SkyWatch Friday 4.2: Wheeler Pond and Moose Mountain

Wheeler Pond is famous in the area for its magnificent hiking trails. The Green Mountain Club maintains the trails and camps in the area for overnight hikers. Moose Mountain (2,339 ft or 713 m) is behind Wheeler Pond and has wonderful views of the pond from the summit. On Monday, with grandkids in tow, we are going to hike the Gnome Stairs Trail and the Wheeler Pond Trail. I can't wait to go with two camera batteries and two memory cards — there will be hundreds of photos to take!

I hope you all have a marvelous, peaceful weekend. Thank you for visiting!

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SkyWatch Friday 4.51: Driving Through a Rainbow

Looking east

On June 7 we had mountain rain showers passing through. There are a lot of rainbows here and we are always in awe of them. You can see several in one day here in the mountains. On this evening of the photographs, we had three rainbows in the south and east sky. This is one of them. Below is a photo of the western sky at the same time.

Looking west

My story is about yesterday, as I was driving on High Bridge Hill in the village. We had more stormy clouds and sun yesterday — at the same time. We saw at least seven rainbows as we drove eight miles. And suddenly, going up the hill, we actually drove through three more rainbows! It was an awesome experience. You thought that your car would hit it but of course it didn't. It wasn't solid color, and it danced on the surface of the road and up the hood of the car. I hope all of you can someday be in a rainbow!

My Rainbow Set on Flickr

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SkyWatch Friday: Forest Fire Sunset

Forest Fire Sunset

 This was the sunset on May 31, 2010. We had a very smoky weekend because of the forest fires in Quebec. The smoke make the sunset spectacular. This was taken near May Pond about a mile from home. Please visit more SkyWatch Friday participants for more spectacular photographs.

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Steam Locomotive Weather Vane

This weather vane looks like the old Engine 494 at the White River Junction train station in Vermont. The Great Railroad Stations site describes this weather vane as a "copper steam locomotive weather vane. The locomotive was modeled from one of B&M’s P-2 class, 4-6-2 Pacific’s. " If interested in history and trains in New England, this link is a good one to read. I was at the station twice in May. Once to pick up Andrew and Dan and once to take them back to the Vermonter to return to Washington, DC. There will be many more Vermonter photos coming up.

Andrew & Dan Return to Washington Set

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SkyWatch Friday: The Pemigewasset River

Below the Eastman Falls Hydroelectric Station, outside of Franklin, New Hampshire

The Pemigewasset is 65 miles (105 km) long. It meets the Winnipesaukee River in Franklin and together the two create the Merrimack River that flows down to Boston. The Merrimack River is the river on which Thoreau paddled and about which he wrote in his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. The Merrimack is also where John and I took Wingnut kayaking this past summer and where I carelessly fell in with my Canon Rebel XSi around my neck. After I hauled my sorry self out of the river, I saw a flock, yes, a flock of bald eagles. These were the very first bald eagles I had ever seen in my life. And my camera had died because I drowned it. (It cost a fortune, but the camera has been repaired. And I have learned my lesson.)

The section of the Pemigewasset seen here is just below the Eastman Falls Hydroelectric Station. It is a favorite site for anglers of Atlantic salmon. If you can avoid being drowned when the water behind the dam is released, it is good fishing.

ANGLERS Pemigewasset River Catch & Release Section From a point approximately 150 feet below the Eastman Falls Dam to the downstream side of the Rt 3 & 11 bridge the following regulations shall apply: There shall be no closed season for all species. All fish taken shall be immediately released unharmed to the water. Atlantic salmon shall only be taken by fly fishing as specified in the Atlantic salmon brood stock regulations. All other fish shall only be taken with flies or artificial lures with only one hook point.

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Skywatch Friday: Snowstorm

We've had this weather for two days now. This photograph was taken Wednesday morning. The sky actually was this color all day. Until it got darker about 2pm. We had a foot of very heavy snow (31 cm) yesterday and flooding rains today. This weather system will end with a few more inches of snow tomorrow. There has been no school for two days now.

Below are the white birch trees near the drive in the early afternoon. It was snowing so heavily that the photograph looks grainy and black and white. About 3pm, the tree on the left was bent so low that it blocked the drive. But John convinced the trees to drop the snow, and neither tree broke.

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Sky Watch Friday: Jay Peak on Thursday Morning

Jay Peak Set

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Sky Watch Friday: Thimble Islands

Last week I was in Connecticut visiting my daughter Anna. We went to Branford and saw the Thimble Islands from the Stony Creek beach.

Thimble Islands Set on Flickr

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Sky Watch Friday: New Haven Harbor Sunset

New Haven Harbor at City Point, New Haven, Connecticut

I'm down here visiting Anna and Aaron who live a few dozen yards from Long Island Sound on New Haven Harbor. I took Daisy, their dog, for a walk down to the pier this evening and took some shots of the sunset.

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New Haven Harbor Set on Flickr

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Sky Watch Friday: Sunflower

My Sunflowers Set on Flickr

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Sky Watch Friday: Chrysanthemums in the Sun

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My Chrysanthemums Flickr Set

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Sky Watch Friday: May Pond At Dusk

The reservoir of Barton Village. I am in Barton Town so I have a well.
First Quarter Moon.
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Sky Watch Friday: Clouds in Evansville

Last week in Evansville when I got gas. This was an astounding sky.
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When I walk the dogs I often go to this field to rest my soul. The mountains in the background are in Canada. When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

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Sky Watch Friday: Storm Clouds at Home

When we got home from the Mikado a storm was threatening. Amazingly, it never came to us but slid by to the west. The month of rain may have been broken. It is almost a shame (despite the lightening strikes, fires and floods) because the cloud formations have been fantastic. This is not an HDR photo. This is just a regular photograph.

Other storm clouds that day in my Storm Clouds Flickr Set.

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Sky Watch Friday: Storm Clouds on Crystal Lake

Wingnut and I were at the town beach at Crystal Lake when the clouds began to move in again. This is another HDR image. It has highlighted and dramatized the cloud formation. You don't need HDR settings on your camera. You only need to take three different exposures and then you can combine the three photos. I use Photomatix but there are other ways to do this (click here for a Google search for HDR Tutorials). When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

UPDATE: My thanks to Andy and Aaron for helping me convert this image from 8 meg to 379 kb. I never pay attention to sizes because of my huge amounts of storage here. So when Andy told me how big it was and how long it was loading, I tried to fix it. But couldn't. But now it is fixed. Thank you both!

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