Tadpoles!

I found tadpoles in one of the horse troughs.

I gave them some fish food and put a big stick in there so they can climb out when they have metamorphosed into frogs or toads.

This guy has legs!

(That's fish food floating on the water)

Misty Morning

Mid-Summer Wildflowers

Some wildflowers found on the ranch in July.

 Bee Balm

 Lizard's Tail

Skullcaps

Even the roadsides are pretty with chicory and wild day lilies.

Hay Day

Back home just in time to fill the barn with hay!

Its here!

 The hay elevator makes stacking hay so much easier!

200 bales stacked and stored for winter.

Thanks Hayman!

The Adirondack Experience & The Wild Center

We found two great places to visit and learn about the area.

Our first stop was the Wild Center.

 They had live animals such as this kestrel.

And this lively otter!

Plus many fish and reptiles to observe.

 My favorite was the outdoor Wild Walk, 

an elevated boardwalk & treehouse adventure trail.

Complete with a huge eagle nest!

We also visited the Adirondack Experience,
a really cool place to learn about everything Adirondack.

There are exhibits about logging,

complete with an interactive logjam that you must unjam.

 There are also boat exhibits,

and other displays indigenous to the region,
such as ice saws and snow rollers.
And of course Adirondack furniture.

There is lots to learn about the culture and history of the Adirondacks
and this is the place to start!

Great Camps of the Adirondacks

While staying at Camp Sagamore, we were fortunate to tour two other great camps.

 Camp Uncas,  once owned by J.P. Morgan, is now privately owned.

However since we were staying at Sagamore and hosted by road Scholar
we were granted access to Camp Uncas.

The Dining hall at Uncas.

 The boathouse

The main Lodge.

A peaceful lake view at Camp Uncas.

The final camp we explored was Camp Pine Knot on Raquette Lake.

Pine Knot was the first of the camps built and the origin of "great camp" architecture.

 The porch of the play house.

The dining hall.

 The sleeping chalet at Camp Pine Knot.

We had a great time in the Adirondacks!

The Adirondacks

Headed north to the Adirondack Park,  a massive 6.1 million acre park

comprised of a mix of public and private land.

 Our main destination was great camp Sagamore, a camp once owned by the Vanderbilt family.

This was the lodge we stayed in.

 The interior is rustic and comfortable.

 Other buildings house the dining room and library.

The wealthy Vanderbilts didn't lack for much at the camp.

They even had a bowling alley!

All situated on lovely Sagamore Lake.

We found plenty to do.

We toured the working section of the camp with a barn, school, blacksmith shed, 

woodshed, gardens and many other buildings vital to the running of the camp.

 We kayaked on the lake.

And hiked the woods.

And we toured two other great camps.

Read about them in another blog post.