Tag Archives: Rivers

On Golden Pond

Posted on by

I’m sure most of you have seen the movie On Golden Pond with Henry Fonda, Kathryn Hepburn, Jane Fonda , Dabney Colman and Doug McKeon. It was Henry Fonda’s last movie and he won an academy award for his performance. Kathryn Hepburn also won an Oscar

I remember the movie as a sentimental tear jerker but it had been years since I’d watched it. I didn’t know that my last stop on my New Hampshire Vacation was going to drop me right onto the Golden Pond of the movie.

Check out time was 11 am  at the Valley Inn and I was packed and out by 10:00. Even with a 3-4 hour drive I still had time for a detour if something caught my fancy. In the guide-book to New Hampshire was a coupon for The Nature Science Center at Squam Lake. It sounded like something I’d enjoy and it was on the way southbound.

I found the center without any problem. At the ticket booth they had a list of boat tours of the lake. At the attendant’s suggestion I took the boat tour before I went into the center.

The boat was a pontoon boat and there were just 3 of us on the tour. A bus tour had arrived and was taking up 2 other pontoon boats for a “private” charter. My 2 co-passengers and myself were thrilled with that turn of events.

One of the women said she wanted to see and hear a loon. She said she had come to the lake because of the movie On Golden Pond. She and her friend had just watched the movie again so the characters and events were fresh in their minds. Our guide was just as well versed on the movie along with a wealth of information about where certain scenes were shot and  what difficulties the film crew experienced  shooting some of the scenes.

He did caution us that we might not see the loons since it was early (11:00am) and usually the loons were most active at dusk.

As we cast off he pointed out the dock with the fuel tanks and said that was where Norman nearly ran into the dock in the movie. He said it had been more realistic than planned as Henry Fonda had really lost control of the boat. For that reason the scene was only shot once.

The pontoon boat was docked on Little Squam Lake so we passed under a bridge and into a short river to enter Big Squam Lake.

It was a gray overcast day and it was quite cool motoring around on the lake. The guide gave each of us a pair of binoculars. With only the 3 of us passengers we were able to change seats to see better when he pointed out an island or a multi million dollar home.

Much of the lake shore is protected so there won’t be any more development such are there is on Lake George where I grew up.

The tour reminded me of the lake tours that I’ve been on in Lake George and I settled in to enjoy the views. We weren’t too far out when the guide pointed out a loon. Of the 3 passengers, I was the only one who had seen one before. The other two ladies were really excited. That was the last time the guide was the first one to spot anything.

Looking for birds and wildlife is just my cup of tea so with the ice broken I put my mind to the task of pointing out loons, cormorant and 2 juvenile Bald eagles.  I was in my element and having a blast.

With me spotting the wildlife the guide concentrated on the history of the lake  and the spots from the movie. One of the ladies didn’t just want to see a loon, she wanted to hear one too. The guide was really good with that too and was able to offer a passable imitation.

As we came around an island with a private camp on it, a number of campers were putting canoes and kayaks in the water. I spotted a loon not too far from the campers. The guide was surprised to see a loon that close to people. As we passed the loon let out its laughing call. It wasn’t the mournful “wail” but it was still a loon call so my co-passenger was happy.

We entered an area where the guide said a loon had just hatched a brood a couple of weeks ago. He said if we were lucky we might see the babies and sure enough, there was an adult with a couple of baby loons.

 Our guide slowed the boat to reduce the wake while the little family headed toward the shore.

The 2 other ladies were thrilled with the loons but for me the high point was the eagles. I still haven’t gotten a great picture but these were a little better. Unfortunately the light was behind them so they are more in silhouette but I keep trying.

It’s a beautiful lake and now I have to watch On Golden Pond again to see if I recognize any of the places we saw.

I wouldn’t mind spending another day in the area to see if I could get some loon pictures too but that will have to keep for another time.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was back to the Science Center to see what that was all about.

The Flume Gorge, A Tale of Misadventure

Posted on by

The Flume Gorge in Franconia, New Hampshire is one of Mother Nature’s Gems and like so many of her wonders, it takes a little effort on our part if we want to experience it to its fullest.

The Gorge is located in Franconia Notch State Park so is well maintained by the park service. The visitor center has some wonderful displays that range from a stage-coach

 to a huge display of two bull moose locked in combat.

This display is for real. A hunter found the remains of the two moose in the woods. They got their antlers locked during combat. When the victor was unable to free himself they both ended up dying.

 A very sad end but that’s the way it is in nature sometimes.

 The trail is a two-mile hike that leads you down into the gorge to experience the 90 ft walls towering up on either side of you.

 Much of the trail through the gorge is a boardwalk and there are many, many stairs.

 The walking can be slippery and when there is an uphill ramp, slats are nailed to the boardwalk to give hikers traction.

The walk can be strenuous but benches are strategically placed to let tired hikers catch their breath before moving on.

I do not remember ever going to this gorge before. I have hiked other ones as a child but nothing like this as an adult so here’s where I made my first mistake. I did not realize how narrow or long the trail was. I did wear hiking boots. (Best decision I made this day) and I took my trusty Mono-pod for the camera and , I must confess, it makes a super sturdy walking stick. But then I decided to take my tripod too. I had high hopes of capturing some of the falls with a long exposure and I didn’t trust myself to be steady with just the mon-pod.

It was quite a warm day. There were some clouds and the threat of a passing shower but in the gorge there was a cool breeze as the air moved over the cold water. All was going well until just before Avalanche Falls. The boardwalk slants upward and there were quite a few people in front of me leaning out to take pictures. I propped the mono-pod up against the railing and set the folded tripod down at my feet so I could hold the camera out to try for a picture. Somehow the mono-pod came loose from the railing and fell into the gorge before I could grab it.

It landed grip down and pointed back up but slanted away from the boardwalk. It was just out of my reach. A couple of men stopped but after a half-hearted effort they just said “Too far-Too bad”. Finally I got down on my hands and knees. I took the tripod out of its carry case and then I took the case and used its strap to lasso the end of the mono-pod. Slowly I pulled it toward me until I could just grab the tip. Success!

Now I scrambled to my feet, stuffed the tripod back in the case and headed off as quick as I could. I was worried who might have seen that little mishap. The only people to mention it was a nice couple that I had talked to earlier. Turned out they were the ones behind me on the trail and their only comments was to laugh and say “That was quite a picture!”

Ok so back on track. I was so glad to have the monopod back because my legs were really starting to protest all the uphill walking. I finally reached the top so the return trip should have been all downhill, right? Well that was my next mistake.

There were 2 trails back to the visitor center. One was the Rim Trail which follows the rim of the gorge back to Boulder Cabin where a shuttle bus will pick you up and take you back. The other trail was the “forest trail” or something like that. I selected that one. After all, why see the same sights. Going back a different way would just let me see new things. I’d still be going downhill, right?

WRONG! There were some pretty views of the gorge and some waterfalls and I did get to use the tripod at one of the waterfalls. The sign said it was a 100 ft cascade. But bottom line, it was much longer and it had a lot of uphill as well as down.

The literature said it was about 1- 1.5 hours round trip. OMG! It took me 3 hours round trip. It showed me just how out of shape I really am. No chance of kidding myself now.  It also taught me to open my mouth and ask what the conditions are like. Will there be room for tripods and so on. I could have lightened my load considerably as I only used 1 lens the whole time and only used the tripod once. My backpack with extra lenses and the tripod could have stayed in the car.

I do plan to go back and do this again but not til I’ve spent a few months working on a treadmill! I did meet many others who were not carrying anything that were huffing and puffing their way along. And I met some later at Cannon Mountain that said they were afraid they couldn’t get through it at all so they weren’t even going to try.That comment  was from a woman in her early 40’s so I guess I don’t feel quite so bad.

I still think it was beautiful, worth every drop of sweat and sore muscles! I can imagine what it must have been like to see it all alone and enjoy the pristine tranquility to the sound of rushing water. With all of the lush greenery it looks so primal; maybe even Lost World or Jurassic Park ish. I guess I am just selfish but it would be nice to sit on the bench near Avalanche Falls and be the only one there…just for a little while. 🙂

Canoeing down the Potomac

Posted on by

My friend and co-worker, Jay, went on a terrific  vacation in April. It’s his annual “male -bonding” canoe trip with some of his buddies.  This year was a little different because he was about to become a dad so there was some debate as to whether he should go or not. Finally after getting the doctor and his significant other to sign off on the trip, he headed off to rough it for a week.

From the beginning we planned to share his experience with everyone right here on Aroundustyroads but life and a stork intervened. Before I had time to sit down with Jay and get his stories he became a proud First- Time Papa to a bouncing baby boy.

“AJ”  or Jay’s mini-me, of course took center stage and rightly so. The birth of a child is a wonderful event and eclipses anything else that may have come before even more so when it’s the first. I’m happy to report that the whole family is doing well; Mom, little AJ and Papa Jay.

The consequence of the happy arrival was, however, that writing Jay’s vacation story slipped to the back burner. It’s now been almost 2 months since little AJ came into this world and Jay is settling into his role as Dad. He’s now ready to share his Virginia/West Virginia odyssey and raft trip. So without more ado, Heeeere’s Jay!

DR: So Jay, tell me about this rafting trip you took. As I understand it this is an annual trip. Is it always the same guys?

Jay: Before we get started I just want to mention that we’re not on rafts. We use canoes. It’s the same group of guys but not everyone can make it every year. We’ve been going on these man trips for 11 years. The most that have gone was 12 , the fewest, 4. This trip there was 8 of us. Most of us served together in the military or are friends of one of us.

DR: How long is the trip?

Jay: The trip lasts 4 days. We all met up on Thursday night in PawPaw West Virginia. The canoes are arranged for through an outfitter, 2 men to a canoe so this year we had 4 canoes. We put into the river Friday morning. We float along spending about 6 hours a day on the river. We usually try to camp on the islands in the river so as not to disturb the wildlife. This year because of the height of the water we camped on the Maryland side of the river. We’re very careful to take out any trash. We believe in packing everything out. Leave only footprints. 🙂

Whenever you tell people  you’re going canoeing on the Potomac they think of Washington D.C. but the Potomac is a long river. It winds through the Shenandoah Valley. It travels through a state park and is part of the National Parks system. It’s pretty rugged and remote. We take guns with us for protection from animals. There’s black bear and coyotes and one trip we even saw a mountain lion. I think they call them catamount in that area.

The wildlife is a big part of the trip. On the trip 2 years ago we saw two deer swim the river and climb a bank that was more cliff than bank. I ‘d estimate the incline was 80 degrees! That’s how steep it was and they climbed it! When they jumped into the river they practically landed in our canoe. We had to back paddle in a hurry. We’ve seen hawks and bald eagles too.

We make a stop at Little Orleans to pick up supplies. You may have heard of it.  It’s located on the Maryland side of the river and it’s home to a  motorcycle  rally. That annual rally is called the “Sturgis of the East”. Any way we pick up our supplies and have a quick burger then it’s back on the river. We’ve been coming  here for so many years that they always remember us.

DR: Speaking of supplies, what do you guys eat while your on your trip? Do you use camp stoves or do you use a campfire?

Jay. We eat pretty good. We cook over the campfire but we don’t skimp on supplies. We have steaks or chicken. We make instant mashed potatoes. This year one of the wives sent a pasta dish along. We put that in a pot over the fire to heat it up. We aren’t angels though. It is a “man-trip” so we have beer and maybe a shot or two but we don’t drink on the river. We keep our heads about us. Mostly we use the shots to toast special events in our lives. This year a lot of it was toasting “Jay Dawg” and his new “little pup”. 🙂

Over time we’ve accumulated more gear. When we first started out we had a tent and sleeping bags. Now we have cots and so on. After all, we’re getting older…or the ground is getting harder.

Over the years we’ve canoed the upper Potomac and the lower and some of the tributaries. We’ve made the trip anytime from the first weekend in April to as late as the 3rd weekend in May so we’ve seen the river in snow, rain, flood stage and drought. We’ve been hot and we’ve been cold but no matter what it’s been a great experience.

Just before we reach Hancock, West Virginia there’s a short stretch of rapids. I’d say they are probably around a class 3 depending on how high the river is. Then we reach Hancock and that’s where we pull out. The end of the line.

DR: How do you get back to your vehicles in Pawpaw?

Jay: The outfitter we hired meets us, packs up the canoes and brings us back.

DR: In the pictures you showed me you were in a tunnel. What was that all about?

Jay: That’s a tunnel over  the old canal. It actually runs under a mountain. It’s the Chesapeake & Ohio canal sometimes known as the “Grand Old Ditch”. We’d seen that tunnel every year but we had never explored it. This year we decided to walk it when we all got together on Thursday night. The tunnel is 3118 feet and we walked the whole thing that night.

The canal itself runs for around 184 miles starting in the Washington D.C. area. George Washington was a big advocate of using waterways to connect the eastern seaboard. John Quincy Adams presided over the ground breaking ceremony on July 4, 1828!

DR: Wow that’s really historic.

Jay: There’s a lot of history in the area. It seems it’s played a big part in the country’s history from colonial times through the Civil War and now it preserves some beautiful, un-touched wilderness.

DR: I can see why you make it an annual event. It sounds like something that would be hard to miss.

Jay: I try not to miss it. Once the little guy is big enough to go, I’ll take him along too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DR: Jay, I want to thank you for sharing your story with us and your great pictures. It makes me want to go on a trip like that. It’s been years since I’ve gone camping or canoeing. Good times!

Verde Canyon Railroad

Posted on by

After 2 early mornings to get to the Grand Canyon we took it easy this morning and got a late start. We thought we could go to the Blazin’ M Ranch before we took the Verde Canyon Railroad so we would have time to visit their Old West display but when we arrived at the ranch there was a sign that it didn’t open until 4pm. No problem, we took a leisurely ride over to the Verde Canyon Railroad depot to collect our train tickets and visit the gift shop.

We arrived around 11:30 and were surprised to see other passengers arriving too. We thought we were early. The desert smelled like rain and the weather report was for “showers”. We were keeping a close eye on the sky. The wind that had plagued us all week was still with us and still had a cold edge to it.

When I made the reservations the operator said they had a special for people doing the combo with the Blazin’ M dinner show. The special upgraded us to First Class. I jumped at that even though I expected that we would spend a good part of the trip on the open air viewing car. Now with weather threatening I was glad I made that decision.

We had time to spare so decided to have lunch before we got on the train. Neither of us realized that the First Class upgrade included lunch! Anyway, while we were eating it started to rain so we finished off our lunch quickly and headed to the little museum on the property along with about 30 of our closest friends. If they weren’t friends when we went in they certainly must have been when we got out. It was crowded with everyone looking for someplace dry to wait out the storm.

The museum was small but interesting with artifacts, photos and history of the Verde Canyon railroad spread out in front of us in cabinets and in displays. It only takes a short time to go through the museum depending on how long it takes you to read the captions.

Since the rain wasn’t showing any sign of letting up the railroad was considerate enough of their customers to start boarding us early. It meant a longer wait in the cars before we pulled out of the station but at least we were dry. Once again we heard how unusual the weather was for May, normally a dry month for this area.

It wasn’t too long before we heard the “All Aboard” and we began to slowly roll out of the station.

We passed the huge black slag mountain left over from the days of copper mining and heard the story of the former boom town of Jerome that became a ghost town and is now a thriving artist colony. Many buildings in the town have been rescued and restored to maintain its historic appearance. Even now, on my 2nd trip to the area, I still haven’t visited the town. They say 3’s the charm so maybe on my next trip!

The Verde Canyon Railroad trip is a 4 hour rail journey celebrating the glory days of the Iron Horse.  Travel is in vintage cars that have been painstakingly restored to invite today’s traveler to “step back in time”.

 There are 3  types of cars: Pullman  Standard, Budd Stainless Steel  and a refurbished  AC&F caboose. The AC&F identifies the builder of the caboose. It’s like saying a Pullman Car.

When you ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad you are really getting 2 seats for the price of one. Each seat purchased gives access to a 2nd seat in one of the open air viewing cars. In nice weather more people are outside than in so they can enjoy the beautiful canyon and watch for wildlife. Prefer indoor seating, don’t worry about the view; all of the enclosed cars have panoramic windows.

Everyone watches for wildlife starting with the engineer all the way back to the last attendant on the last car plus all the passengers! When something is spotted word flys through the cars as each attendant is connected by ear piece to the next. On this trip we were lucky enough to get good views of not one but 2 bald eagles. One was perched on a craggy bluff, the other in a tree right next to the track! Unfortunately the only picture I was able to get was of their empty nest. I’ve seen the Bald Eagles on both of my trips and failed to get a photo either time. Like I said 3’s the charm…maybe next time.

The Verde Canyon has been occupied for a long time starting with the cliff-dwelling Sinagua. The train passes some of these ancient cliff dwellings but you have to keep your eyes open to catch them.. After the Sinagua came the nomadic Yavapai and the Tonto Apache followed by the farmers and cattlemen. And speaking of cattle, see that cow laying down over there? Out here that’s called Ground Beef! ( yes you can groan)

Many of the acncient cultures left thier mark throughout the canyon by petroglyph and pictograph.

According to local Native American lore, the Verde River is female. She provides an oasis in stark contrast to the surrounding arid countryside. The Verde River is fed from 5 creeks which flow down from the Colorado Plateau: Sycamore, Oak, Beaver, Clear and Fossil Creek. When it rains on the plateau the Verde gets fed the runoff.

The ride reaches its half way turnaround point at Perkinsville station at milepost 18.5. At its peak Perkinsville had  10-12 families living in the vicinity. It even had a small school, a general store and a post office but when the smelter closed in the 1950’s and the railroad switched from steam to diesel the  town became a ghost town.

In the 1960’s a few movie companies came to visit filming scenes for some of the classic westerns of the day like How the West was Won. The story is that during that filming the water tower that had stood by the tracks was blown up for one of the scenes but for some reason did not make the cut. The footage ended up on the editing room floor.

To turn the train around the engine is uncoupled and switched to a side track to pass by the train to the other end and be re-coupled. It’s a pretty amazing sight to see that engine passing by the window.

The return trip was as lovely as the outbound. We even saw a small rainbow as we passed in and out of the rain showers.  Back in Clarkdale we said goodbye to the railroad and headed to our car for the short drive to the Blazin’ M ranch.

Are we there yet?

Posted on by

Having passed the “Fruitland” exit I continued along RT 2 heading west. There are a number of bridges along this route and a couple of them are really pretty. The first one I came upon that bears mentioning is the French King  Bridge which crosses the Connecticut River. There is something about the clean lines of this bridge that just really appeals to me. I think I read somewhere that it is a 3 span “cantilever” bridge but I just think it’s nice. Apparently people who know bridges agreed with me because way back in 1932 this bridge was awarded “Most beautiful Steel Bridge” by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

I actually stopped and parked the car so I could walk out on the bridge to see the river passing under it.

Back on the road I pulled into the little town of Gill. As I passed the town line sign I spotted some goats in a pen by the side of the road. There were a lot of picnic tables around so I wondered if this was a makeshift petting zoo or something. I pulled into the first gas station I came to so I could top off the tank and then turn around to backtrack.

The little pen was set up next to the Wagon Wheel restaurant.

There was a nanny goat and 2 kids.

They were the cutest little family. I pulled into the parking lot and grabbed the camera. I dropped to my knees next to the pen trying to get some nice close up shots of the kids. They are such teases. They’d look at me and just as I got the camera focused they’d bounce away. While I was so engrossed a heard a man’s voice right behind me ask me “You want to buy a goat?”

 Turns out the young man was the owner of this little family and the small produce stand that was offering vegetables, flowers, maple syrup and manure ( for fertilizer) for sale.

After getting a good chuckle I asked him seriously why he brought the goats. He said he would sell them but also people stopped to see them and that gave them a chance to see  his farm stand. I guess it works. It got me to stop! 🙂

I began to chat with him and a couple of young ladies that were there as well. It turns out that he runs a farm called Lally Laggy Farm. The actual farm is located in Lydon and is farmed the old-fashioned way, with draft horses. Molly and Maggie are American Creme Draft horses and are very rare. There are fewer than 400 alive today. He is working 186 acres that he leases. He raises some grass-fed beef cattle as well as his goats.  He said the farm has a Facebook page so I have to check it out. From the brief visit we had it sounds like he is really trying to make a go of this farm. He said he has hay and firewood as well as seasonal vegetables and flowers for sale. Before I left him we agreed that I can make arrangements to go out to the farm to really see what he’s doing with it. I can’t wait for that visit!

Since it was about lunch time I figured I’d try out the Wagon Wheel Restaurant since I was parked in their lot. I think their slogan was “roadside food the way it should be” or something like that. I liked the sound of it.

There’s seating inside or at the picnic tables outside. I ordered from the window for outside seating. When my number was called I picked up my sandwich and fries and retired to a picnic table to enjoy my meal.  They have a drive-in menu reminiscent of older days: grilled burgers, hotdogs, salads, fresh fish, homemade soup and homemade ice cream plus soft serve ice cream….yum!

Lunch over I chatted with my new friends of Lally Laggy Farm for a few more minutes and then headed off to my next stop; the little town of Turner Falls.