Swan Song, originally uploaded by Melissadilla. Both for autumn and for my camera. See above photo for description of camera's untimely and completely random death.
But at least I got this. Wow. This was one of the most amazing scenes I've ever witnessed, and this is now my favorite photo I've taken, ever. It'll be hard for me to change my mind again on this one.
Mad River en route to Waterville Valley.
As New Hampshire-ites, I think we sort of take for granted the annual ritual that is fall foliage. Leaves falling in the yard and traffic jams caused by leaf peepers can make one grumpy, taking away from the spectacular nature show taking place in the trees and forests around us.
Over the Columbus Day holiday, I took a trip up to the Kancamagus Highway for some early morning photography with two fellow early risers from the NH Photo Group.. Having never been to the “Kanc” for foliage, we sort of felt our way along moving west to east looking for interesting things.
During our stop at The Gorge, we noticed a larger group of people making the walk from the parking lot to the waterway. I muttered that it must be a bus load of tourists. Sure enough it was: Leaf Peepers!
But, as we made our way back to our car, I struck up a conversation with one gentleman from the group who had an Irish/Scottish accent – he definitely wasn't around here. He made a joke about his big group spoiling the serene quiet of the mountains. I asked him how the trip was and his answer struck me: “It's been a life long dream to visit New England in the Fall,” he said.
It helped me realize just how lucky we are that come late September and most of the way through October, this can be one beautiful place. Most of the time we talk about how great fall is but tend to rush through it as daily life blurs one day into the next. Our visitor's comments made me take a step back and enjoy the natural beauty that surrounded me that day.
I hope you can take some time to enjoy the crisp air and rich colors before it all fades to gray and the snow starts to fall.
2 comments:
Lovely piece, Jason. And as a lifelong Texan, I implore New Englanders to stop and smell the... leaves. You get my point. Abide the leaf peepers, as there are few areas of the country as beautiful in fall as yours.
nice photo,lets generate 'photo tag' widget for your photo.
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