Revisiting the Great North Woods….sort of.
Posted by: Rich in Arizona, Digital Photography, Notes from Gadget, On the road No, I didn’t pack up the trailer and head to Pittsburg New Hampshire today. Although while out today I felt like I was there.
Instead, I took a new trip in search of those elusive unique photos along the back roads of Arizona, and I found myself remembering so much about my time in New Hampshire’s North country. I’d been informed that some interesting cliff dwellings existed near Perkinsville, AZ., and I decided to take a ride out and see if I could find them. While I failed to find the dwellings, I did find something I’ve missed for a while. A sense of real adventure, exploring, and wondering what’s around the next bend…..
Just like my time in the Great North Woods. I remembered a lot more too.
For years I’d traveled to the Northern reaches of New Hampshire. The first trip up was in a 1999 Jeep. Fully loaded at the time too. Two people, two labs, and all the gear that goes with the passengers. Full house. :) Getting away from the White Mountains, exploring somewhere new, and finding places where you really are on your own in the woods…..
Trips became more frequent from 2002 forward, and a Eurovan weekender was used in place of the Jeep. Exploring the abandoned logging roads, mapping routes for mountain bikers, and enjoying the lonely cry of loons were the activities we sought out back then.
Soon the Eurovan was replaced by an Airstream. The Airstream I’m writing from today as a matter of fact. One of the major pushes behind buying it was to allow my family more time in the North Woods while keeping some more of the comforts of home with us. Kayaking, moose photography (loons too), hiking and cycling would all be supported by the Airstream. It was a good plan, but unfortunately soon after getting it all the big life changes came rushing one after another. We never really did get to have the next phase of adventures……
As I drove to Perkinsville today on so many lonely dirt roads I remembered the thrill of exploration in Pittsburg, NH. Sure, Airzona isn’t the North Country, but I still saw glimpses of it in the high desert country. And I remembered my exploration back there like it was yesterday. It also struck me that most of my exploration years ago was on my own as well. My spouse always seemed to have something else to do, and made trips up with me less frequently, and for shorter times. What a washboard road can remind you of……
30 miles into the washboard riding I still hadn’t found the ruin site I was looking for, but it was ok. Looking out from Perkinsville I saw the redrocks lining up east of me. Blue skies, red rocks, high desert…..a stunning site. Around one bend in the road as I started to descend the scene took me back to the first time I saw the Canadian border while plotting a bike route. Rough dirt road, top of the land, around a curve preparing to descend. Nobody but me out there, and nobody for miles around. And here in Arizona I felt that again, and felt like I was home.
There were no moose on today’s trip (a standard in Pittsburg). No loon cries either. And the area lacks massive frigid lakes like Northern NH. Instead I found a running river, heard the cry of hawks, waited for a few antelope to cross the road (the camera wasn’t ready), and watched a few horses enjoy their view on a hill top.
Sure, it’s not the Great North Woods of New Hampshire, but today’s trip brought all those memories up so easily that it might as well have been. Here’s to exploring where you are!
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i too love to travel to places unknown. hence driving across the country from california to florida via michigan, then back along the southern route. i have traveled the entire west coast from the mexican border to the canadian.
i like discovery and exploration.
when i went to the UK i had no itinerary other than knowing i would be there thirty days.
i have ventured into various provinces of canada.
what i find interesting is how certain landscapes, roads, sounds, can retrieve memories long buried.
a camera is an accessory i must have as i venture out in search of new adventures.
Riiiich! What a great post! I miss these… Beautiful words, and beautiful pictures.
I’ve always loved seeing what’s around the corner. Amazingly enough, some of that has been dulled over the past few years. Insurance, working with others, and the rest seem to dominate lately….
With those few items in hand, I’d love nothing more than to see what’s around the next corner every day.
Shame the camera was packed away while the antelope crossed. One antelope in the road staring at me, then the second showed up….finally the third. They watched, I unbuckled and tried to get the case….and once the camera was out they took off. Smart little antelope.
Actually….anti-social lope. That’s what I’ve been calling them lately. A camera lens pops out and they’re GONE!
Yeah…those Anti-Social Lope are cagey beasties…actually, some smart Prescottonian decided to re-locate them (love that…makes me picture them loading all their stuff up in a U-Haul and driving it somewhere new) because everything is expanding (everything=humans with McMansions) and I believe they had a heck of a time adjusting (mostly because, I believe…they’re ANIMALS and animals have the whole territory thing going for them?) Which was nothing compared to when they moved them AGAIN…see? That’s why they’re all scared, they probably believe if there’s picture evidence of them out there…they’ll have to pick up and move again…
progress…sigh.
For your exploring pleasure, I recommend the upper reaches of Sycamore Canyon, which consist of very shallow canyons up on the plateau in the Kaibab, usually containing a lovely series of pools. Not having been up to Pomroy Tanks since the big drought started, I don’t know how these waterways have fared. But they can be absolutely beautiful!
i had an experience similar to your with the anti-social lopes. i was on a trip into the mountains of wyoming on horseback. a bald eagle was perched at the very top of a pine tree.
my camera was in the saddlebags. i had a poncho rolled and tucked beneath the back edge of my saddle. as i reached back to open the saddlebag to retrieve the camera, the poncho loosened and brushed the horse’s haunches. it spooked. the commotion caused the eagle to fly away.
i was soooo bummed. yet, i can still conjure the image in my memory.