Sumner Falls on The Connecticut River

Since leaving Katahdin Lake in Maine 10 days ago, I've spent time photographing the northern part of the Connecticut River watershed for our projects for The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land.  I also played hooky from this project for three days to teach my annual fall foliage photo workshop in the White Mountains at the Appalachian Mountain Club's Highland Center in Crawford Notch.  Needless to say, it has been a fun and busy 10 days!



Dawn on Vermont's Nulhegan River


The Maidstone Bend section of the Connecticut River.

The above two shots were done for the Nature Conservancy.  The Nulhegan watershed is a wild and boggy tributary of the Connecticut that flows through some of the best wildlife habitat in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.  The Maidstone Bend section of the Connecticut in Maidstone, Vermont and Stratford, New Hampshire, is a slow moving, twisty section of river with some of the most fertile land in New England.  The Nature Conservancy is currenty working to restore some of the long-cleared, but biologically unique floodplain forests in this area.  For more on TNC's Connecticut River project, check out their website, www.nature.org.


Kayaking on Chocorua Lake in the White Mountains

During my the workshop in the White Mountains, we had crystal clear skies for the entire three days with the exception of some stubborn fog rising from Chocorua Lake on Sunday morning.  Workshop participant Alyssa Robbins was game to act as paddling model and landscape foreground for us as she dutifully paddled back and forth in the fog for us (I think she had as good a time paddling as we had photographing!)


Farm and Indian Stream in Pittsburg, New Hampshire


Farms, Hills, and Woodlands in Sterwartstown, New Hampshire

The entire Connecticut River Valley, with the exception of the extreme northern part of the river north of Pittsburg, is productive farmland.  It's a theme you will see over and over again in this blog while we work on this project.


Hikers in West Fairlee, Vermont Community Forest

Hiking Trails are as common in the Connecticut Valley as farmland.  The above shot is from the Cross-Rivendell Trail in West Fairlee, Vermont, where the Trust for Public Land is working on a project to add several hundred acres to a patchwork of conservation land.  The Cross-Rivendell Trail is a 35-mile non-motorized, non-vehicular cross-school district trail, spanning the newly formed Rivendell Interstate School District from Flagpole Hill, Vershire, VT to Mt. Cube and the Appalachian Trail in Orford, NH.  It's a very cool project.  Click here to read about TPL's Connecticut River program.


Hikers on Blueberry Mountain, Benton, New Hampshire

TPL is also working on protecting a forest parcel in Benton, New Hampshire that will be added to the White Mountain National Forest.  This land includes northern hardwood forests, a great cliff-top pitch pine - blueberry barren, and a cliff face (Owl's Cliff) that offers some excellent climbing opportunities.

My next few days include some shooting in SW New Hampshire and SE Vermont, a couple of days of shooting in NE Massachusetts, and even a couple of days at home!

Until next time...

-Jerry

 

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