Temple, January 1

January 1, 2015 / Ellen Kolb

I made my customary New Year’s Day drive out to the Monadnock region, deciding at the last minute not to do the fun little 5k race (walk, in my case) in Temple that would have set me back $20. Instead, I continued to the Wapack trailhead in Sharon. No trails or uphill work for me this day – lazy, out-of-shape, call me what you will. I did my 5k on local roads, blessedly free of traffic and ice.

Temple Road in Sharon; Mt. Monadnock in the distance

It wasn’t a brisk walk. I kept stopping to take pictures. Most of the photos are unusable thanks to midday’s harsh lighting. I like this one, though. My route today was flat, except for the gentlest rise on Temple Road where I got a glimpse of Mount Monadnock.

Have a wonderful new year, with plenty of Granite State walks.

Capturing movement

November 19, 2014November 19, 2014 / Ellen Kolb / 5 Comments

This is a skill I have yet to master. How can I capture the look of the watercourses I see on my hikes? I experimented with my camera at a brook near my house, and abandoned several shots before I was happy with this one.

Baboosic Brook: 1/10 sec., f/11.2. Fairly close to what I hoped to capture.

I did manage to learn that a fast shutter speed without an adjustment to aperture resulted in a nearly-black photo. Thumbnail only; this one doesn’t deserve a featured spot.

: fast shutter + small aperture = very dark image

Connect, slowly

November 10, 2014November 10, 2014 / Ellen Kolb / 6 Comments

Nashua River, Autumn

I live in a textured place. Nothing dramatic or showy, but interesting. Hills here, watercourses there, ledge all over the place: it adds up to very few straight roads and not nearly enough bridges for convenience. The Nashua River in southern New Hampshire could use a few more bridges, and if you don’t believe me, try driving through Nashua during rush hour. Hollis, the next town upstream, is a much quieter place. It gets by quite comfortably with one bridge over the river, connecting a small quiet town with a much busier one. There’s something about this bridge, though, that speaks to me less about connection than about rest and pause. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I saw a sign here saying Don’t be in such a hurry to get from here to there. Stop awhile.

Nearby trails I love: Beaver Brook Association and the Nashua River Rail Trail

Close to Home

November 3, 2014November 3, 2014 / Ellen Kolb / 3 Comments

A few short weeks ago, this was the view of Blueberry Island from a park near my house. Fall was coming. I knew that within days I’d be wearing a sweater and raking the lawn (and I was right), but on this particular afternoon, something drew me to this dock, a three-mile walk from my house. It’s on the town beach at a modest-size lake. I used to take my kids here for swimming lessons every summer. This is where my son got a trophy at the cardboard boat race the library used to sponsor. In this park is the hill – or the accursed hill, as I sometimes called it – that I used for uphill intervals as I trained for my first half-marathon. Near the beach is the community tennis court where my mother-in-law liked to take her grandchildren.

We lived in town when this property was acquired. A family that had operated a summer camp on the site for many years offered the land for a ridiculously low price, and at town meeting (which we still had back then), residents voted to accept the offer. I didn’t know then how much time I’d be spending at the park and its trails and its little beach.

On this day, camera in hand, I simply stood on the dock and breathed in the early-fall air at the end of a workday. The place, the view, the sheer delight of not having to be anywhere else: I was home.

Urban walk, unexpected delight

October 28, 2014 / Ellen Kolb

Dawn, Manchester, New Hampshire

I was in Manchester this morning at the crack of dawn, walking on a sidewalk just off Elm Street, when I felt a sprinkle. The barest hint of rain, not even enough to speckle my glasses. It was over almost as soon as it started. Then I looked up: a perfect rainbow, at sunrise. That’s a fine a sight as anything I’ve seen on a trail lately. Enjoy the unexpected things.

Enfield

June 27, 2014 / Ellen Kolb

I seldom get to the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire, despite its many attractions. My husband The Runner had a race around Mascoma Lake in Enfield recently, and I went along for the ride on a warm early-summer day.

On a quiet Sunday morning, a walk along wildflower-lined Route 4-A was no trouble. Tree swallows were everywhere! I seldom see those birds where I live. I spent time on the quiet paths of the Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette. Enfield Shaker Village is just across the street, and it surely rates a visit on another trip. I turned onto Main Street, the only bridge over the lake, to get to the Northern Rail Trail on the lake’s north side. I could have gone west to Lebanon or (on an ambitious day) southeast to Grafton, roughly following U.S. Route 4. This was a lazy day, though, and I simply meandered on the trail and on town roads as I waited for the runners to come through.

Never turn down a Sunday drive with someone special. You might discover a lovely spot.