Soggy and beautiful

Chapter 3 - Soggy and Beautiful Woods

Chapter 1 - Lesson learned on a Saturday walk
Chapter 2 - Losing Max and finding a Mansion
Chapter 4 - Hiking through the eyes of a Child

Pouring rain, coming down 'in buckets', that's what I heard as I left the air-conditioned bedroom early Saturday morning. The hum of the air conditioner had masked it, but there was no doubt. There would be no hike this morning. I was disappointed, but knew I'd get one in this weekend.

By 9a.m., it had stopped. I decided to venture in. With all the rain we just had, Bob thought I was nuts, but he put some snacks together for me, filled the water bladder and I headed off. There were two new pieces to my 'ensemble' this morning. I wore jeans instead of shorts and I had a light weight jacket tied around my waist.

I stepped into the woods. The sense of peace and solitude fell into place like a curtain. It is amazing to me that a few steps from one piece of ground to another can bring this feeling. There was an additional lushness. The greens were more vivid, the browns darker. I was happy that I'd decided to 'go in'.

Heading down the now familiar path, I stopped. Right ahead of me was a sample of what I would see this morning. The glimmer of the fresh rain water reflecting the sun that was poking through made me realize this would be no ordinary hike. I suspected I would see some pretty spectacular changes because of the pouring rain. Now I was pleased that it had rained so hard and so recently! It would also give me the opportunity to try different settings on my camera.

This morning I wanted to venture to new sections of our woods. Having a map and a compass made it easier to figure out where I might come out. As this section of 155 acres of the Deerfield Conservation land and the 60 acres of Potter Hill land are bordered by known streets like Riverlin St. and Potter Hill Rd., the likelihood of being lost for too long was low.

Reaching the last fork that takes the hiker to the meadow section of the Deering Estate, I took the path not known. I would say it 'beckoned' to me because I could hear fast running water and was very drawn to the photo possibilities. I was right.

All pictures can be viewed in the photo gallery

My favorite picture of the day was taken at that running water. I spent 20 minutes composing the picture and trying to remember what I'd learned about size, depth of field, ISO, etc. It is at times like this that a tripod is necessary. When you decide to slow down the shutter speed or not use a flash, then steadiness becomes a huge factor to sharp pictures. A new photographer buff friend had passed along his favorite tip. I can't believe I haven't read this somewhere because it works so well.

Camera Steadying Tip
Get a screw that fits into the tripod mounting hole under your camera and attach a thin chain to that screw. When you find yourself in a position where you wish you had a tripod, simple screw the screw in, let the chain hang and step on the chain. This gives you an upward tension which steadies your hands and the shot!

Favorite picture of the day. Click on picture to see larger.

Shortly after taking this shot, I entered a huge field full of meadow flowers. From the satellite tower in the distance, I knew I was near the top of Potter Hill. This meadow was larger than the Deerfield meadow. This 60 acres is in the process of becoming protected land. How wonderful that it will not be developed! Below are some of the shots taken in that field.

Making notes of what I had learned during this particular hike, I knew I wouldn't wear jeans again. My legs were a sweaty sauna. A hiking book did not recommend jeans for hiking, even for winter hiking. Now I agreed. In fact, for warm weather hiking, new lightweight synthetics are recommended over any cotton! The other big note of the day was that my hiking boots are not waterproof. My feet were soaked. Not uncomfortable, but very wet. This same hiking book recommended sock liners. I wonder if that is to keep the feet dry. I also felt the need to protect the camera from the humidity in this new 'rain' forest environment. Always hanging from my neck, I tucked it under my white cotton t-shirt. It stayed nice and dry.

As for the moistness in the woods, when I had to brush against the leaves to bypass a puddle, I got wet, but the cool water felt quite nice on my arms. That part didn't bother me at all. Bugs were about the same as usual, but more frogs were hopping over the path. By the way, those are the only live things I've seen so far on my hikes. I'm sure the creatures hear me coming and take off. I do hear rustling in the woods from time to time.

So, I had reached Potter Hill, now what? Not wanting to head back and having been to the Deerfield Estate a couple of times, I turned around and headed in a westerly direction, backtracking and then following an old road 'path'. I walked for a couple of miles in a fairly straight westerly direction. Here are some shots I found interesting along the rest of the trail.


I passed some developed ground, with peastone drainage in place. Continuing on, I came out where I expected, near the high-wire poles on Riverlin St. Using my trusty cell phone, I called Bob who came and picked me up. It was an enjoyable hike, between 5 and 7 miles and I looked forward to processing my treasures from it...the photos.

Michelle Fontaine