Backwoods Sculpture:Ossipee Mountain Range
The featured artist in this photo is an ancient volcano/ring dike that is the Ossipee Mountain and a natural phenomonon called Columnar Jointing, when the flow of lava cools at an even rate and fractures forming these perfect columns that seem chiseled to perfection. I found them while hiking along a ridge on the Bald Knob Cut-off trail and a sign highlights the rare process. There is only a handful of locations on earth where this has happened. Here is a link to a past post with a 100k USGS map showing the ring dike perfectly.
Sonoran Daydream
This Panorama was taken on a hot summer day the end of August off Kittery Point. The salty air just seems to call you from time to time. While living in Arizona for a couple of years it was my number one Sonoran daydream. Some places you can close your eyes and be there in an instant. 1 Hour from wolfeboro or a closed eyelid.
Lake Winnipesaukee From Black Snout
Just down the southeast ridge of Mount Shaw is an exposed ledge called Black snout where this photo of Lake Winnipesaukee was taken yesterday. Because of the dense tree cover on the south side of Mt. Shaw, Black Snout is really the best place to get a picture toward the south. I'm stitching a panorama together that shows pretty much the entire lake. The photos still don't do it justice.
Mount Chocurua and Mount Washington
Mount Chocorua with Mount Washington backdrop from the summit of Mount Shaw. Today was unbelievable in many respects. The hike was extremely difficult, ice falling everywhere, snowdrifts up to the waist, a brazen hungry coyote, and the scenery at the top makes the pain well worth it. Some great photos to come over the next few days…I would have given my left arm for the snowshoes I left in the basement.
Roberts Cove and Rattlesnake Island
View over Roberts cove and Rattlesnake Island, Lake Winnipesaukee. Have a great weekend!
Painfully Beautiful, The Broads
Adjectives are like Rumplemintz or fluff in your hot cocoa…easy to get carried away with but usually ends with a splitting headache. This view across the broads took a bit of a hike off Wolfeboro Neck on Lake Winnipesaukee, and the 10 degree weather and extreme wind gusts made it shockingly cold…but beautiful. Have a good weekend!
All Aboard, Wolfeboro Nursery School
How cool is it for a pre-schooler to attend school for the first time at the old train station? Well just ask a 3-5 year old and they'll pipe up. Better yet, bring your child to the Open House on February 13th from 10am-noon. Meet, learn, explore and find out what this 50 year-old non-profit has to offer in giving your child a head start. My daughter just couldn't wait to go to school here every day. They have two fantastic teachers in Paula Bechard and Donna Wood and it amazes me how parents and community volunteers sacrifice so much of their time and resources to keep the Nursery school thriving year after year. To learn more about the Wolfeboro Nursery School check out the link below. They also have a facebook fan page. Enrollment is open for next fall for Wolfeboro and surrounding communities so don't get wait listed. www.wolfeboronurseryschool.org
Melvin Village from Winnipesaukee
Some lunch breaks are better than others. I had an extra hour to see if the eagles were out and made my way behind Chase and Melvin island. No eagles but this crystal clear winter day provided a nice view of Melvin Village with the Ossipee Range as the backdrop. A distance of about 2.5 miles as the crow flies. (click photo to enlarge and magnify)
Mount Shaw and the Ossipee Mountain Range
This photo was taken at 8:54am this morning from Beech Pond Road near the Ossipee town line. If you like winter activities there is something energizing about a fresh snowfall. The sunlight was magnified this morning after two days of cloud cover and the snowflakes sparkled in the fields from the reflection. You could write volumes about the Ossipee Range and how it has shaped our landscape. From its geological features as an ancient volcanic ring dike that replenishes our aquifers, lakes, streams, and ponds to the 180ft deep Dan Hole Pond and its legendary lake trout, to the Algonquin Ossipee Indian sites, and supposedly a sacrificial stone somewhere on the side of Mount Shaw. My grandfather, an old ridge runner, has spent his life in these mountains starting as a young boy working in the old logging camps. It is quite an area to explore if you've got some time. This custom USGS map with updated road overlay really shows the strong volcanic origins of the range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossipee_Mountains
In Search of Bald Eagles
Year-round Cow Island resident and co-worker "Island BoB" Parmenter gave me a recent tip on several Bald Eagle sightings out near Melvin Island on Lake Winnepesaukee this past week. Today was the first day I was able to grab my gear and make the trek out across the ice to see if I could get a photo of the elusive bird. After a careful approach and survey of several 50ft tall wind-mangled pines on the small island, I concluded that nobody was home. I decided to park myself under a pine behind a large snowdrift and wait it out for an hour or so. No sooner than I had planted my rear end on the ground, an enormous bird of prey lifted off its perch directly overhead. Let's just say I was real impressed with myself and missed the shot. I'll be back…
