Camping at the Lakes Region

The Lakes region in New Hampshire is dominated by the chief lake Winnipesaukee.
There is also the lovely Squam lake nearby and its pretty near to Boston; around 2.5 hrs away.
Surprising then that we hadn't visited the place ..
Turned out the place was charming with a lot of variety .. lots of lakes, but some good peaks and scenic drives and charming quaint little towns.
Holderness and Meredith especially were very picturesque.
Camped at the Alton Bay near the lake shore and we even had access to the lake. There was a private island that we could swim\canoe over but we couldn't due to lack of time.

Saturday was mainly covered hopping from place to place .. started off with a pleasant mile long hike up the West Rattlesnake Mountain .. the hike was over a bridle path and relatively easy. It had the reputation to give the best views from the summit for the effort we put in to climb.
It was really breathtaking at the top .. Beautiful views of the Squam lake and we could even see Winnipesaukee at a distance .. the summit has rocky ledges and clear views for miles. It was truly great.


View from the top of West Rattlesnake Mountain

Rest of the day we drove along the winding roads and the lake was never out of sight. As I said earlier, Holderness and Meredith are small town but very aesthetic .. they were very colourful, adorned with summer flowers .. I can imagine how they would be in Fall.
Weirs beach is the main entry to lake W'saukee and it was a bit crowded .. provides good opportunity to try out some water sports ..
Ellacoya Beach was more deserted by the time we reached it. was early evening .. around 5:30 pm I think. I personally liked this beach better then the Weirs .. but that could be because of the lack of a crowd .. we felt like we were the only ones there.
Reached Alton Bay and our campgrounds while there was still sunlight left (unlike last time where we had to use the car lights to set up the tent in near freezing temp's :) ) and we put up the tents in no time .. we were after all pro's with the REI 3 person half dome tents :D
Managed to catch the sunset by rushing to the lake shore next to the campsite ..
Next day was a day of rain and gloom .. luckily we managed to break camp and leave before it started to pour.
Change of plans meant we missed out on Lake Chocorua :( .. and we headed to Castle in the Clouds. It was surprisingly good and we had a good time touring through the castle (small by European stds I guess .. but impressive)
We headed back to Boston way earlier than planned .. and that was good in a way .. hit bad traffic on the way back .. and the rain increased in intensity.

Breathtaking Vistas	The 2 tents at the Campsite
Sunset at Winnipesaukee	Enjoying the warmth of the campfire

Found out the power of good customer service. We had ordered an intermediate car from enterprise .. but due to non availability .. got a Honda Pilot .. SUV .. nice vehicle .. smooth and comfortable .. drove at an even speed on the way back in heavy downpour :D

Honda Pilot SUV

Castle in the Clouds

Another JUMP

Do the Anti-Rain-Dance with me please

Please pray that the weather Gods have some pity .. Hoping that rain stays away this wknd ...
pls pls pls pls pls pls

Canoeing at the Ipswich River

A couple of weekends back, 4 of us went canoeing at the Ipwich river.
Ipswich and Essex are two seaside towns near Boston and to boost tourism there, they have introduced special shuutle busses to make touring there car-free.
More information here
We boarded the Commuter rail from North station and it was a 50min journey to reach Ipswich.
From there we took one of the various busses and reached the Foote Brothers Canoe place .. they rent out canoes and also take you to different drop off's from where you can canoe back.
Most of us were beginners and there were some doubts if we could canoe without prior experience .. so we took the easiest route .. ie .. take the Canoe from the Willodale Dam and go up stream and come back when we felt like it.
Our fears were unfounded as the canoe's were very stable and there was no real risk of capsizing .. and even if you did .. at most places .. the water was pretty shallow.
Anyways .. was a great experience .. was pretty easy to row .. but navigating took some time to get used to .. most of the time we were zig-zagging up the river.
It was part fun to look at Param and Mon banging into tree branches and even into the pillar of a bridhe we came accross :)
There were also places we could pull over .. haul the Canoe out of the water and go on short hikes into the woods .. we tried only a couple of them.
Best part personally was the low hanging branches over the water and we going below them .. was fun!!



Followed the Canoe trip with a visit to the Crane Beach (again!) and this time it was even better .. had got a change of clothes .. so didnt hesitate to take a dip!
was a nice n rlaxing wknd .. planning a return trip and this time gor for the extended 4-5 hour Canoe trip :)

Param

Mon

All Knotted up

Not a very original composition I know .. this composition has been done to death.. still couldn't resist trying my hand at this Shallow DOF shot ..
was again late in the evening, at the Charles River Boating Inc (CBI) after a Kayak session on a windy choppy day.
Am justifying the post processing by blaming my camera's limitations :D
There is something feel good after you take a pic and it turns out the way you had it in mind ... other times when a couple of hours effort is all wasted when you come back home and realise some setting was skewed and all the pics are a goner .. you feel really lousy ..
should not let pics sway my moods this way .. but then again .. isnt that what passion is all about?

Self Portrait

My fascination with reflections continues..
Reflections in shades especially with interesting details looks great (atleast I think so :P)
this was an attempt at a tangential self portrait .. I am a bit dark in the pic .. but that was as a result of processing to get better overall contrast to the pic.

Like the trees and the light and shadow interplay .. planning some more shots with more grandoise reflections .. high-rises, sunsets etc

Which Led Zep song am I? :)

You Are Tangerine

You are a beautiful person, in a wistful kind of way. If you could, you would spend all your time daydreaming and writing poetry. You are a tragic beauty.

You are sensitive and caring, and you don't take insults well. You don't smile much, but when you do, you really mean it.

People like to be around you because you are a calming influence. You have an appreciation for all things beautiful, and you probably have some potted plants. You also most likely own a cat.

You like Sundays and hot tea. You will spend your entire life yearning for quiet beauty, which is a rarity in this world, so you read a lot.

Everyone you know thinks you're "nice."

Take the Which Led Zeppelin Song Are You? Quiz

God .. I feel like the prince from the Holy Grail who launches into a song in every scene ;)
"tragic eauty" :-)))))
gosh .. I should take the test again