Winnipesaukee PhotoPost Gallery

A Hidden Treasure of the Belknap Range

dcr — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:04:31 +0000

by: dcr

Description: The treasure is a deep woodland landscape full of remarkable natural features - the Belknap Range's deepest and wildest valley, called Moulton Valley. It has many very interesting natural features, such as a brook with many small waterfalls and a remarkable flume, a small woodland pond, steep mountain sides (Belknap, Piper, Suncook and Swett Mts) with large rockfalls and mature forests that loggers can't get to on their slopes.The town of Gilford hopes to acquire this land, thru working with the LRCT, which would protect it for future generations. In the past farmers used the north end of the valley to pasture their cattle - they built a wall a few hundred yds below the northern end of the valley and let the steep walls of Piper and Belknap mts serve as the rest of the fencing. A meeting is being held at the Gilford Library this evening at 6:30 to try to gain support for this project.

The Cliffs of Longstack Up Close

dcr — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:41:51 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This is about how a binocular-assisted view of the cliffs of Longstack would appear if you were viewing them from the summit of Mt Major. The distance would be about 6 miles and the direction about ENE, on a line passing just a bit to the right of the low side of Derby Mt.

The Imposing Cliffs of Longstack Mt

dcr — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 01:06:30 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This view of the cliffs of Longstack is seen from a gravel pit a little SW of the mountain. This side of the mountain is part of the town of Alton, but the town line runs just about exactly along the cliff edge, so that most of the mountain is part of Wolfeboro. These cliffs are essentially vertical and are probably 100 ft high, making them an impressive sight if you are looking at Longstack from the west, from the summit of Mt Major, for example.

Mt Major Cemetery

dcr — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:12:12 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This old farm cemetery, perhaps at least 200 yrs old, is found within 200 yds of the Mt Major hiking trails parking lot. You can see that someone carefully maintains the site. The old road that serves as the start of the main hiking trail to Mt Major's summit was first built in the 1800's or earlier to serve several farms that were established on the northern slope of the mountain - several old cellar holes can still be found on that side of the mountain. By the mid 1800's farmers had cleared about 80% of NH's land south of the White Mts. Between the mid-1800's and the mid 1900's, as people left their farms for work in newly developed factories, new forest growth reclaimed much of that cleared land - since then the forests have begun to slowly dissappear again to create homes for a booming population.

View North from W Quarry Mt

dcr — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:18:53 +0000

by: dcr

Description: View from an old logging road part way up the north slope of W Quarry Mt in Alton. The Ossipee Range is on the horizon at the right. The Sandwich Range fills the horizon from the center to the left side of the photo, except for N & S Kinsman, which is at the extreme left. Red Hill is also at the far left, just beyond the northern shores of Winnipesaukee. Photo yesterday - you can still see some of the sleet/frozen rain in the logging road at the bottom of the picture.

View North from New Durham Ridge

dcr — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:00:15 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Photo from earlier this week. Mt Bet and Rattlesnake are peaks of New Durham. Mt Pleasant is in Tuftonboro. Canaan, Sentinel and Knox are in the eastern part of the Ossipee Range, in Tuftonboro and Ossipee. The 3 Sisters are 3 peaks of a small ridge immediately to the east of Chocorua. Blue is a peak just NE of Chocorua and the 3 Sisters. Boott Spur (above Blue) is a high ridge (taller than 90% of the other peaks of NH) running SE from the summit of Washington. Eisenhower, Monroe, Washington & Madison are peaks of the Presidential Range.

Belknap Range from Cogswell Mt

dcr — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:25:31 +0000

by: dcr

Description: From the east summit of Cogswell Mt in Gilmanton.

Effects of Gravitropism & Phototropism on Plants

dcr — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:53:51 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Note the young pine tree at the left - its roots are in the bank at the far right (part of the bottom part of its trunk can be seen growing to the left, close to the bank, at about a 45 degree angle); when it was very young the pine was somehow bent way over to the left (strong wind, bank erosion by wave action, something fell on it, etc). The trunk tends to grow in the opposite direction of the force of gravity, a phenomenon known as gravitropism - you can see that as the trunk grew 'upward' it kept curving towards the vertical ( which it hasn't quite reached yet); Phototropism (growing toward light) played an important role in making the tree also tend to grow in a horizontal direction to get away from the intense shade of the larger trees along the bank. The primary force causing this tree to adopt this unusual growth pattern was gravitropism, tho. Photo from Manning Lake. A web site explaining this phemonmenon is http://herbarium.desu.edu/pfk/page8/page9/page9.html

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Rocky Mt

dcr — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:27:34 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view to the NE of Rocky Mt in Alton from Cogswell Mt in Gilmanton. The mountain has a set of large, precipitous cliffs, seen here, on its SW shoulder which provide a set of grand views of the southern and western landscape of southern NH. One example of such a view is Crystal Lake, which lies between Rocky and Cogswell Mts.

Knights Pond and Longstack Mtn

dcr — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:07:32 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A late-afternoon photo from yesterday.

Longstack Mt - View North

dcr — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:12:31 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view northerly, over Rust Pond and Lake Wentworth, to some of NH's most remarkable peaks.

View NNE-Longstack Mt

dcr — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:10:49 +0000

by: dcr

Description: The 2 water-bodies are Rust Pond & Lake Wentworth. Mountains on the horizon, L to R: Shaw at the far left; Chocorua, Monroe, Washington & Madison at center-left; Wildcat Ridge, Wildcat Mt, Carter Notch, Carter Dome &Mt Height at center-right; beneath the piled-up clouds at the top-right are Mt Moriah & Doublehead Mt; above the tall tree at the right with the fan-shaped yellow/orange foliage are North & South Baldface and Kearsarge North; and the rounded-topped peak at the far right is Black Cap, located just east of N Conway.

Longstack-view-NW

dcr — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:42:06 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Looking over Wolfeboro Village. The mountain in the left background is Moosilauke. In front of that, just behind the colored leaves, is Red Hill. To the right of that is Mt Weetamoo of the Sandwich Range. At right-center, on the horizon, is a blending of Welch and Dickey Mts. To their right, partially hidden behind the large tree, is Sandwich Dome. The water near the center is the Springfield Point section of Winnipesaukee.

Taking A Break

dcr — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:03:03 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Fall is a frenetic time for chipmunks as they hurry to store an ample food supply for winter. This one stopped briefly to watch me as I roamed along the huge rockpile at the base of Longstack Mt. Weathering inexorably pries chunks of the cliff off over time and deposits it chaotically at the base. Longstack has one of the largest cliff faces in the region and a correspondingly large rock pile.

View West from Ledges of Longstack Mt

dcr — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:14:23 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A recent photo from high atop the ledges of Longstack. The Belknap Range occupies most of the left and central background, including, L to R, Major, N Straightback, E Quarry, Belknap, Gunstock and Rowe Mts. The peaks in the distance, at right center, include Orange, Crane, Cardigan and Firescrew, of the Mt Cardigan complex. At the center is Knights Pond of Wolfeboro - above it is Winnipesaukee.

Piper & Swett Mts from Hidden Valley

dcr — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:01:59 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A shot of Piper and Swett Mts yesterday from the waterfront of Lake Eileen at the Hidden Valley Scout Camp in Gilmanton. Piper and Swett Mts are in the center background.

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Barndoor & Rattlesnake from Longstack Mt

dcr — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:15:08 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view to the NW from Longstack Mt in Wolfeboro.

View North from Lookout Knob

dcr — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:28:31 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Lookout Knob is at the Hidden Valley Scout Camp in Gilmanton. 4 peaks of the Belknap Range are visible from a viewpoint near its summit. At the far left, mostly hidden by the branch of the tree, is Rand Mt. To its right, under the arching branch, is the nearly flat top of Mt Anna. Just a bit to the right of that is the summit of West Quarry Mt. Framed between 2 trees near the center is the long, arching summit of Straightback Mt. Photo taken today, a rather cool, breezy day, which provided great visibility.

Winnipesaukee from Longstack Mt

dcr — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 01:03:56 +0000

by: dcr

Description: From an open area near the top of Longstack Mt in Wolfeboro. A view primarily of Lake Winnipesaukee, focusing on The Broads, with many of the mountains of the NW on the horizon, from Mt Major, at the far left, to Sandwich Dome at the far right. Taken recently, so there is a fair amount of color in the scene.

Fall Color at Lake Eileen

dcr — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:39:32 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Photo today at the Hidden Valley Scout Camp at Lake Eileen. In the far background we see Piper Mt in the center rear- just in front of it, slightly to the left is Swett Mt. At the far right you see the western slope of Mt Belknap. A somewhat overcast day produced the subdued light that seems to make it possible for me to get decent color from this photo. A slight breeze roughened the surface of the water enough to greatly reduce the color reflections in the lake, tho.

Fall View - Alton Mt Rd

dcr — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:23:24 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A roadside view from Alton Mt Rd on Pine Mt. You see the Rattlesnake Island, Woodlands area of Winnipesaukee and Mt Major and Cedar Mt in the background. Wolfeboro Neck can also be seen, but everything behind it is lost in the haze.

View NW from Turtleback Mt

dcr — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:35:16 +0000

by: dcr

Description: From Bald Knob - an annotated version of an earlier post. Red Hill, starting at the far left, occupies about 1/2 of the width of the pic-only at the center does it pierce the horizon. Prospect Mt (Holderness) just peeks up behind its summit, to the left. To its left you see the 2 summits of Cotton Mt, near the shores of Squam Lake (partly visible). Beyond Red Hill, just below Carr Mt, you see Webster, Morgan & Percival, etc of the Squam Range. Smarts Mt, above the secondary summit of Red Hill, is a hikers favorite in western NH. Immediately between Stinson and Carr Mts is Stinson Lake, not seen here. In the foreground you see the Castle on Lee Mt, at the left, and the castle grounds, stable and the bottling plant at the right.

An Early Hint of Fall

dcr — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:18:13 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Red maples tend to be among the earliest of trees to produce bright fall colors in this area. Oaks have more subdued colors and are slower to show fall color. In this photo, taken at an edge of the abandoned blueberry pasture at Pine Mt in Alton, a red maple nearly totally surrounded by oaks shows a robust red color fairly early in the season.

View West from Pine Mt

dcr — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:47:46 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Looking west from an open cliff on the SW side of Pine Mt. Kearsarge is one of the major peaks of western NH. Grant Hill and Durrell Mt are local peaks, located in Gilmanton. Whiteface, Piper, Shannon, Swett and Avery Hill are part of the Belknap Range. Dickinson Hill is a hill in Hill, NH - it is taller than Mt Major and is about 25 miles away in this shot, seen only because it lies in the gap (Durrell Notch) formed between Durrell Mt and Whiteface Mt. Guinea Ridge is in Gilmanton, just west of Manning Lake, Lake Eileen and Sunset Lake. The house that can be seen at the lower left-center is alongside the Avery Hill Rd in Alton.

Mt Major from Longstack Mt

dcr — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:58:44 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view from east to west, across Alton Bay, from the ledges of Longstack Mt in Wolfeboro/Alton. Major is 6 miles from Longstack. Further west, behind Major, which occupies most of the bottom half of the photo, are portions of Straightback, N Straightback and E Quarry Mts. The ledgy summit of Major can be seen in the upper left center of the photo, at about the same level as the ridge joining Straitback and N Straitback.

View West from Halls Hill

dcr — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:24:29 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This an annotated version of a photo I posted some time ago.

A View NE from Little Pine Mt

dcr — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:59:51 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This is an enhanced version of a photo I posted in February of 2004. Since then I have acquired a simple version of Photoshop and have learned a little bit about using a few of its photo enhancement features, so I have tried my hand at making the photo a little more colorful and sharp. This one also has some annotations.

Bald Knob, The Castle & Red Hill

dcr — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:13:20 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A telescopic shot WNW from Bald Knob across The Castle to the fire tower at the top of Red Hill. An early winter shot from some years ago - a near-perfect alignment.

Brook Walk - Bridal Veil Falls

dcr — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:47:59 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This falls, with a 30 ft drop, is the 2nd largest falls to be seen while walking the historic old path known as Brook Walk at Castle in the Clouds. This path was made in the late 1800's, but was essentially abandoned in the early 1900's - a few years ago, after the LRCT bought the property, it was reclaimed and opened to the public once again. Brook Walk path is about .5 miles long, providing many scenic brookside views, including 10 waterfalls.

Whittier Falls-Brook Walk Trail-Castle in the Clouds

dcr — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:57:16 +0000

by: dcr

Description: One of a series of waterfalls to be seen on the historic and short Brook Walk Trail, only about a half-mile long and within a few minutes walk of the parking area.

A Hikers Aid at Oak Ridge Lookout

dcr — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:04:25 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Just recently installed at the Oak Ridge Lookout on the Oak Ridge Trail at the Castle is the hikers aid shown at the bottom of the photo. It shows the names of mountains in the viewscape - mostly those seen on the horizon. The picture used was one shown in this gallery a few years ago.

Arriving at the Summit

dcr — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:57:03 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A hiker just reaching the top of Mt Major, where the fall scenery is showing to good effect. A late Sept or early Oct shot of a year or two ago.

View from Shannon Mt

dcr — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:16:40 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view from the summit of Shannon Mt down across the Hidden Valley Scout Camp (most buildings hidden behind trees) to 2 beaver impoundments just beyond. The one in the upper left corner is the larger of the 2, but was abandoned some time ago; now the dam is breached and there is no pond, just a marsh. The one just right of center is a more recent, still active beaver area. Not only is there a family of beaver there, but this is a very active blue heron rookery, with a half-dozen or more herons raising chicks this year. It also served as a nesting site for a pair of osprey - 2 years ago osprey nested here, but last year they were missing - it was good to see them back at the site this year. In the upper left corner you can see a part of Crystal Lake.

Mt Shaw from Turtleback Mt

dcr — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:31:58 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view to the NNE from the summit of Turtleback Mt to the summit of Mt Shaw. You can see 3 of the 4 summit levels of Shaw - the highest peak is at the far left at the top, which provides the spectacular view from W to E that has been posted on this site a number of times; to the N (left here) is the 4th and lowest summit, but it is out of sight behind the tallest summit. The right-most summit of Shaw has its own name, Black Snout - it provides fine views to the south of Winnipesaukee and surrounding mountains. Note, off to the far right, a portion of the exceptional example of columnar jointing to be found at Turtleback's summit - this example shows only the tops of the columns, looking something like tile laid on a floor. At the right on the horizon is Big Ball (or Tate) Mt.

Another Red Hill Mansion

dcr — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:35:36 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A few days ago I posted a photo of a mansion high up on the SE side of Red Hill, accessed from Rte 25. There is another large home built high up on the southerly side of Red Hill, with access from the Red Hill Rd. This one doesn't appear to be quite as large as the first one, but it may be a bit higher up on the mountain - I estimate at about 1100 ft. Both homes have views of Winnipesaukee, Kanasatka, and Squam Lakes -this home can be seen from Rte 25, where the boat launch site on the southerly end of Lake Kanasatka is located. As with the earlier photo, the shot was taken from Rte 25B, on the northerly side of Sunset Hill, just NW of Center Harbor.

A Fine Day for Golf

dcr — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:59:08 +0000

by: dcr

Description: I've played golf on this course perhaps a half-dozen times over the years, but not since the course changed its name from Perry Hollow to the newer Lake Winnipesaukee Country Club. Therefore I'm not sure which hole this is - it is within sight of the road into the parking lot at the clubhouse. The course is quite challenging - it lies at the base of the west side of Copple Crown Mt, so has some holes with rugged terrain and some fairly flat holes as well.

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Clubhouse - LWCC

dcr — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:41:16 +0000

by: dcr

Description: The clubhouse at the Lake Winnipesaukee Country Club, formerly known as Perry Hollow.

Looking for Blueberries ?

dcr — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:00:30 +0000

by: dcr

Description: I don't know if moose eat blueberries - since they are browse animals, probably not. But this moose was climbing to the top of Pine Mt in Alton, a recently abandoned blueberry pasture - in only a few years large numbers of young, primarily deciduous trees, have started to take over the edges of the field, and the moose would most likely be interested in them. Alton Bay in the background, a little south of Echo Point.

Pine Mt View to the NE

dcr — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:43:02 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Recent photo from Pine Mt in Alton - a red arrow near the middle of the photo points out a hard-to-see moose descending from the summit.

A Red Hill Mansion

dcr — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:31:09 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This view is of a large mansion that sits high up (elev. about 1000 ft) on the SE side of Red Hill. It is visible from a number of spots on the Moultonboro Neck portion of Rte 25. The shot was taken from Rte 25B, on the northerly side of Sunset Hill, just NW of Center Harbor, near the LRCT offices. The background is the SW slope of Black Snout (west) of the Ossipees.

Annotated View from Summit of Mt Shaw

dcr — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:54 +0000

by: dcr

Description: I was recently asked by the LRCT to provide them with an annotated view from the summit of Mt Shaw that they could post there to assist hikers in identifying the many northern peaks to be seen from Shaw. Seeing some flaws in the several panoramas I had made, I recalled a photo of the scene by Don Hughes that I felt would fit the bill better - I asked him if he would permit me to use it and he graciously agreed. Thanks again, Don. Unfortunately, reducing a 20+ megabyte file down to 600-700 kilobytes has corrupted some of the text and made it hard to read. The LRCT still needs to decide whether or not my effort is useful to them.

Mt Shaw - The View NW

dcr — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:18:30 +0000

by: dcr

Description: The tallest peaks in this scene are Mt La Fayette and Mt Lincoln, both over 5000 ft high. They are the tallest peaks in the western half of the state - both are part of the Franconia Range and are usually climbed from the Franconia Notch State Park. Mountains in the bottom half of the photo are part of the Ossipee Range.

Emerald Pool Falls

dcr — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:44:02 +0000

by: dcr

Description: This falls became famous in the late 19th & early 20th century, in the Ossipee Park days. It was named Emerald Pool because if you viewed the pool at the base of the falls at the proper angle, and in favorable light, the water would often have a deep green cast to it. This had to be partly because it was surrounded on both sides by huge trees with lots of green leaves or needles, which color was no doubt reflected by the relatively calm water of the pool.

The Falls of Song Cave

dcr — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:51:07 +0000

by: dcr

Description: In pre-colonial times tribes of Indians lived on the northern shores of Winnipesaukee. Their most feared enemies were the Mohawks, who often attacked from the west (upper New York). When attacks were imminent, the local Indians sent the women and children up Shannon Brook for a mile or more until they reached Falls of Song, for there was a hidden cave there where they could hide undetected. It is impossible to see the cave, hidden behind the high ledge just to the left of where the falls drops. During glacial meltback, the huge volumes of water apparently created a whirlpool at the bottom of the falls, which carved out this cave in the face of the ledge. You're looking down about 45' from the top of the cliff-the cave is at the top-in the right corner you see the very bottom of the falls, just before it strikes the brook. It would be very dangerous to attempt to wade the brook to see the cave, for the water near the falls would be over your head.

Summit of Suncook Mt

dcr — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:11:50 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Suncook is in the western part of the Belknaps, immediately west of Round Pond, whose western shores are on the east side of the mountain. It is one of the few mountains in the range that have no trails to their summits, unless you count an unmarked, very primitive path that leads there. It has a very flat summit, with several wavy ridges of little elevation difference - most of these multiple summits are covered thickly by long-undisturbed stands of spruce trees, as seen in this photo of the true summit.

Mt Roberts Trail View

dcr — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:59:24 +0000

by: dcr

Description: One of a great many excellent views to be seen along Roberts Ridge as you hike the Mt Roberts Trail at Castle in the Clouds - this trail is considered by many to be the finest hiking trail in the Lakes Region. The center of the photo shows the Castle and the Castle grounds, as well as much of Lake Winnipesaukee.

A Chance Meeting

dcr — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:53:39 +0000

by: dcr

Description: Yesterday I made the short hike to the outlook on Pine Mt in Alton. Just as I reached the top from the west, I saw a moose approaching the top from the east. He stopped and stared intently at me for a while, and then turned and ambled slowly off to the NW to get behind the brush you see at the far left. I was glad to experience the chance encounter, but I was equally glad that he chose not to claim a spot on the top also. When he first saw me he laid his ears back near horizontal, which often can mean that the moose is not pleased and may be feeling aggressive. View to the ENE - a line from the middle of the bottom of the photo over the moose's rump passes over part of Echo Point, Trask Swamp, Lake Wentworth and Green Mt, on the horizon.

Golf Anyone ??

dcr — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:33:34 +0000

by: dcr

Description: I was somewhat surprised when I looked out through a gap in the trees from the side of Halls Mt and noticed this stream of water arcing around on the side of Mt Jesse. I quickly recognized it as an irrigation head, like you would see at a golf course, irrigating an open field; but the only golf course in miles would have been the Winnipesaukee Golf Club, near Copple Crown and there was a taller mountain between that and me. Then I recalled that Mt Jesse has long had a large set of blueberry fields on it which I had visited 30 or more years ago, and realized that it was apparently still operating, to my surprise.

Mansion on Piper Mt of the Belknaps

dcr — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:07:01 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A couple of years ago this newly-built 20-room mansion on a shoulder of Piper Mt was offered at a special auction, where any bid had to be at least 7 million dollars - no one offered to bid that much so the auction failed. Here is a web site that shows details about the estate: http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/763902 A year or so later it sold at a private sale, for an undisclosed sum. This photo of it was taken today from the newly cleared outlook at the end of the Carriage Road that goes half-way up Belknap Mt.

A Bird's-Eye-View

dcr — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:54:02 +0000

by: dcr

Description: A view from a large ledge half-way up the westerly slope of Halls Mt in Brookfield, near the Kings Highway. A shot through a gap in the trees to the mostly dry lake-bed of Jones Pond. This is in the Ellis Hatch Wildlife Management Area and Fish & Game stocks what's left of this once 20-acre pond with brook trout, which more than a few anglers make a try for. Most of the pond bottom is high and dry, as the earthen dam failed some years ago and now only modest amounts of water are held back.

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