Capturing the Moment

  The foggy mornings are sometimes the best. The corn is tall and the barns are plentiful here in Northern Vermont. It was a foggy morning here in Stowe, Vermont in the northern part of the state. We are not too far from the Canadian border, and the chill that we felt in the air this morning reminded me of that. As I drove the kids to school I noticed a fog clinging to the hillsides and enveloping the town. I have always appreciated a good fog in my landscape photos. It add a certain mystique. So I grabbed my camera and went for a little tour of the town. Stowe is beautiful in just about every condition, but I especially like it like this. Out here in the countryside of Vermont, we have corn fields for days. Red barns dot the fields, and homes are lost into the foggy mountainsides. The famed Green Mountains run right through town, which gives us ample opportunity to hike and ski in season. Mountain biking is the usual go to during the summer and fall months. So I grabbed my bike an...

  This is the ridgeline that connects Vermont's tallest peaks. A trail, called the Long Trail, goes the entire length of the state. I love how the mountains continue to layer into the distant background. This is why Vermont is such a haven for hiking. It was another beautiful day in Stowe, Vermont, and with the kids in school I wanted to head into the mountains and go for a photo hike. The top of Vermont was my goal today. Mt. Mansfield is the tallest mountain in Vermont, and there are several trails that you can climb to the top. I didn't have too much time today, so I took a bit of a shortcut. I rode the Stowe gondola up to the cliff house, then took the 0.4 mile Cliff Trail up to the summit. The ride up the Gondola was breathtaking. I could see deep into Smugglers Notch, and the wildflowers were going off below me. The sky was about as clear as it can get, so the view just got better and better as I got higher. I didn't run into anyone else once I got on the Cliff Trail....

  Almost at the top of Mt. Hunger. Aerial shot from my little DJI mini 4K drone. Only weighs 249 grams! What a hike! I had never hiked up Mt. Hunger before, so I thought today would be the perfect day to check it out. I woke up early for some ideal hiking temperatures here in Vermont, but was a little dismayed by the amount of fog. The trailhead for Mt. Hunger was about 19miles away, and driving on all the back roads was a little interesting with such dense fog. I did pass some beautiful farmland on my way. When I got to the trailhead it was empty. I counted myself lucky, and set out...just as I heard another car pulling into the lot. I set a pretty torrid pace up the trail, knowing I had some space to cover. The trail is a little over 2 miles to the top, with an elevation gain around 2,300ft. Luckily, it has been very dry lately here in Vermont. If the trail would have been wet, it would have been much more difficult. There were lots of places where you had to scramble up rocks. I...