New Hampshire/Vermont Foliage Run

My foliage run started early this year with mixed up dates for the Vermonster.  It was too early for the fall colors in the area but fun talking pictures anyway.

I had a turkey encounter when taking pictures of this round barn.  The side of the road is around 8 feet higher than the field with a narrow path between the bank and a wire fence. I went down the bank standing next to the post when these turkeys came down the bank and walked right up to me. Only a couple feet away! The Tom’s came to the front of the line, puffed up and spread their tail feathers. Was that a threat??  I think they felt I was blocking their path to the field.  I took a couple more pictures and moved back a bit.  They seemed happy about that and continued to the field …

The following Saturday I had CERT training.  Late that afternoon I connected with Mike, Rick, Steve, Doug, Adam, and Frank in Vermont for dinner.  My plan was to stay the night, get up early, and take pictures. 

The next morning … rain, overcast, grey and white sky … blah ...  I thought there would have been more color in the area.  Guess I was still too far south.  AND WHERE IS THE SUN AND THE BLUE SKY??? 

One of the roads I was going to take was closed from bad flooding the month before so I took a different route.  I ended up in Bethel, VT and thought I would make my way to Woodstock.  Driving the back roads for a couple hours I got turned around and actually ended up back in Bethel. A big loop was not what I had planned.  Guess I should have done the GPS thing!!  I took the highway south heading toward Woodstock when the rain came down.  At that point I decided to head home.

After another weekend of uncooperative weather it finally happened.  The colors popped in the area, sun, and blue sky.  Up at 5:15AM on Saturday and headed out staying in southern New Hampshire.  I took my tripod so I could experiment with low light.  The colors of the subjects are very different at low light and long exposures.  Once the sun came up I continued my drive.

I stopped at Monson Village on my way home for a quick 2 mile hike.  As I was speaking to Russ, this juvenile Red-Tail Hawk came in low from the field landing in a nearby tree.  I saw it coming in.  I must be rusty from not having a camera for a few months as I stood there watching instead of taking pictures.  Russ had just mowed the field making it easier to hunt for mice. 

I continued my walk to the beaver pond.  The empty Heron nest had a pretty backdrop.  On the way back I spotted the Red- Tail again in the corner of the field disappearing into the woods.  If I had more time I would have liked to sit and wait for another sighting.  I love Fall Foliage in New England … 

 

Go to: "Search This Blog" at the top of my page and type in "Foliage" to see past posts.

New Hampshire Foliage - 2012

Because of a busy schedule I didn’t get to upstate Vermont or New Hampshire for peak foliage.  Peak foliage in Southern New Hampshire was this past weekend and I missed that too.  I do like taking foliage pictures by driving the back roads of New England so I headed out early morning deciding to stay in Southern New Hampshire and head west.

After a night of rain and warm temperatures there was fog in the morning.  It turned into a beautiful day once the fog burned off.

As I drove I came upon this barn and decided to stop.  The sun was trying to break through and I was looking straight east at this barn.  I returned a second time when the sun was in a better position.  I took a picture and the owner came out.  It was a beautiful barn he was slowly restoring.  He told me about some of the work he was doing on his barn.

 
The barn had an old “fire mark” on it.  In the olden days you received a fire mark to display on your barn when you buy fire fund insurance.  If you have a fire and you paid into the fund they fight the fire.  If not, you’re on your own.  This one had UF on it.  I did some searching and found it is a fire mark from “United Fireman’s Insurance Co. – Philadelphia.  It also said it would weigh 3 – 4 pounds and have one hole on each side which this one did.

I continued my foliage run and came upon the Frye’s Measure Mill in Wilton, NH.  I spent almost 2 hours looking around and taking pictures.  It is a working mill with lots of history making colonial and shaker boxes, etc.  Lots of nice things in their gift shop.  www.fryesmeasuremill.com   They give tours in the summer and fall.  The water reflection of the mill was so clear it almost makes the pictures look fake. Pam and I will do the tour next week. 

 

Oak Leaves Studio is at the mill also.  http://da1.redshift.com/~oakleaves/ William Schnute does high relief life size wood carving.  It was amazing.  I saw a piece he was working on.  The detail and size of the piece was unbelievable.  I looked through his book and some of his architectural pieces were 9 feet by 7 feet by 8 inches wide.  This eagle in flight and fox chasing a rabbit was on the wall.  I put them in one of my sky pictures.

From there I continued my search and found this very nice barn.  I spoke with the owners.  It is one of the original dairy farms in the area.  As I walked to the top of the hill I saw this gazebo.  They have a spectacular 360 degree view.  This view has Mt. Monadnock in the background.  A beautiful house and barn on 400+ acres, woods, hay fields, etc. near perfect with the exception of my name not being on the mail box.  hehe HEY!!! A guy can dream you know ... 

I headed for home but stopped to do a two mile hike at Monson Village.  Once home Pam wanted to walk so I took her to Beaver Brook for another 2 mile loop.  We cut out of the woods and walked the dirt road back to the truck when the sun set and it got hard to see.  With a couple steep sections on the trail I wouldn’t want Pam to get hurt and have to carry her out of the woods.  God forbid I get hurt so she would have to try to carry me out of the woods !!