I had the task of driving to a friends house 30 miles away in Williamstown, VT to pick up a large metal shelf (Thank you, Vanessa!). I brought my camera along in hopes of making and adventure out of the drive. On the way down, I was pretty determined on getting the shelf, so I didn’t end up stopping at all. I did hear about a sock sale going on at the Cabot Hosiery Factory, so I ventured to that location afterward. I drove from over to Northfield to go to the sale for the first time. There were hundreds of people and thousands of socks. I ended up almost filling my bag, so I think I’ll be prepared for this winter (and Christmas)!
After handing over the Benjamin and leaving the sock sale, my new goal was to find interesting places to get some photos of the Vermont roadside landscape. I took main roads and ventured off onto side roads that seemed like they could be promising.
I saw some neat architecture and forgotten structures that really stood out on this dismal November morning. I stopped where I could, sometimes (many times) turning around to stop and take a few photos. The rest of this will be a presentation of the photos in order taken, with possible captions for some description.
Enjoy 🙂
Caught my eye.Had to stand on this stump to take the photo above! Far from the road was this little white shack. An unmarked police car was following me, so it seemed proper to turn off the road, turn around and take this photo.“Alhenwood” From the front door of an old artistic looking house just outside Montpelier. From the same hill that the previous house is on, looking across town. Montpelier, VT
Through the Trees. Montpelier, VT. I took the same photo, but with the buildings in focus, will be on my Instagram @d.f0mI decided to head up a dirt road, found this house and love the look of it. I hope they don’t mind 😉 Alternate vision on Instagram soon. @d.f0mLastly, a shack I’ve passed by many times, but finally stopped.
Today is my day off, Saturday. On this rare day off, I usually make a point to take my dog and my camera where ever sparks my interest that day. Today I began my drive hoping to end up at a hidden reservoir in Wolcott that my father had told me about yesterday evening. He used to go fishing there and told me the general location, where I should park, but when I got there I was at a loss. I followed a trail that quickly turned into a wide ATV trail. I loosely followed a small stream, which I thought might lead to the reservoir. After following the trail and attempting to figure out where it was, I ended up near a horse farm, “Private Property”.
Leap of Brixton
I turned back. It wasn’t a major disappointment because hey, I was out in the snowy woods on a nice day with my dog, Brixton. Intrigued by animal tracks and small snow crystals shimmering in the light. Brixton was having a blast too, running around sniffing evidence of wildlife. Our decent down the trail felt inconclusive. I never really go out with expectations, but fit still would have been nice to find this body of water.
Shimmering Snow
I crossed the bridge of the stream where I had left my cup of New England Coffee (from Deb’s Place in Morrisville) cup on a log, deciding to take a few photos of it since it was right there. Brixton walked over and licked the lid and knocking it over, so I ran to grab it and went on. For a brief moment I thought to follow the stream and see where it led, but I felt it was time to move on and keep driving.
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We made it back to my Subaru and I drove on with a brook in mind. Going through the town, I turned onto School Street and ascended up the eventual hill. There were a good deal of nice homes up here, with views of the distant hills extending to Belvedere. This road ended up bringing me to a sign with and arrow saying “To Elmore.” I decided to take this direction, with thoughts of lake reflections on this mild winter day.
This ended up leading to a dirt road that I had been on during a previous photo drive one evening. This particular section of the road offered views of Mt. Elmore and its fire tower, as well as a red barn with trees lined ahead of it. The scene was a complete change from the last time I saw it, so I stopped for some photos.
Red Barn in Elmore, Vermont. November 11th, 2017
From here I headed back home, east on Route 12. I was getting closer to Mt. Elmore. I could see the detail of the snowy trees and the tower standing tall in the sunlight. The light cast on the barren white deciduous branches in contrast with the dark evergreens drew me to turn onto Elmore Mtn. Road and pull over. I was able to take one photo before the light immediately change and the mountain turned dull. I was patient and waited for more sunlight, as the dispersed clouds were moving along. A truck (Toyota Tundra possibly) drove by as I snapped a photo, which was unfortunate. Once I looked at the result though, I was content with the result. The mountain in the background with the blurred truck taken over the bottom half of the image made for a unique look.
art.of.a.rock 