Written by Once in a while I am fortunate enough to “get away from it all” and escape to the north woods of NH. This weekend was one such time. For 30 or so hours I had a place to stay, no agenda, and the entire North Country to play in. It did rain and/or snow for the entire time I was up there but I tried to make the best use of this gifted time, which meant getting into the woods, even in the rain and snow.
I encountered more animals than I could get pictures of, including Deer, Turkeys, Ruffed Grouse, Canadian Geese, various Ducks, Bald Eagles, Hawks, Rabbits, and a Bobcat.
In my treks through the woods I only was on one trail and that was the Magalloway River Trail. The rest of the time I made my own trail through very thick brush and forest. It rained, it snowed, and everything in the forest was wet, including me. I also found myself knee-deep in snow several times, and on a couple of occasions I was in snow up to my belt buckle. Needless to say, I was soaked on both days I hiked.
Finally, after years of owning my camera, I finally tried out the timer function. I took some pictures of myself for the time, along Coon Brook in Pittsburg. I stacked several rocks in a pile, using the flat rocks on top to make my own camera stand. It seemed to work just fine.
A loon enjoys some of the open water on the Magalloway River
Woods along the Magalloway River Trail
A Common Merganser takes flight over a still frozen section of the Magalloway River
Winter still holds on here, even in the last week of April
The Mohawk River just west of where the West and East branches of the river meet, just below the Colebrook Cabin
An early morning panorama of Lake Francis in Pittsburg
Another look at Lake Francis in Pittsburg
Fresh snowfall is apparent while looking north on Route. 3 in Pittsburg
Third Connecticut Lake, 4-27-14
This wintry scene looks more like December than late April
Even staring right at me, it’s sometimes hard to find the moose in a picture
Moose close up, kind of
A remote section of Coon Brook which feeds into First Connecticut Lake
One of the widest, open sections I found along Coon Brook
There were several areas of knee-high to waist-high snow that I encountered while following Coon Brook
Yours truly, soaked and figuring out the timer on my camera, while a Ruffed Grouse making a minor disturbance grabbed my attention
Another moose along Moose Alley in Pittsburg
My moose friend comes in for a closer look
I thoroughly enjoyed my hike along Cascade Brook in Dixville Notch
More of Cascade Brook which cuts through some very rugged, untamed country
Some of the walls climb straight up 50 or more feet from Cascade Brook
Flume Brook meets Cascade Brook, which then makes Clear Stream I believe
This is me sitting on a fallen tree that spans Coon Brook in Pittsburg, NH