10/25: Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway
Continuing our trip in Shenandoah National Park Alexis and I got up and packed up our campsite at Loft Mountain Campground and headed out to hike to Doyles River Falls. We didn't do the full loop here just there and back, I believe it was bout 3-3.5 miles round trip.
The trail on the way to the waterfalls is almost all downhill which means on the way back it is almost all up hill. It is a pretty trail, especially in the fall when we went. At one point on the trail there is a stone wall with water coming through. There is also a small bridge near where you meet Browns Gap Fire Road. (see the map here)
Coming from this direction (having parked in the closest lot to Loft Mountain Campground) we reached the smaller of the two Doyles River Falls first which is seen above and below. This is a serene and small falls and of course I climbed right across rocks and stepped in the water to take the photo from different angles for my favorite.
The second falls is two steps to it. I had a lot of fun photographing the top pieces alone and playing with
After our hike we finished the last piece of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and continued on to check out some of Blue Ridge Parkway and the over looks there.
10/16: Mount Cardigan
It's a bit late but here's some lovely fall color in the White Mountains in October.
Shooting photos from a moving vehicle is a silly idea but I thought there were a little fun.
Alexis, Brian, and I headed up to Mt Cardigan October 16th with Behr to do a quick hike a catch a bit of fall color. We decided to do Mount Cardigan which is a 3,156 ft mountain with a popular hike that is 3.1 miles round trip. We decided this short hike was ideal since we were driving up from Boston a bit later in the morning.
Once we arrived at the small parking lot and found the start of the trail we were immediately greeted by some beautiful yellow, orange, and red fall color.
The above photo of fall color peaking through well shaded forest is one of my favorites from the trip. It has that light at the end of the tunnel feel without actually feeling like the clique.
Eventually you reach a point where you can continue up the shortest way or take a slightly longer way up. During this hike it was still fairly early in the turning of color in New England but it was my last opportunity to hike and see the leaving turning in New England before Alexis and I went on vacation (more photos of that coming later).
This hike had lots of evergreens along the way which really made the trees that had changed color stand out.
Behr modeled for us as usual!
As we reached the summit we could see the fall color peaking through all round us. (And Behr's head peaking through that tree, eager to catch up to me)
Some fall color and some windmills off in the fog.
Boston Fall 2015
I’ve lived my whole life in the Boston area and I have to say fall truly is beautiful here. Of course, I am a bit biased, but Boston is rich in history, add a little fall color, and you have some beautiful photos. During this past fall some friends were visiting from California who had never been to Boston before so we visited all the tourist spots and, if I’m being honest, I probably looked more like a tourist then they did! The fall colors we’re so striking I couldn’t help myself. I was just clicking away with my camera the whole time.
We started in the Boston Public Garden; which was created in 1837 on 24 acres of old marsh land. Where we visited the Make Way for Ducklings statues that are in honor of the children’s book by Robert McCloskey. We then made our way through Boston Common, past the MA State House, through the Holocaust Memorial, to the Harbor, and ended at Mike’s Pastries in the North end for one of their coveted cannoli’s.
You can find more photos on my facebook page: facebook.com/mswphoto