Recently, I received an e-mail from Steve Smith, shortly
after 8 AM. He apologized for the short
notice, but asked if I'd be interested in joining him for a bushwhack on that
very day to explore the Little Tunnel Brook Ravine.
Having such short notice was not a problem. However, it would be a problem for me to
gather things together and be out the door in a timely manner. Not wanting to holdup Steve, I declined his offer. But, in a most generous gesture of kindness,
he offered to delay his start time and wait for me. And so, with a very late morning start, we headed off
for Little Tunnel Brook Ravine.
Before going any further with this narration, I strongly
urge you to read Steve's Blog report which contains terrific background
information, as well as a truly excellent description and photo-documentation
of our adventure! Click HERE for Steve's report.
Since Steve's report is so thorough and
complete, there is very little that I can add in terms of narrative or photos. Therefore, perhaps
the best approach is to merely present a few of the snapshots that I took
during our trek. These images might serve
to further emphasize the beauty that we experienced at various points along the
way.
Upon accessing the northern end of the ravine
from an old logging road, we traveled along the banks of Little Tunnel Brook as
we trekked southward toward the headwall.
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| Scene along Little Tunnel Brook near the beginning of our trek |
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| Steve photographing one of the many picturesque scenes as we wandered up the ravine |
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| As we climbed higher up the valley floor, the cascades gradually became higher |
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| And then, just a tiny bit higher |
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| Eventually, the cascades became not only higher, but more abundant and pervasive |
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| And then, we reached the 'grand prize' located high up on the headwall of the ravine |
The 'grand prize' cascade is probably about 100-ft high,
and although this torrent of water is quite striking, it is unnamed!
After we finished our trek, Steve and I drove
to the same spot that he had visited earlier in the day before we met up. From a high bank along the road near the
junction of Rt. 112 and Rt. 116, we could look back at the area where we had
bushwhacked. I was truly astonished that
our 'grand prize' cascade could be seen off in the distance, about 3 miles away
from where we were standing. (In the next photo, the red arrow points to
the cascade.)
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| Our 'grand prize' cascade as viewed from a high roadside bank near Rts. 112 and 116 |
For any reader who might be unfamiliar with the
location of our bushwhack adventure, perhaps the map shown below might be of
some use. As a further point of
reference, this location is about 8 miles west of I-93 (Lincoln /North
Woodstock).
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| Map showing the general location of our bushwhack |
To sum it
up, I must say that this day turned out to be a surprise in the truest
sense of the word. When I woke up in the
morning, I had no idea that later in the day I would be trekking into the
remarkable Little Tunnel Brook Ravine, and witnessing the awesome beauty of a
huge cascade. Life is full of surprises!
8 comments:
Great capture of a memorable day, John! Thanks for agreeing to this trek on such short notice. Glad you enjoyed the surprise!
Steve
Thanks for posting your comments, Steve. Here's hoping that all my 'surprises' in life are as pleasant as this one! :-)
John
Hey John -- Fantastic photos of those beautiful cascades. And so much water still in the streams despite the calendar. It is always a wonder that water keeps coming from higher up in the hills (or mountains). Just beautiful scenery. I'm glad you were able to join Steve on such a trek; what a treat.
Ellen
Ellen, like you, I also am often amazed that in many locations, regardless of the time of year, there is a flow of water tumbling down over cascades. Just one of the many things to love about New England!
Thanks for your comments!
John
Unplanned adventures such as this one can be awesome experiences. What a great day you had, and what a gorgeous location!
John, your pictures from the ravine are simply stunning! I can imagine this spot will be getting even more colorful and more beautiful in the coming weeks—you'll have to plan a return visit.
It's pretty cool to see that 100 ft. waterfall from three miles away.
Thanks again for including the map; it really helps to get the lay of the land.
Another great report John!
Such a beautiful area! It was great that you both were able to make it work out so that you were able to enjoy what ended up being such a beautiful and interesting trip. Life is full of surprise and wonder if you take the time to look!
Rita . . . you are so right about unplanned adventures often turning out to be awesome experiences! This was certainly the case with this one.
Glad to read that you were also ‘taken’ with that view of the cascade from 3 miles away. I had no idea that it would be viewable with the naked eye from that distance.
Thank you for taking time to post your comments, and especially for your kind words about my photos.
John
Hi Summerset,
It was indeed great that things worked out so nicely. I’m grateful to Steve for his kindness by delaying his start time so that I could join him on this adventure.
And yes, as you say: “Life is full of surprise and wonder if you take the time to look”. Who knew there would be such beautiful and interesting things in a trailless ravine named Little Tunnel Brook! :-)
John
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