Going Home. October 9, 2011
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: fall colors, Kankamagus Highway, NH, Swift River, White Mountains
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So the rain never stopped, the pall never lifted, and I spent the better part of Sunday limping home with wrinkled finger tips, chillblained knuckles and two pair of soggy boots.
Along the way I kept pulling over for Yet Another Try, with a roll of paper towels tucked into my raincoat to keep my dripping hands from swamping my precious camera gear. As often as not I got the works in place only to see that the desired results were not to be forthcoming, packed it all back up and pulled back out into the home-bound traffic.
C’est la guerre, n’est ce pas?
But I did manage to get a few images. “Perseverance perseveres,” as I like to say. And here they are.
Along the Kankamagus Highway, the Swift river rages from days of rain:
Tributaries swell their banks, flushing tannic acid from the decomposing forest duff:
The colors were pretty good here:
And with the mountains still obscured by clouds, I got yet more river shots:
With everything I had with me saturated to the point of near-uselessness, I wandered up over Kankamagus Pass, stopping only to photograph this freshet erupting from a roadcut:
Then I packed it in and headed for home.
There are a couple more weekends of color left in the season, and hence a chance that I’ll get another shot at capturing it. But for now, that’s what there is.
Just felt the need to say thank you for all the beautiful pictures you post.
So pretty. You captured it well – or as what I remember. We have only one tree turning on our block in Philadelphia so far – it’s been so warm. I can’t wait for the coolness and les coloures along the delaware.
Jay, welcome, and thanks for commenting. I used to post more words (check out my “Politics and Society” tab) but found myself getting more agitated than relieved by it. These days I try to concentrate on photography with an agenda of connecting folks to the natural world, and save most of my [many] rants for people I’m face-to-face with.
I’m glad that you’re out there though, speaking Truth to Power. You might just inspire me to share more of my Leftie thoughts here at LBT!
And Eileen, Philly will turn in its own time, so hang in there. I’m still waiting for the local color to pick up, though I suspect this won’t be the best of foliage seasons.
Oh well, it’s not my call, so I’ll just let it happen as it happens.
The weather was nice on the Kancamgus this weekend, but the place was jam-packed with people. We couldn’t get a parking space at the Lincoln Woods trailhead, so we went south to East Pond instead. It was a nice hike, and there were very few people there.
j, good to hear that you made it up there. It’s been an odd season everywhere, and the Whites are no exception.
I went up to Vermont this weekend, and the traffic was similarly obscene. I guess we all want something similar!
These really are a beautiful bunch as well. Sorry, I missed mentioning them last time because I particularly like the one of the river flowing right at me as well as that little freshet pouring out of the stone. The plants beneath are a nice contrast.
Susan, the water springing from the stone was s wonderful surprise, and the surrounding colors made me circle back to photograph it after zooming by it once. Being in a hurry doesn’t have to mean being blind to beauty. 😉