"The Ride up North" continued

It takes just about an hour to drive from Waterville to Woodgate and cross the "Blue Line." There isn't really a blue line, anywhere, but when the Adirondack Park was established its boundaries were drawn on a map by someone using a blue pencil.



We didn't have train robbery in mind, but when we heard the whistle of what could only have been the Adirondack Scenic RR engine, off in the woods, we set up chase and made a quick right turn in to "downtown" McKeever and the old depot - now a private residence.








Just a glimpse of the engine as is passed through McKeever and then slowed before crossing the bridge over the Moose River.



That gave us a minute or two head start up the road to Thendara, where we pulled in to the depot parking lot just ahead of the train's arrival. Three engines, one baggage car and seven passsenger cars --- and it looked full!



The Main Street of Old Forge was full, too - Tourist Season at its best!



There are at least half-a-dozen crosswalks in the shopping district and between them stand these signs: they seem to work!



We had another goal in mind other than chasing trains - catching pictures, at least, of the Fringed Gentians that grow north of Eagle Bay. But first - lunch with a view at Jim Helmes' excellent eatery, "Slickers," and then another quick stop in Eagle Bay at The DOUGHNUT Shop: not because we were hungry, but because they're the best doughnuts in the world and who needs a better excuse than that!





Fringed Gentians are extremely rare, some eastern states having only one or two known habitats, but this roadside area between Eagle Bay and the Rocky Point trailhead parking area grows larger and larger each year. It was started by a now-retired naturalist and Forest Ranger named Gary Lee, who found either a plant or two or some seeds, about twenty years ago, and just plunked them in a moist ditch where, miraculously, they have thrived! There are hundreds of foot-tall clumps like this one, each having a dozen to three-dozen blossoms. The color is, of course, what people find most attractive, and more than one poem - this by William Cullen Bryant - has been written about it.


The blossoms only open in bright sunlight. We were lucky - by mid-afternoon clouds were moving in and we headed homeward just as the rain began.