A Maiden Voyage: Mt. Tom and Mt. Field

On many occasions, I've hiked to Mts. Tom and Field, and so this was not my "maiden voyage" to those two mountain peaks.  And if the truth be told, this is just another shameless "me too" report about a hike to two of the NH 4K peaks.  The only thing that somewhat sets it apart is that this trip was the "maiden voyage" of my brand new $97 camera!  Nope, I didn't forget to add a zero to the price.  I know that one can spend $970+ for a camera and lens system.

Many readers can probably recall what it's like to be "in between" relationships with a man or a woman.  That's sort of where I am in terms of a camera.  My much beloved Panasonic finally bit the dust.  I tried entering into a relationship with a Sony, but that didn't work for me.   And so, until I can find a camera that I want to "marry", I've opted to "date" a cute little Casio for awhile.

Things went well on my first "date" with Casio.  It was a gorgeous 6th day of March.  There was plenty of bright sunshine, the air temperature was in the mid 20s which I think is just about perfect for winter hiking, and there was very little wind.   From start to finish, the trails were firmly packed by other snowshoe hikers who had traveled these woodland corridors over the preceding days.

Casio and I only met two other hikers along the way.  Also, at one point in the journey, we encountered a motionless character who bore a striking resemblance to Darth Vader of Star Wars fame.   Take a look at the next photo.  Am I just letting my imagination go wild?

I gave Casio the complete tour and pointed out all the highlights along the way.  For example, on the approach to Mt. Tom, we stopped to take a picture of what I call the "stick forest".

And once we reached the summit of Mt. Tom we enjoyed the usual fine views overlooking the Zealand and Pemi Wilderness areas.  The view toward the Carrigain Notch is one of my favorite vistas from Mt. Tom.

As many readers know, there are also very nice views of the Presidential Range from Mt. Tom, as well as from Mt. Field.  Casio performed well in capturing images of the Presidentials from both of those locations, but the best image was taken from little Mt. Avalon which we visited as a short side-trip during the return leg of our journey.

Speaking of Mt. Field, upon arrival at this summit, there were Gray Jays there to greet us.  Shown below is one of them.

Also, from the top of Mt. Field, I was interested in testing Casio's ability to zoom.  Shown below are two photos.  One is a zoomed shot looking at the Highland Center and the old Crawford's train station.  The other snapshot is a zoomed view of the summit of Mt. Washington.

To round out the day, I toyed with the idea of going on over to Mt. Willey from Mt. Field.  However, that thought quickly vanished when I saw that the trail had not been travelled in awhile and was filled with snow that was literally knee-deep!

As indicated earlier in this report, a short side-trip was made to Mt. Avalon on the way back to the trailhead.  From this location there is a great view of the Presidential Range, as well as a striking view of the Crawford Notch area.  Earlier in this report I showed a snapshot of the Presidentials taken from Mt. Avalon.  Shown below is the Crawford Notch vista.

To sum it up, I have no idea where my relationship with Casio is going.  We will probably continue to "date" for awhile.  But in my heart, I think there is little likelihood for a long-term relationship like I had with Panasonic.