricky walking. We made it in fine shape, though I paid a price for it with ankle pain that night:

I'd never hiked Bear Mountain before and was looking forward to the scenic overlook. But I'll post about that in Part 2, tomorrow: