Another submission for the bad-picture-good-hike file:

One day a couple of years ago, I was trying to set up my camera on a wobbly support and then take a time-delay photo of myself at an overlook. Somehow, the shutter went off before the camera was properly oriented. You know what? I like this picture just as much as the ones from that day that actually came out the way they were supposed to.

Longtime readers who tilt their heads slightly to one side will recognize this as the vista to the east from the Weeks State Park auto road up Mount Prospect in Lancaster, New Hampshire. I have never had a bad day there, not even the day when BB-size hail pelted me for a few minutes on my way down from a visit to the fire tower at the summit.

The mountain that’s shown askew is Waumbek. The rest of the vista is captured in many other photos I’ve taken through the years: the Presidential and Pliny ranges, Mount Martha with its grace-note Owl’s Head, the Pondicherry area. (Search “Weeks State Park” on this site.)

Nearly every visit I’ve made to Weeks has been when the auto road has been closed. Great! That makes walking easier. There are trails up Prospect Mountain, but I like that auto road, and I especially like the overlooks. I’m not the only one. There are area residents who use the auto road for daily walks, weather permitting. If I didn’t live two hours away, I might join them.

Oh, and this is how an intentional shot came out that day. This is Mts. Waumbek and Starr King, with a little bit of the town of Jefferson. Not even a crooked photo could’ve spoiled that day.