panoramania in just twenty minutes

Howdy, world! First up, in an unusual twist, I went for a quickie hike the other day up Black Mountain, which has a fantastic bang for buck ratio. A twenty minute hike from one of the trailheads gets you panoramic views in three directions:

To the east, world-famous Mt. Monadnock. You can see where the next generation of camera would come in handy for a shot like this – my trusty point-and-shoot, which has developed its neural network in concert with mine, wants to focus on the nearby foliage.

To the south, Mt. Wantastiquet looming over the Connecticut River valley and Brattleboro, with – if you squint – the nuclear power plant in the distance. (Just to the right of where that power cut chops up the flank of Monadnock.) I know it doesn’t look like it’s looming from here, but trust me, if you are in downtown Bratt looking east, that sucker looms.

 

To the southwest, the West River sneaking up on the Connecticut River.

 

And to the west, using super-duper zoom, we have Mt. Haystack. My dad’s buried within sight of Haystack. Hi Dad!

Aw crap.

I just realized that today marks the four year anniversary of his death. Wow. Just…wow. I think of him every day. Particularly lately, as I’ve been working out at the same gym he used to go to.

Where was I. Black Mountain’s cool because it features a bunch of different kinds of ecosystems, including species somewhat unusual for these here parts.

To wit, red pine. (Two needles per bunch.)

 

And the trails leading up to the summit are flanked by mountain laurel, which ought to make for a pretty fantastic spring. Note to self: go back in the spring.