Remembering the Mountains....

I found this from a trip I took a few years back and thought to share it now......
for "flatlanders" they are known as The White Mountains of New Hampshire,  for mountain men,  peak baggers and the like,   they are simply known as the Whites.  I waited all Spring down in Ct. to chase winter's finale up to the high peaks of the White's and did that in early June some years back.  I made plans to spend 3 days on some of the toughest terrain the White's have to offer, with my new mountaineering partner,  Kevin,  from NYC.  Arriving at the trailhead around 9:00 am, to a wet, foggy day, we were anxious to get going.  My heart raced as we tramped through a typical late Spring day up here,  42 degrees and rainy,  and began the quest to get above treeline and see if we could find the last signs of winter.  The visibility continued to drop as we gained elevation down to around a couple hundred feet!  It would stay this way for 90% of our entire trip!  Shown below the perfect views shrouded in fog!

Mile after mile I remember thinking, would I ever see anything other than fog and drizzle?  Our route took us up Crawford Path to our first night's lodging,  Lake of the Clouds Hut.  It's the highest hut in the series set up and maintained by The Appalachian Mountain Club.  It's a regular lodge style building, with plenty of bunks and some good hot food.  Don't count on hot showers,  flat screen TV's or heat!  They are however great places to stay with a few conveniences and lots of cool people.  We got our bunk assignments and I decided to summit nearby Mt Monroe before bed.  As I got about halfway up, I could see the sky sort of glowing with a deep dark blue!  I knew the fog was shallow and thought I'd head back down and hope for a few views at first light.  I saw Kevin already in his bunk so I   slipped into my sleeping bag.

My eyes opened up just after 4:00 am and I could barely contain myself!  Looking toward a foggy window I noticed and erie kind of glow and wondered if I'd have those famous views I so longed to see.  I ran to the window, quietly and wiped the fog,  but it didn't help much as the windows were fogged inside and out, which meant the temp inside was the same as out, around 40 degrees!  I was up and looked around the bunk room to find any willing takers for a trip to the summit of Mt Monroe,  but no open eyes, just a whole lot of snoring!  Yup, a solo mission to the summit!

I reached for my gear and quietly crept out of the room,  and made a mad dash to the main dining area,  got dressed and flung the door open.  I stood there in disbelief,  the fog was thicker than ever!  I walked over to the corner of the cabin and looked up and asked,  why?  Minutes later the sky just opened up!  I looked to the left and there it was,  Mt Monroe,  in all it's glory, and I thought...I gotta get up there,  quickly,  very quickly.  I bolted for the summit,  tripod in hand,  and scrambled up the 500' vertical feet or so in minutes!  I stood there exhausted, and in awe over what I was looking at, undercast!  There was a sea of fog and all the mountain tops looked like islands, and I stood atop one!  I began to take photographs and remembered why I love this place so much.  As the fog filled back in, I had only a few minutes as the "emperor" of Mt Monroe, but it's a few minutes I'll never forget.  The rest of the trip remained in fog but to this day it remains one of the best!

I enjoyed being the Emperor of Mt Monroe!

This is the amount of snow on Mt Washington in early June!

The First Snow

The first snow came a bit early this year.  It had a few similarities to the famous October Snowstorm of 2011.  Seeing leaves on the trees with snow stuck to them reminded me of having no electricity for 5 days!  This storm however was just a friendly reminder, with all the beauty and no loss of electricity!

I stumbled upon this scene one fall day cutting through the backroads avoiding traffic.  Stopping for just a few mins, I made a few mental notes on what I'd like to see to take a perfect photograph of a very beautiful place.  Time of year, color of light, lack of wind,  whatever I could imagine to make a perfect image.  Sort of an artist that has to wait for mother nature to paint the earth, and then run down with my camera to burn it to my image sensor!!

I envisioned a chilly fall morning, peak foliage, a little mist rising off the water, completely calm, full reflection, quiet wind, only to hear my tripod rustling through the reeds to get set up before the warm, diffused sunlight gets to bright.  I'd check once or twice to no avail.

Peak foliage ended and I'd archive it, thinking, maybe next year.  When I woke up on the 12th of November, I jumped out of bed and headed right to this spot.  I had a hard time getting there as around every corner was another amazing winter scene.  I managed a few great compositions and thought I'd return to this place many times in the future.

Thanks Mother Nature, for exceeding my expectations...again!!