Happy Friday folks! Well, I’m down to the last 3 of the 7 “new” photographs I told you I had to share back in January. And yes, I saved my 3 favorite for last! This one (and the remaining 2 you’ll see in April) is/are very special to me. As is the case with most of my favorite photographs, it isn’t just their beauty that makes them stand out, but the story behind them.
So, immediate contradiction - although the story behind capturing the actual image here is not all that exciting (aside from the drama Nature provided that daybreak!😍), the ordeal my fiancé and I overcame the week prior, which consequently leads to the title of this photograph, is what I consider to be somewhat entertaining. So, here you go…
A word of warning - if you find yourself in the state of Vermont and come upon a “road” classified as a Class 4, unless you are driving a serious Off-Road 4x4 vehicle with aggressive tires and a generous lift, TURN AROUND!!!
In our defense, we did not know such a thing existed, nor what we were getting into! Our plan was simple - follow our printed out map to a labeled parking area 1/2 mile or so into the mountain and enjoy a lovely couple days backpacking…
Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. At first, the “road” was kind of fun! Anna drives a Subaru Outback and I have a Nissan Xterra (driving separately because my Xterra was filled to the gills for back to back weekend art festivals). Anyway, we were crawling over semi-big rocks and feeling all off-roady with a bit of an adrenaline rush going deeper into the mountains. After a while, it seemed we should have come across this parking area and the terrain rapidly got… more challenging let’s say.
Here I am, watching Anna in front of me in her Subaru seemingly crushing this off-road adventure and I’m cringing at the smashing sounds on my under carriage as we now are tackling legit boulders! Finally we stopped and convened and I realized that Anna was not “crushing it.” She was having the same anxiety I was about the situation and our vehicles. However at this point we felt trying to go back out the same way may be next to impossible and “it had to get better.”
Well, no it didn’t. At one point I got stuck for a moment amongst rocks and forest debris, needing 4-low to grind out. Then Anna’s Outback succumbed to a big mud patch. I actually was able to push her out with my Xterra twice before it became too much. We were stuck in the mud, literally.
I refrain from sharing all the details, but let’s just say emotions were had. But, we pulled it together, realized obviously we were prepared for spending the night out in the woods anyway and set up camp as we were losing light at this point and knew that searching for help would most likely go better in the morning. I remember thinking at the time how much stronger this will make us if we can get through it without a major breakdown. And we did, and I do often think of this as one of those great make or break moments of one’s inner strength, on both of our ends. It would have been so easy to lose it completely, but we persevered in our togetherness.
Now, I want to stress the importance of having some sort of GPS device when embarking on such things. I am all about being off grid and cut off from civilization and all that, but in reality having a means to track yourself, even a simple app on your phone that can follow you off-line can make a huge difference in a bad situation or a really really bad situation! I personally use AllTrails to track myself when I’m “out there” and I’ll tell you what - in this situation it was a life saver! I was able to see that we were a little less than a mile from a main road and how to get there.
After taking a while to calm down, we talked ourselves through it, got a little rest, and were up at dawn to make our way way down to the road. We could also hear construction sounds in that direction which was an added reassurance. In many ways it was frustrating to know we were so close to getting out of there but then as we made our way down the path we came upon two huge obstacles which would have prevented us from getting out anyway - a big birch tree toppled over on the “road” and then a locked gate.
At this point we are thinking, at least my best solution was that we would find cell service and contact the Forestry Department to get help. Then, upon getting to the road, we saw a house right across the street. Carefully we approached and met our would be saviors…
For several reasons, I am not publicly going to go into all the details that ensued here, but in a nutshell - I was able to use their phone and the Forestry Dept. idea was going nowhere. The family of the house however had a viable option…
We went that route and a mere few hours after waking in what could have been an absolute nightmare situation on so many accounts, we were getting out of! Once they pulled Anna’s Outback out of the mud with their truck and chain, I was able to free myself in 4-low. And then with a fist pump out her driver side window and a huge smile of relief on her face, Anna’s exuberance was contagious.
Once out, we took a quick look at our vehicles and although we both had some issues to eventually fix that most definitely were a result of all this (especially me and my Xterra!), both were at least still driving fine at that time and we are both still driving those same vehicles to this day! We thanked this family from the bottom of our hearts before parting ways and then Anna looks at me and says “let’s go backpacking!!!”
I was shocked! But obviously it made my day that she would still want to backpack for a night after this fiasco😊 We first went and got a delicious lunch from a local market and decompressed a bit but yeah, so exuberant from being saved from this ordeal, we then went backpacking… oh and we parked at the easily accessible trailhead this time!
So all of this is taking place around Moose Mountain on the western side of Lake Willoughby in the Northeast Kingdom. Along the Moose Mountain Trail, there are several overlooks. One of which being Wheeler Pond. The foliage this year (2019) was ridiculous and the views were mind boggling! On our hike out, we stopped that I could expose a couple sheets of film of this kaleidoscope of colors. I said to Anna - “I am going to title this ‘Gratitude’ because well, I was feeling pretty darn gratuitous towards that family that could have just turned us away but instead saved our butts and gratuitous that Anna and I could even be here right now enjoying this with so many less cares than could have been!
Fast forward to when I process that film - there is a completely blown out blast of light right in the center of the exposures due to a crack in the film holders’ dark slides that I was unaware of. No salvaging something like that😔
However, go back to the story at hand and to the following week, Anna and I are at our lean-to site at Little River State Park, VT which is our typical thing to do following the Stowe Art Festival on Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend. I awoke before dawn this one morning and I could tell from the mist and fog rising off the reservoir that something special could indeed unfold…
By now you have probably glimpsed the image below and I don’t have to tell you that it certainly was magnificent! But I do want to tell you how special this place is to Anna and I. We kind of stumbled upon it accidentally the first time we ever came here and it was love at first sight. There was actually a heart made out of maple leaves on the ground in the middle of our campsite when we arrived. This little vacation lean-to camping week has become one of Anna and I’s favorite things in the world. So much so that I chose this spot to propose to her this past October - yes I re-created the maple leaf heart and yes, she said yes😁
When it came time to title this photograph, I sat there thinking for a while and then it hit me - it is “Gratitude.” Maybe not the same exact way I had envisioned it, but still for all of the reasons I have mentioned above I feel the gratitude when I gaze upon this image and think about that dawn.
And here is a little something I wrote that morning after photographing the scene and before laying back down next to Anna for a bit…
October 15th, 2019 Little River State Park, VT
“Such a peaceful, uplifting morning as dawn breaks over Little River Reservoir. Autumn is in full swing as every color of the season paints the forests and mountainsides with beautiful contrast against the dark evergreens. And the fog rolling through, mist lifting off the water, rising above the forest and into heavenly blue skies is nothing short of divine. Such a crisp air this morning, all the bounties of the season are upon us.”
All my best,
Brandon
P.S. - To all of you following along on this journey, my utmost gratitude to you for your support as well!
“Gratitude” - Brandon Kline
“Gratitude” - Brandon Kline