Rural Alburg Road In Moira, New York

I was taking a driving tour of some rural roads and came to the end of Elmer Road (yesterday's post), where I then turned right onto Alburg Road and passed by this outbuilding with its blue house door:

I remembered this elaborate tree house beside the road from passing it in previous years, but this time it was falling apart or being intentionally disassembled. I will never know, but I suspected the children were all grown up now and the tree house would soon be no more:

This looked to me like a classic Amish schoolhouse, with outhouses behind it and a pile of firewood to keep the kids warm:

I suspected this was an Amish barn, but I wasn't sure:

Every part of this farm looked Amish, and when I got home I discovered that one of my photos had caught an Amish woman who I hadn't noticed. I deleted the photo because I know they don't want their pictures taken:

One more Amish barn, this one with a wagon:

And across the road was a corn field, the stalks in traditional Amish shocks:

The next farm had a multitude of modern hay wagons:

And four gigantic silos:

The farm house stood on a hill, where it had magnificent views of the countryside:

Their mailbox was attached to an old-fashioned washing machine and painted to look like a Holstein. Some of the view which the house had can be seen in the valley below:

Another big farm with a grain bin:

And a herd of Black Angus:

As I neared the end of Alburg Road, I snapped a picture of this farm down in the valley below. Some day I'll try to find what road it is on, for I suspect it is a place I haven't yet seen. But this was the end of Alburg Road. I'll post pictures from the next road tomorrow:

A New Favorite Hike - The Santa Clara Waterfalls - Part 2

The dogs and I had just hiked to a waterfall on the east branch of the St. Regis River (see also Part 1, posted yesterday), and the views were magnificent:

There was a natural channel along the side of the river above the falls into which water was cascading sideways, then flowing downhill beside the main falls. As you can see, Fergus went up to explore:

And then Clover joined him:

Seamus stayed at the base of the roaring waterfalls with me, where it was relatively safe:

Then we began walking upstream to see the top of the falls. This photo illustrates the pure, wild beauty of the area:

The trail paralleled the river but not right along the edge, which would have been dangerous:

We were clearly headed uphill:

The dogs were happy and still a bit silly. They hadn't yet tired out:

The Mountain Maples were already turning colors:

And then the trail took us to a high point above the river:

There was a high rock alongside the river which the little dogs wanted to investigate. The waterfall was downriver, just about where that fallen tree trunk was caught on the rocks:

The four little dogs were excited to be exploring. They are always up for a great adventure (sometimes too much so):

They scrambled down the rocks to the water's edge but Seamus and I wisely stayed up where the walking was safe. There was still much to see on this adventure, though, and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Mount Baker On A November Day - Part 3

We arrived at the summit of Mount Baker and the views were as advertised:

I could see out over the valleys, forests and lakes below. I could even see Lake Flower and the village of Saranac Lake down below:

We walked around on the summit and explored:

And looked out over the landscape in all directions:

Someone had put up prayer flags to bless the surrounding countryside and I found it a welcome, even touching, gesture:

The dogs continued to investigate as I snapped pictures:

Clover is quite fearless in such places:

Daphne is slightly more reserved, but still a little too reckless for my comfort:

But I stayed away from the edge and enjoyed the beauty from a safe place:

The high peaks in the distance, I have read, were the Adirondacks' McKenzie Range:

But of course the time soon came to begin the downhill climb. I started descending the rocky ledges very carefully:

My hands and attention were fully engaged in keeping me from slipping and falling, so I took no pictures all the way down - at least until we reached the level, easy walking near the trail head. It had been a lovely, invigorating hike and I hope that you enjoyed the photos:

Bear Mountain, In The Cranberry Lake Wild Forest - Part 2

We were hiking the trail to the summit of Bear Mountain and were almost to the top:

When we reached the summit, there was only this limited view of Cranberry Lake. Clover didn't care, as she was busy playing on the rocks:

Here's a little better view of Cranberry Lake from the summit:

Hoping there might be another scenic overlook, we continued on the trail for some time. We never found another viewing spot, but there were giant rocks which the dogs thought were canine playgrounds:

All four dogs climbed up and down the rocks, enjoying themselves immensely:

They didn't care about scenic overlooks. This was just what they enjoyed:

Seamus and Fergus found the highest spot of all and posed as nobly as they were able. Their haircuts were only one day old and they did look nice up there:

But there was nothing more to see, so we began our way back down to the car, passing the scenic overlook one more time along the way:

The trail dropped off as we left the summit and we began the downhill hike, maneuvering around rocks, mudslides and fallen leaves:

It was still chilly and I had to put something over my bald head to keep the heat in:

The trail became more level and less rocky as we neared the trail head:

The final shot of the day was of Clover, who had climbed up on a fallen log. We reached our car and began our journey back home, stopping for lunch along the way: