Big Moose Country

Here is a guest blog entry by a friend, who took a trip to Watertown yesterday as her sister had some business to attend to there.  She did a 418 mile drive in one day and gave me the following: some beautiful pictures too to accompany her narrative.  So herewith, my friend.

Blue highways  are the best ones, I think. 4-lane are great if you're on a schedule and/or just want to get somewhere, but on the 2-lane, there's always something beautiful and different around the next bend. It's interesting to see the little towns with the lovely old homes and even the not-so-lovely ones--it's how real people live, and that interests me.  And, of course, the out-of-door, wilderness, or anything related do, too.
The countryside around Watertown is very pretty--rolling hills and farms. The farms look prosperous  instead of run-down like so many are here. We took Rt. 12 to Lowville and were going to take the back road to Big Moose, but decided not to take the time because the road is very bad and, for me, it was a "school night."
 

There's the Moose River and the tiny rustic town of Big Moose (where Big Moose Lake is, and the river begins), and there were tons of moose around there at one time, but were "hunted out of existence" as one article said.  They are slowly being introduced back in the mountains, and traveling over from VT. Here are some shots I took of the river from Moose River Road. I love the boulders--they are everywhere up there. There are rafting trips and other touristy things that take place on it, but I've never done any of them. Have always loved the area so much and wanted to explore it thoroughly, but never seemed to be able to. Maybe it's not too late!

We were hungry and wondered where to eat in Lowville. As I was calling a friend (who had built a cabin for her sister) to see if he knew anywhere, I saw a diner and that was the very place he recommended to eat. Then since we weren't taking the road to Stillwater and Big Moose, he recommended Moose River Road at  Port Leyden. We did that, and it ends up on Rt. 28 outside of Old Forge. I picked up an Adirondacks map and a county map, so I could see exactly where we were going. I love county maps because all the back roads are on them, and the little towns are laid out like big cities. I just love maps in general.

Thank you, dear friend, for sharing with us.