Here are a few photos from a hike along the Mt Tom ridge we did with some family friends. This is a really impressive trail with awesome views the whole way. We had a great time and just barely made it out before the park closed the gates.
Continuing my hunt for good fall color, I wanted to head up to Mt. Wachusett one Sunday for a walk. On the way up we came across the Old Stone Church in West Boylston. I had never been to this one before, but it is quite a pretty building at a really beautiful spot right on the shore of the Wachusett reservoir.
After poking around the park near the church and wandering through the interior, it was on to the mountain. Unfortunately, by the time we got there the line of cars stretched down the street and they had stopped letting people up the road. We decided it would be best to find another spot, and eventually ended up at the Leominster State Forest.
This turned out to be a beautiful spot as well. We walked around the ponds on the western edge of the park for about an hour and enjoyed the glassy water, fall colors, and quiet solitude.
As the colors started to turn around home I was eager to look for some good examples to capture. I returned once again to an old favorite, Callahan State Park. I went repeatedly over the course of a few evenings where I thought I might get some nice color in the sky, and I was not disappointed on any of them.
As the summer wrapped up and kids went back to school we had to get a little more creative in how we met up with our niece and nephew. One of the things we ended up doing was a flat water paddling trip on the Nashua River. Given that we essentially picked the location based on driving distance, the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge was a very nice spot.
The color was turning on the leaves, the river was glassy smooth, and there were very few people out. We had a great time even though it didn’t end up being a terribly long trip. You can only go so far on the patience of a three year old after all. Along the way we saw the usual assortment of turtles, and bugs, as well as this massive Bullfrog.
Later that evening I also went for a walk at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary. Broadmoor is operated by Mass Audubon, so I was expecting some great views with a variety of birds, and that is exactly what it delivered. The photographic opportunities were a bit limited due to the overcast weather, so I’ll definitely be back here another time.
After all of the fun I have had with sunset photos recently, I’ve been keeping an eye out for the ideal cloud conditions for that great color. When a promising evening presented itself I hopped in the car and headed over to the Sudbury Reservoir to find a good view. I walked along the path at the water’s edge where there are a number of really pretty spots like this one:
I passed a number of the sunset views that I have used in the past in search of something a little different. In the end, I never found anything quite as good as what I had used before, so I ended up having to wade out into the water a bit to get an unobstructed view.
Once the colors started to fade I hiked back to the car along the larger path. It may not have been the most photographically productive walk, but it was a beautiful and relaxing evening.
Below I have a couple other photos I took on the walk, as well as a few from some other trips around town around this time.
Just a few pictures of candles for today. We had the pleasure of getting together with some neighbors for an outdoor socially distanced dinner back in July. It was really good to spend time with friends, so we ended up staying until well after dark. They set up an assortment of candles to light things up for us, and I did my best to capture it.
2020 has been a strange year in so many ways. So many of my favorite activities have been curtailed. Naturally I was excited to get to return to Garden in the Woods for the first time this year. Though I missed most of the spring flowers, there were still plenty of things to take in and we spent over an hour walking the trails. As usually, there were plenty of things to see, from snakes to insects, to the beautiful trails.
After leaving the garden and taking off our masks, we hopped on our bikes and headed home. It was almost like a normal summer weekend.
Today I have another quick one, some pictures of a bearded iris from our yard. This was a nice surprise given that we didn’t plant this, and it usually just looks like a bunch of plain green leaves. Recently though the one bud opened up to reveal this beauty. It also appears to be home to this little spider (click to view) , who was nice enough to pose for a picture.
Another weekend in quarantine, another walk through a new town forest. This time we headed to Ashland Town Forest. Though it didn’t look like much on Google Maps, we were pleasantly surprised at the size of it and the number of trails it boasted. In addition to some beautiful (and beautifully maintaned) trails, it also had a few surprises like a pair of old cars rusting away on the side of the trail. It was pretty interesting to see how the wildlife was slowly taking over the metal. It almost felt like they were melting into the landscape.
We also saw multiple painted rocks, messages of hope, and even a plastic dinosaur decorating the side of the trail. It was clear this place is well loved by those who come here often.
Another quick set of photos for today, this time from Nobscot Reservation. I was biking through the woods there recently when I saw that a stream I had visited a month earlier had changed quite a bit with the ferns now out in full force and the leaves on the trees. I decided to come back and grab a couple of photos. I’m also throwing in one shot of the irises in our back yard as a bonus!
