LAKE FAIRFIELD

      'The skies they were ashen and sober,
       The leaves they were crisped and sere--
       The leaves they were withering and sere; 
       It was night in the lonesome October
       Of my most immemorial year. 
       It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,
       In the misty mid region of Weir, 
       It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,
       In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.'

"It may be the sun shines sometimes upon this crystal gem of a lake, and it may be it transforms it into brightness, but not so was it on that day when we stood there.  The skies were ashen and sober, and the little lake, perfect in its rounded beauty as the full form of a maiden, was clasped round by the somber forests and the mountains behind that sprang from its very surface.   Had I had the christening of this lake, I would have called her Persephone, so queenly did she sit in these dark realms of Pluto. (1921, Spalding, Arthur. The Hills O' Ca'liny, pp 172, 173.)

"Towering up in its noble or its ugly grandeur, from the far side of the lake sprang a thousand feet into the air the great, bold, curving forehead of Bald Rock.  Scarcely a sprig of green, caught in some crevice, was there to be seen on his gaunt gray surface. Though other mountains, higher than himself, rose around him, Bald Rock, the sinister genius of the place, impressed his personality upon his fellows, and dominated the scene.  We stood there at midday, and watched the dim shadows coloring the waters of the pool, while imagination caught the morning's scene, when the mists uprise to wave their incense smoke before the face of old Baldy, the the night's when the last splendors of the sunset glorify the shameless rock while the shadows in contrast lie deeper upon the tarn beneath.  For the first time I stood in Poe's world, and with me ever I shall carry in a glow of love, where once was only fear, the memory of '...the dim lake of Auber / In the misty mid region of Weir.' (1921, Spalding, Arthur. The Hills O' Ca'liny,p.173-174)

"For though we left it, the lake and its massive guardians followed us.  All up the steep way that came thereafter, our hearts bore the impress of that picture; and when after two hours of upward winding and toiling, which Lars insisted meant ten miles, we came out upon an eminence and beheld over against us, and seemingly nearer than before, the great bare face of Old Baldy, it would have taken little to convince us that we had been still wandering 'in the ghouls-haunted woodland of Weir.' (1921, Spalding,Arthur.The Hills O' Ca'liny,  p. 174)

"Far out over the crowded heights and through their gaps, we gazed.  Here just below us lay beautiful little Fairfield, crouched at the feet of her giant lords; there to the right wound the sinuous Sapphire; and far away to the east stood the mountains, Panthertail and Hogback, guarding Toxaway, queen of the waters." (1921, Spalding, Arthur. The Hills O' Ca'liny, pp 172-175.)