A Cathedral in the Pines and a Pond in Fall Colors
2020 was the year of day trips on our fall foliage travels, and here is a trip we did in a day*
Greeting my fellow leaf peepers! We have had storms (several), and we have had snow, and we are still running around looking for the fall colors. I’m back again at work till Sunday and then I’ll go out again and look for some more fall colors.
Ashburnham Massachusetts, Watatic Pond
Lisa and I drove 181 miles, driving from Salem up through Ashby Massachusetts, to Rindge New Hampshire, and then back home again. It started out spitting rain at us but as we approached Ashburnham Massachusetts and Watatic Pond, the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to cut through the clouds.
In the space of 5 minutes, it went from dark and moody on the pond with only a little sun filtering through, to being much brighter, and we swapped moody for cheery.
There was a nice pull out on the side to allow safe stopping, and it allowed me to walk back and capture both sides of the pond.
Cathedral in the Pines
This spot is a multi-denominational chapel and for a fun fact, each president since the late 1940s has stopped in and placed a rock on the Veterans Memorial Alter, and each has been permanently affixed there.
As you walk from the parking lot towards the bell tower, if you are lucky, it will starting chiming a song like it did when we walked up to it. Views of the fall colors looking out from the parking lot include a tapestry of fall colors on the rolling hills and a nice grey barn with a red barn door.
When you walk past the bell tower you may see Mount Monadnock through the trees, and in fall there are two red maples framing the pathway to an open outdoor chapel. There are benches on different levels facing the lectern and beyond that you have a wide open view of a valley with Mount Monadnock on the far side.
Dublin NH and back home
We left Ringe and made our way to Dublin and Peterborough NH. I pulled in to the U-shaped parking lot and looked around a bit before heading down the hill to lunch at the Dublin General Store (more on this in a General Store article)
We did turn toward home, but on Route 62 in North Reading MA was this gorgeous maple. So even though you may have trouble finding “Perfect” fall colors, I guarantee that even the most hard-nosed leaf peeper would be going Ohhh, or Wow… Look at that tree.
Thanks to my Patrons
I’m not retired yet so to pay the bills, I rely on your generous donations and was able to drive a little over 4,100 miles so far this Sept-Oct. Lisa and I did this out of the sense of adventure of finding new places around New England to explore and to help you locate the beauty that New England has to offer.
Even if we are done There are still folks out there exploring and they are publishing their findings on the New England fall foliage Facebook Group. They are posting the date the images were taken and the general location to better help others find the same fall colors. Good hunting my foliage friends…
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
- Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
- Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
- My Facebook foliage page
- Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
- Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
- You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here
Beautiful contrast between the 2 pond pictures. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed them. You’re not the only one… Someone just bought the moody image and the view of Cathedral Pines and Mount Monadnock… Seems it was popular… So much so I turned the latter into a puzzle as well…
Beautiful contrast between the 2 pond pictures. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed them. You’re not the only one… Someone just bought the moody image and the view of Cathedral Pines and Mount Monadnock… Seems it was popular… So much so I turned the latter into a puzzle as well…