Another snowy morning

Just a couple of photos I took Monday morning, after an overnight snowfall:

Winter morning

I'm still plugging along on the vacation pic front, but not even close to having a post ready to go. So I thought I'd share a few pics I took with my phone this morning; fresh snow and a clear morning worked in my favor, photo-wise.

This one was taken down where I wait for Kaylee to return from her walk with her buddy Robby and Robby's person Colin; you can see fresh deer tracks along the edge of the brush:

A look at the eastern face of Mount Equinox, lit up by the rising sun:

And from a slightly different perspective, with the blue spruce in the foreground:

Catchall

The last two full days of my vacation were both very, very busy photo days—too many to go through in the time I have after work. So I'll keep plugging away at that task, but in the meantime I thought I'd post a few pics I've taken in recent days; most have already been shared on Facebook and Instagram, but I figured I'd post them here as well.

A couple of Kaylee shots to start things off:

Yesterday's sunrise:

And a look at this evening's snowfall:

Branch Pond

To make up for how very long it's been, an extra-long foliage post. All of these images were taken during a trip with my father to Branch Pond, off Kelly Stand Road here in Vermont, on September 27.

First up, a shot taken as we started our journey up the mountain:

Images from the path we walked to get to the pond itself:

Branch Pond:

In the back center of this one, you can see someone standing on a floating platform, fly fishing:

A shot taken through the trees at one of the few moments the water was relatively calm:

Pretty much the same view, sans trees but with an unfortunate bit of lens flare:

Just thought this was an interesting little shot:

A mushroom Dad spotted as we wandered around the pond:

The largest Gartersnake I've ever seen in the wild, also spotted by Dad:

I just thought the inky markings on this trunk were interesting:

I also snuck a picture of Dad as he sat and looked over the pond:

Photos from our walk back to the Jeep:

Yes, this is the same tree as the photo above, just from a slightly different angle and with me attempting to be artsy by including the sun through the pine trees on the other side:

We stopped on our drive back down the mountain so I could take this photo looking back up the road:

Considering I got Dad to stop in the middle of a one-way bridge so I could take this shot, I figured I really should include it

Finally, my favorite shot of the day:

Winter sunset

Absolutely spectacular sunset this evening here in Vermont. These first two pics are from my iPhone:

Then I pulled out the good camera for a few more shots:

A slightly closer look from the same perspective:

 And one final shot as the light faded:

Winter sunrise

One of the few good things about having to get up extra early to accommodate Kaylee's schedule? Getting to see sunrise colors like these:

The eastern horizon wasn't the only one lit up with color, as the sunlight added a striking pink cast to Little Equinox on the western side of things:

Finally, some proof for my folks that their house is still standing, despite my having been staying here for over a week now:

Quick post

Just wanted to share this photo I took on Thursday as I drove through town. I thought it came out pretty well, if I do say so myself:

Sweet Sunday

This afternoon I went over to the Sugar Shack to take a few pictures. Thanks to their Facebook page, I knew they'd be boiling today; in fact, it was likely the last weekend they'll be boiling this year. As always, walking up and seeing the steam pouring out of the building was a happy moment:

Rather than a wood-burning machine, they're now using an oil-burning evaporator, which allows them to be much more productive while going through a lot less fuel:

I wish there was some way to somehow attach the amazingly sweet smell of the steam coming off the evaporator—there's nothing else like it on earth:

Drawing off some syrup:

Getting ready to test the liquid's specific gravity with a hydrometer

They also use a new filtration system that sends the syrup through a series of chambers:

The sweet result. Trust me—if you've never tasted fresh maple syrup, especially when it's still warm from the machine, you're missing out on one of life's purest pleasures: