On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Dagaetch
Maybe it’s just because I was able to get out more than usual (having finally finished grad school, yay), but I felt like the colors this year were as good as I’ve ever seen them. Even the trees at the side of the highways were glorious for a few days. Considering the anxiety I’ve been feeling over *gestures broadly*, it was awfully nice to spend a few hours each weekend just going somewhere with my camera and not thinking about anything else.
I’d never been here before, but had it marked as a possible location. What a beautiful place…I spent a very happy hour maneuvering around the rocks and fallen logs to take different views.
Same location, completely different image. Most of the parks in MA have the trees very close together, with few opportunities to highlight a single glorious trunk. Here was the exception – this tree was at the edge of a field, and the sun was at just the right angle to highlight the magnificent yellow while still shading the background.
This park is practically in the middle of town. I wish it was the town I lived in…I’d be there every day.
This was practically taken from the side of the road. I had wandered in the park for about 30 minutes, somewhat disappointed at the lack of good photo opportunities. Returning to my car, I happened to look across the street and discovered this scene. Instant better photographer mood.
Reflections are the best. I was hiking with a friend, had just brought my camera and a single lens. It may have been for the best – if I’d had all my gear, I would have tried to setup and take my time, except about 30 seconds after taking the picture the light disappeared and it wasn’t as pretty.
Same hike with friend. This was a little peninsula across the small pond that we couldn’t figure out how to actually get to, but the shocking red undergrowth was just so cool.
I did lots of wandering this fall, trying out various local places with foliage. This was a cool trail I was walking on – the leaves had mostly fallen, but I really liked how the roots here look like steps and the color is still pretty.
More reflections! :) somehow the ripples on the water give this a painterly effect that I really like. Little bits of color actually look better in the water then they did on the trees.
Sometimes it’s the absence of color that can stand out the most. These ferns turn white shortly before they drop, and up against the otherwise deep colors of fall, they make themselves known.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Nice color. I went out to shoot fall color at Arroyo Seco Sunday, there was some but not much.
Mary G
Those are magnificent! Love the big yellow tree in the second place, all the reflections, all the ground shots, all the pictures, in fact. Also, congratulations on finishing grad school.
arrieve
These are simply gorgeous. I want to be there.
JanieM
I’m just laughing out loud in disbelief. These are so beautiful it’s hard to believe they belong to this world. And each one is better than the last. Wow. Thanks for keeping a record of your wanderings, and sharing it with us.
Also, you gave me a rush of until-this-moment forgotten memories at the mention of Dalton. In the summer of 1970 I did a solo hike on the Appalachian Trail, starting just off I-90 in [ETA: not Lenox but] Lee and ending in North Adams a few days later. I spent one of the nights on the couch of Mrs. Fred Hutchinson in a nothing little place called Washington Town Hall. Mrs. Hutchinson was in the AMC Trail Guide as someone who was friendly to hikers, but she went above and beyond with me in part because it was threatening rain on the night I knocked on her door to see if she’d let me fill my water bottle. (It did rain, very hard.) I ended up having dinner with her and her two other (old lady) friends — they each had their own silver napkin ring.
But Dalton was where, IIRC, I stumbled off the trail and got a motel room for the night because by then I was pretty far beyond exhausted….
Ah, to be young again…
ETA: Before someone points out that the AT doesn’t go through Lee: I spent the night before the hike in Lee, and hitched a ride to pick up the trail a mile or two out of town the next morning. It was Tanglewood season, so my hope of finding a B&B was dashed, but once again due to the kindness of strangers, I slept on a fold-out cot in the garage of a B&B just off the highway. I haven’t thought about any of this for years, probably decades, and here comes Dagaetch with pictures that trigger memories…..
Dan B
Your pictures are luminous. Thanks for sharing.
I’m curious what you were studying on grad school.
UncleEbeneezer
Aww, this makes me miss New England.
Benw
Unreal colors. Thanks so much for sharing. They look computer generated (that’s not an insult)!
Dagaetch
@Dan B: educational technology. I work in higher ed online learning.
Kattails
Sending a link to my sister, we live just up north a bit so get the foliage, but so nice to see places to walk. I would really enjoy the falls! Great photos, thanks.
WaterGirl
Every one of these is absolutely stunning. I am in awe.
tomtofa
Beautifully done. And what a range of images within a theme!
stinger
Wowza. I can’t even pick a favorite. All of them, Katie.
BigJimSlade
Lovely pics Dagaetch! That one that you say has a painterly effect – my first thought was, hey, impressionism!
Louise B.
Beautiful pictures! Thank you!
Spanish Moss
Gorgeous pictures! Some of the waterfalls in the Berkshires have Native American legends associated with them:
http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2010/09/legend-of-wahconah-falls.html
Tehanu
Lovely, thank you.
Debbie(Aussie)
Very beautiful! Autumn colour is rare in Australia. Thanks so much for sharing.
Aleta
WOW
susanna
Stunning areas in Maine. Loved the reflections and forest pathway, easing the mind into its own reflection. Thank you. I hope you have more to share
suezboo
thank you for these truly beautiful pics. we in africa don’t as a rule get this fall leaves thing north america does so well. not indigenous anyway. i love seeing places and things i would otherwise never experience.thanks again and congrats on your useful degree.
Mike in Oly
Gorgeous park and photos. Thanks for sharing them with us. Sure brightened a gloomy morning.
Denali
Yes, in a very disconnected time, the splendid colors were a gift this fall. Your photos are breathtaking.
Miss Bianca
@UncleEbeneezer: IKR?
StringOnAStick
Oh, that photo of the roots is mind bendingly excellent.
Kattails
@Spanish Moss: That was a fun read! thanks for posting.