St. Regis Waterfall - Part 3

The dogs and I had walked upstream to explore, and then turned back toward the waterfall (see also previous two posts):

The roaring waters were as impressive as ever so we walked over once again to enjoy the view:

Someone had been camping there and I'm sure it was a great place to sleep and have a campfire:

But it was time for us to leave, so I called the dogs and we started walking back up the trail toward our car:

The forest was as cool and lovely as ever, and the dogs were just as happy about it as ever:

They'd slowed down a bit by this time, though, which made it more enjoyable for me. We got to stroll leisurely through the forest:

Jack kept trying to run ahead, but he always came running back when I called him:

And then I saw this amazing mushroom with a pure white center. I thought it looked like a bowl of cereal, mostly eaten with a lot of milk still in the bowl and rolled oats stuck to the rim. I always seem to think mushrooms look like some kind of food:

We took a brief side trip into the Balsam forest:

Clover and Jack led the way:

Old Seamus seemed a little confused, and I made a mental note to keep close tabs on him lest he wander and get lost:

We hit the main trail and walked slowly back to the car. It had been a wonderful, brief adventure:

St. Regis Waterfall - Part 2

The dogs and I had just hiked in to a waterfall on the St. Regis River (see also yesterday's post) and were heading upstream to the top of the waterfall:

Things looked different from the top, but continued to be wild and lovely:

We climbed higher and the river began to fall below us:

The little dogs walked the rocky ridge, but Seamus and I, being old, lame and clumsy, took the safer, lower route to the right:

We came to a spot where it was cool and scenic. It would have been nice to stop there for lunch, but I hadn't brought one:

It was a wonderful spot in an idyllic Adirondack forest:

The little dogs explored while Seamus and I rested our old bones:

We had arrived at a spot rather high above the river and I wanted to be sure that Seamus and I stayed away from the edge. I called the little dogs away from it also if they seemed too bold:

A bit more exploring until the trail just seemed to end:

So we turned back toward the waterfall. Of course Clover and Daphne, always the bold explorers and adventurers, had to climb down the rocks to see what was there:

Daphne sure looked happy!

We arrived back at the top of the waterfall and took a look down the river. But we weren't done yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

St. Regis Waterfall - Part 1

I had a lot of work to do around the farm, but instead I took the dogs hiking. We went back to the waterfall on the St. Regis River which was too snowed in when I tried to take my sister there this past springtime. The trail was rather broad at the beginning:

I found the walking easy and the dogs were having great fun:


But soon a smaller, less used trail branched off to the right. I'd probably have never noticed it if someone hadn't told me about it. We turned onto the smaller trail and began heading toward the river, stepping over many fallen trees along the way:

I saw thousands of Clintonia, or Bluebead Lily. It was pretty obvious how they got the latter name:

The forest appeared to be mostly Balsam Fir, though I didn't notice any Balsam aroma:

And besides the Clintonia, there were millions of Dewdrops, Dalibarda repens, a tiny member of the Rose family:

Daphne loves to be in the forest and ran excitedly:

Seamus loves it also but can't get his big body over fallen trees like this. I had to lift his front end over the tree and then reach across the log and lift his back end over it. We repeated the process on our way back:

And then we came to the river and the waterfall. The dogs were excited and ran right to it:

We began at the base of the falls, and the dogs explored the rocks and puddles. Little Jack intended to get a drink of cool water but his feet slipped and he slid on his belly right down into the pool:

Spectacular, wild beauty and happy dogs. This was why I love to come here:

But we had more to see, so I called the dogs and we began to walk upstream. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Short Trail To Moody Falls - Part 1

Our first short hike was to be the trail to Moody Falls, on the Raquette River. I had a bit of trouble locating the trail head, but once I had done so, we were on our way:

The trail was marked as a canoe carry. Cars with canoes could travel this part of the trail, but could only park back by the road. Yet the trail was short and easy, and we were happy to be walking it:

I stopped at the sight of what I thought was a long, skinny worm. But of course it turned out to be a Ringneck Snake, only about 6" long:

This giant rock marked the beginning of the trail where only foot traffic was allowed:

I set Daphne up on top of the big rock for a picture. She looked embarrassed:

And then we began hiking down toward the river:

The autumn leaves had turned colorful here too, and brilliant foliage was all around us:

We hadn't gone very far when I spotted the magnificent Raquette River. The dogs ran right down to the water's edge:

We explored around the shoreline for a bit:

I could see no waterfall, however. But I've learned from experience that what I would call rapids are often called waterfalls here. The water was very low on that day, so I imagined that big, flat rock jutting out into the river might actually be the cause of the "waterfall" in high water periods:

But that big, flat rock was for us a highway out into the river. Clover led the way:

Seamus and Fergus were so busy examining all the details along the way that they brought up the rear. But there was still more to see, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

A Return To Harper Falls - Part 2

We'd just arrived at Harper Falls, a magnificent cascade on the Grasse river, and I decided to continue on up the trail to the top of the falls. We passed a lot of interesting mushrooms along the way. This group had caps the color of leather and stems which were mottled like giant slugs:

These were the color of freshly baked bread - or perhaps slightly toasted marshmallows:

We arrived at the top of the falls but, due to my bad ankles and painful, awkward gait, I was unable to get close enough for any good pictures. The dogs watched me try and then erupted with joy when I decided to retrace our steps down the trail to the base of the falls again:

When we arrived at the base of the falls, I noticed this very large mushroom, the color of butterscotch:

Fergus was a very good boy and smiled most of the way:

At that point, there was nothing left to do but begin returning to our car. So off we went:

When we arrived at the stream which still showed the effects of the Hurricane Sandy flooding, the dogs ran right into the water to cool off and get a drink:

It was a peaceful scene and my dogs were very happy:

This beautiful mushroom was, I think, a white Chanterelle. They are supposed to be edible, but my identification skills are nonexistent and I would never, never try eating one:

We were nearing the trail head when I spotted this cluster of apples at the edge of the trail. I looked around for the apple tree which had produced them and found none. Then I remembered being told that some people leave small clusters of apples in the forest for "the little people." I figured that someone considered this forest to be of a charmed or magical type. Given the beauty I saw all around me, I was good with that:

And the variety of large, colorful mushrooms certainly added to the magical forest designation. This cluster of pink and brown parasols was just past the apples:

We passed back over the little bridge, returned to our car and the dogs hopped back in with as much enthusiasm as they'd showed jumping out when we arrived. Dogs are always happy to go on an adventure: