A little late ... but the Twins, Bonds, and Moosilauke 10/6-8

[pudgy_groundhog]

After six years of living in the Northeast and never stepping foot in the Whites in a non-winter season, we've made it there three times this year and all trips have been fantastic. This third time was several weekends ago and the weather and colors couldn't have been better.

On Friday we hiked South Twin and North Twin via the North Twin Trail and North Twin Spur. It would've been nice to do a one way hike, but with one car we opted for an out and back. Getting a jump on the weekend hikers provided for some solitude on the summits, which was nice. We got to South Twin in late morning and there was still ice on the trees, rocks, and signs. The ice was beginning to melt on our ascent, which made for a wet hike through the trees. We were pleased to find the summit windless and we spent awhile up there before heading back. One of my favorite shots from the day:

On Saturday we set out to do the Bonds as a one way trip (intended to do at least West Bond and Mt. Bond, would see how we felt about Bondcliff). Lucky for us, a little past Zeacliff we met two fellows, Rob and Bob, who were also doing the Bonds, but as a one way and offered to give us a ride at the end. Score! We got to do a traverse after all (via Zealand, Twinway, Bondcliff, and the Wildnerness Trail) with the short side trips to Zealand Falls, Zeacliff, Mt. Zealand, and Franconia Falls (?).

I enjoyed seeing an overview of the color in the valleys from the summits then seeing the colors up close on our hike out. It was pretty clear and we got some nice panorama shots. Some favorite pics:

On our last day we wanted something shorter since we had a long drive home. We opted for Moosilauke and did an up and back on the Benton Trail. Again, a beautiful day and a nice time loitering at the summit before heading back.

All our pics are posted here,, although we don't have any notes added yet.

Dangerous thing, these Whites. I imagine we'll be spending a lot more time in our car driving to and from NH now. We love it there!

 

[dvbl]

Once again, fantastic photos. When considering the four aspects of a great photo...light, composition, subject, and background...it looks like you pay very close attention to each of those. Do you use any image processing software? Your colors are so rich. Great job. Keep posting.

 

[amstony]

Awesome sets pictures, what a great trip you had and the weather cooperated too!

 

[king tut]

Wow! Your pics are always amazing. Whenever I take pictures and say, the beauty of this moment will never show on camera, is always proved correct by my shots, but somehow always show up on your camera. Thanks for sharing, those photos are amazing.

 

[Roxi]

Wish I had your talent for taking professional quality photos. Amazing!

 

[kmac]

Great presentation of your trip!!!
Your pictures are just beautiful
Thanks for sharing.
kmac

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Thanks everybody!

Do you use any image processing software? Your colors are so rich.

We use the limited version of Adobe Photoshop that came with our camera. We look at each picture and adjust the levels/brightness/contrast if necessary, but our best shots (such as the ones I posted) usually require little to none. We also use a polarizer which helps a lot (especially since we can't usually wait around for the best light).

Wow! Your pics are always amazing. Whenever I take pictures and say, the beauty of this moment will never show on camera, is always proved correct by my shots, but somehow always show up on your camera. Thanks for sharing, those photos are amazing.

You should see all the pictures we deleted.
I think a lot of it is being in the right place at the right time to get good light. Once we started taking more pictures I found myself paying attention to light all the time. I'll be driving around with a friend and will say "oh, what great light right now" and she'll look at me like I'm nuts.

I've always liked landscape photographers like Ansel Adams, but after taking pictures myself I appreciated their work much, much more. I think it can be really difficult to capture a scene in front of you and be able to convey just how beautiful or immense it was (why I often like adding a person in a shot for sense of scale).

Thanks again everybody!