I headed up to Vermont for my first little self prescribed break of the year. I needed to check out some new surroundings and pegged the Green Mountain National Forest area for exploration. I am still not doing longer hikes, I think my paranoia is holding me back. The after affects of Shenandoah last year and a visit to the ortho doc still lingers in my head. Every day was less than 5 miles, and I refuse to wear a support brace.
My base of operations for this four day trip was Robert Frost Mountain Cabins in Ripton. What an absolutely gorgeous and relaxing atmosphere. When doing research on places to stay I make sure and view the terrain on Google Maps and Earth and then look at my photo planning apps. A large south facing field right outside my cabin? Say no more. Well, mother Nature had some stuff to say, three nights of rain or clouds put a bit of a damper on the night time activities. But, for one night, I got very lucky and said clouds be damned.
The first two days I had good, if not great, weather during the daylight hours, enough so that I managed to get to 7 waterfall spots the first day! Thank you Only in Your State for the suggestions. Day three was a wash so I stayed in sorted photos and watched a movie. But I did go out to breakfast that morning so I would not feel trapped all day.
Half of the spots I visited had sections of the areas surrounding the falls blocked off for forest restoration. Falls of Lana was first one and was the only one that I could not get a good vantage point for a photo. The cascades were very worthy though. Reviewing the area, I honestly think I may not have gone far enough to see the whole thing though so this may be a revisit when the trails further up are not closed due to Peregrine Nesting.
Texas Falls was the next stop. A well developed area with many view points to be had during an easy stroll. I really need to start taking notes on these places, or even writing down same day thoughts. Or even start a video diary so I can transcribe it. What is the best way for one not to forget?
Anyway, I am a sucker for these fast moving cascades
Water was not a problem this trip, there was an abundance of it. Got into a fight with it a few times, messing with different shutter speeds, but i am leaving that for another day.
Leaving Texas Falls, driving west on RT 125, I finally got my chance to travel the famous VT RT 100. I never imagined there would be so much farm land here. Mainly dairy farmers, but I had no idea it was as big as it is. And of course being spring and the fields being turned that lovely aroma was in the air. Reminds me of the Tennessee home. As you are driving North, you will come across a set of falls and the first in of two in the area named Moss Glen Falls. All you have to do is pull over on the shoulder, No hike required.
and right next to it we have the main falls. Lots of spray coming off this one, very refreshing on a 55 degree day.
A little further up the road was Warren Falls. My imagination goes wild with the amount of water necessary to create the shapes in these rocks.
Bartlett Falls was next up. Also known as Bristol Falls. This was my first fight with the water. If you are familiar with exposure times, this was 1 second. The volume and strength of the water’s flow to look like this for that short of a shutter speed is immense. If the mist was not there I probably would have done it differently, and I still do not think it is a detailed enough capture. There were a few people swimming just downstream, and I even saw them take a little walk behind the falls. Treacherous conditions, they survived.
How would you like to see this in the middle of your town? Vergennes Falls Park. I understand it is quite an active place in the summer. A nice body of water to do water things on/in. But seriously, in the middle of town. Usually you find this with reservoirs and dams.
Number seven for the day was a tiny little thing, aptly named Bittersweet Falls. This was just hanging out in the middle of nowhere, off a side road and tucked back in the woods 100 yards. It did have that distinct sound though making it unmissable.
Day one concluded, very successful and mission complete. I will be back with day two soon. Thanks for stopping by!
Phil
Twilight and Dusk 