Cool, Clear Water On A Hot Day - Part 2

My sister was visiting, and we took the dogs to Clear Pond on a hot afternoon (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). The dogs loved the cool, clean water and Jack also took a drink:

Daphne likes to splash and play in the water but here seemed fascinated with the water lily pads and Pickerelweed:

We walked to yet another water access and my sister encouraged the dogs to go into the water again:

Seamus was the first in:

And then Jack, Daphne and Fergus joined him:

Seamus lay down to get completely cooled off and both Daphne and Fergus went in deeper than usual. They were really enjoying this:

Now thoroughly wet but happy, Seamus stood up and looked around:

Nope, I think I'll sit down in this nice, cool water for a little longer:

While the dogs played, I concentrated on taking a photo of the blue damselflies near the shore. I looked them up when I got home and learned that this was called the Familiar Bluet Damselfly:

Delicate little Clover began acting as if she'd been hurt and was afraid of the water. I examined her but found nothing, so I carried her out into the water and set her down gently to cool off. I was ready to rescue her if needed, but she seemed to enjoy it. In that case, I thought, I'll take a photo from the water toward the shore, something I've not done before:


I stood in the water almost up to my knees, still wearing my shoes, socks and leg braces. It felt wonderful to me also, and I'm glad I did it. The dogs began moving toward the shore:

We all moved to dry land, where my sister waited. We dried off quickly as we walked back to our parked car:

Revisiting The Walter Pratt Picnic Area

One afternoon I took the dogs back to the Walter Pratt picnic area in nearby Brasher State Forest. It required little time or energy from me but made the dogs very happy:

They ran and played in the grass by the reservoir:

And ranged far and wide, sniffing beneath the pines:

Clover and Daphne ran and wrestled beside the water lilies in the reservoir:

I didn't do much walking, but kept an eye on the dogs as we checked out the picnic and camping facilities:

This place reminds me very much of the parks in Oregon where my family took us on picnics when we were children. Every time I drive in here, I think of those days:

But for the dogs, it was all fun:

We drove around to the other side of the reservoir and checked out the water's edge:

Clover and Daphne waded right in. That yellow thing by Daphne was a dying water lily leaf:

Then we turned uphill, beneath the trees:

Seamus has been on a strict diet and had a haircut, so he showed off his new, lean body and increased energy:

But this was just a quick bit of fun on a hot afternoon, so I called the dogs back toward the car and we headed for home, just a few miles away. How wonderful it is to live so near beautiful places such as this:

Discovering Osgood Pond On White Pine Road

Tuesday morning arrived before I felt ready to drive home, but I had no choice since I had to be at work on Wednesday morning. So I cleaned up the farm apartment, loaded the dogs all back into the car and headed south through the Adirondacks toward Albany. Just past Paul Smiths I turned onto White Pine Road because I'd read there was public access to a lake off that road. Indeed, I quickly saw this sign for Osgood Pond:

We turned down the access road and beheld this glorious morning scene. No one else was there so I let the dogs out to play. You can see Clover and Daphne below as they race toward the water's edge:

Seamus arrived shortly behind them and walked over to check things out:

White water lilies bloomed gloriously and I wanted to get a nice photo of them. But they were all too far out in the water and I wasn't about to wade out there, getting wet right up to my chest. So these more long distance shots will have to do:

The "Silly Sisters" were fascinated by the foam and aromas of the shoreline. I imagined how very thrilled they'd be at the detritus along an ocean shore:

Daphne posed for a picture, apparently wondering what on earth I was doing:

Wally and Winky stayed up near the trees and Clover eventually joined them. Yes, that's old Winky near the base of the tree with the sign on it:

Wally finally made it down to the water's edge, but by that time I was preparing to leave:

The dogs took a short stroll through the forest near the Osgood Pond:

Fergus was intent on reading the scents in the area, the canine version of the daily newspaper. You can just barely see Clover in the background. She, with her adventurous spirit, has a tendency to get too far away and I often have to call her back:

But soon I got all the pooches collected and back in the car:

After we left Osgood Pond, I continued a short distance more on White Pine Road until it ended at White Pine Camp. I couldn't tell by the only view of it I got, but apparently this is a private vacation cabin rental resort on the shore of Osgood Pond. Their website advertises it as "four season rustic elegance on magic Osgood Pond." We then continued our journey back through the Adirondacks toward home, but I'll post more about that tomorrow: