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 RiverWoods along the Magalloway River TrailA Common Merganser takes flight over a still frozen section of the Magalloway RiverWinter still holds on here, even in the last week of AprilThe Mohawk River just west of where the West and East branches of the river meet, just below the Colebrook CabinAn early morning panorama of Lake Francis in PittsburgAnother look at Lake Francis in PittsburgFresh snowfall is apparent while looking north on Route. 3 in PittsburgThird Connecticut Lake, 4-27-14This wintry scene looks more like December than late AprilEven staring right at me, it’s sometimes hard to find the moose in a pictureMoose close up, kind ofA remote section of Coon Brook which feeds into First Connecticut LakeOne of the widest, open sections I found along Coon BrookThere were several areas of knee-high to waist-high snow that I encountered while following Coon BrookYours truly, soaked and figuring out the timer on my camera, while a Ruffed Grouse making a minor disturbance grabbed my attentionAnother moose along Moose Alley in PittsburgMy moose friend comes in for a closer lookI thoroughly enjoyed my hike along Cascade Brook in Dixville NotchMore of Cascade Brook which cuts through some very rugged, untamed countrySome of the walls climb straight up 50 or more feet from Cascade BrookFlume Brook meets Cascade Brook, which then makes Clear Stream I believeThis is me sitting on a fallen tree that spans Coon Brook in Pittsburg, NH
