I took two days last week and headed for the woods. I think they call them "mental health days". I've never done it before, but the schedule has been so insane lately for me- I really needed it. And it was incredible. I went to Baxter State Park in Millinocket Maine from Wed-Saturday, where my buddy, and fellow photographer- Scott had rented a cabin on Daicey Pond. The plan was to hike, shoot, and chill out. We photographed everything from moose, to waterfalls, foliage, and anything that caught our eye.
For those that don't know- Baxter is a 250,000 acre wildlife park. NO electricity, cell service or internet. Just the outdoors. There's one dirt road (that can barely fit two cars passing each other) that runs 50 miles north to south. All woods, ponds, streams, waterfalls, and of course- the centerpiece of it all - Mt Katahdin (the tallest mountain in Maine).
Here's a view from the cabin we stayed in -
It didn't suck. The view was a million dollar view of Katahdin, and our cabin was feet from the water. Incredible.
First things first- stopped at Sandy Stream Pond- and saw this girl....
So cool to watch. She had a calf hiding in the woods that came out a little while after I shot this. Haven't checked out those images yet. Heres another view of Sandy Stream Pond. (Sorry I'm in the pic....haha)
And even though we're in the middle of nowhere - there is one thing I'm NOT going to go without...
COFFFEE! Ladies and gents- one of the coolest inventions out there- the JET BOIL Coffee Maker. Piping hot coffee in 60 seconds! Boils the water in a minute- then pour it over your ground coffee- and BOOM. Its awesome!
We did some night shooting, and with a full moon, it felt like we were shooting in daylight! Here's a pic my buddy Scott took of me shooting some rapids....
Pretty cool, right?
I shot this next pic for Roadkill....
When you gotta go....... here's your shitter....
Haha! Roadkill would DIE before going into an outhouse! What a baby!!!! hahah - But I will say - CLEANEST OUTHOUSES I've ever seen.
And yes, I've seen many...
Anyway - more from this trip in a different post.
Got home Saturday night- and got right back up at 4am to head to the White Mountains for sunrise along the Kancamagus...and it was worth it...
Crazy beautiful.
And the moments before the sun rose were spectacular as well - check this out - a shot from Lincoln NH at the CL Graham Wangan Overlook
I shot the rise, then a couple of waterfalls once it got cloudy - and headed home to watch the game at my son Tyler's place...
Friggin kid knows how to do it. Pats on one tv, The Red Zone on the other.
And lastly- took my parents out to dinner. Went to one place that didn't have enough help and the wait was too long (felt bad for the workers there) so we headed over to Applebees. Yup, just like Ricky Bobby with his Mom and Dad....
They read the menu like it was their EKG results!!! INTENSE, man!!! haha =
So I have more on the Baxter trip - and a story about my FML day coming up...
But I'll leave you this hint....
And it only got worse from there. Details coming up...
Hope you had a good weekend-
g