Wicked Dark
03-10-2010, 08:33 AM
From Sunday. We went up Mt. Kearsarge in NH. It's not a high mountain, but it still had a lot of snow and who knew I'd need a hard hat???? Temps in the mid 40s (F) and a breeze caused the built-up ice to fall from the trees in a non-stop barrage. I got beaned several times and even bled once. Damn trees.
View from almost the top - notice the lovely brown layer in the sky - something was on fire down in the valley.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3073985/805333220_NArcM-XL.jpg
Final ascent - the shadows were pretty great -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3073998/804791659_VsrVP-XL.jpg
At the summit there is this tiny, abandoned shack. It's only about 4 1/2 feet tall. Maybe it housed a generator or something. I love the sliver of door hanging by a single screw on a single hinge. Also think the snow reflecting light inside is a big help. Sepia treatment seemed right here.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074012/805333134_vXKvZ-XL.jpg
Look back at the Winslow trail at the summit - this is the steeper of the two trails up and the snow was mostly hard packed.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074003/805333342_LA57w-XL.jpg
The other trail down is longer and less steep, but because it's on the eastern side of the mountain, the snow was very deep. We were up to mid-calf all the time, knees some of the time and up to our hips a couple times. And there were a lot of downed trees on the trails from the last storm so we had to wind around off trail. Between that and the falling ice chunks I didn't have time to shoot anything on the way down.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074013/805333102_zp2mS-XL.jpg
Anyway...thanks for looking. There are a few more images in the It's not as Cold As it Looks gallery on smugmug if you want to see. comments welcome.
View from almost the top - notice the lovely brown layer in the sky - something was on fire down in the valley.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3073985/805333220_NArcM-XL.jpg
Final ascent - the shadows were pretty great -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3073998/804791659_VsrVP-XL.jpg
At the summit there is this tiny, abandoned shack. It's only about 4 1/2 feet tall. Maybe it housed a generator or something. I love the sliver of door hanging by a single screw on a single hinge. Also think the snow reflecting light inside is a big help. Sepia treatment seemed right here.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074012/805333134_vXKvZ-XL.jpg
Look back at the Winslow trail at the summit - this is the steeper of the two trails up and the snow was mostly hard packed.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074003/805333342_LA57w-XL.jpg
The other trail down is longer and less steep, but because it's on the eastern side of the mountain, the snow was very deep. We were up to mid-calf all the time, knees some of the time and up to our hips a couple times. And there were a lot of downed trees on the trails from the last storm so we had to wind around off trail. Between that and the falling ice chunks I didn't have time to shoot anything on the way down.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Nature/Its-not-as-cold-as-it-looks/P3074013/805333102_zp2mS-XL.jpg
Anyway...thanks for looking. There are a few more images in the It's not as Cold As it Looks gallery on smugmug if you want to see. comments welcome.