Monday, January 5, 2009

To Operate Drop Coin In Slot



It has been exactly one year since my last post about it, so I took a quick run up to Quabbin Reservoir for another look. With it's abundant wildlife, rolling hilly trails and incredible scenery, the reservoir is a photo-taking mecca around these parts.



Anyone who's been here understands how vast a body of water the Quabbin is, and knows the story of the 4 towns that were destroyed to make room for it. I remember bringing a friend up here once who was utterly stunned that such a huge body of water existed in western Massachusetts. He kept shaking his head, saying "I had no idea..", it's the effect the beautiful, 56,000 acre reservoir has on the newcomer.



3,200 foot-high Mount Monadnock in southern New Hampshire looms far off in the distance.



That mountain lends it's name to the word 'monadnock' which is used by geologists to describe any mountain that stands alone. It's an awesome hike, and we're due for another run at it. Maybe in the spring...

The reservoir was created by damming up the Swift River, which is now fed through an outlet at the southern end by the Winsor Dam.



The deep reservoir keeps the Swift river fed with crystal clear, ice cold water; making it one of the prettiest and best trout fishing rivers around. These ducks call it home.



If your patient, and lucky, there's a pretty good chance you'll see a deer.



Deer are rampant in these woods. Hunting them was prohibited for a long time at Quabbin, but had to be reintroduced, with much debate, to ease the over-browsing of the forest which was causing erosion and other problems. Luckily for this guy, we hunt with cameras...

...aaaawwww....



...AAAAAwwwwww....



...AAAAAWWWWWW...!



Quabbin was closing up for there winter hours, at 4:30, but there was just enough time to run up to the lookout tower for a quick look around.



The impressive 84 foot tower, like everything else built at Quabbin, is a solid stone structure from the late thirty's/early forty's. It was closed up for the winter, but access to an enclosed viewing area on top is usually available during the summer. Still, the view at it's base is pretty good too, as it sits on a 1000' hill overlooking the reservoir, and Belchertown in the distance.





Can't let another year go by without returning...

8 comments:

Jeffrey Byrnes said...

What a great post. I love the closeness of the deer. I love going to that stone building. It was the summer of 07, I was on the road approaching it, saw it from a pristine angle and though, now thats a composition that shows the building the best. So I stopped, got out, started to shoot. A man pulled over, got out of his car with his little camera and stood less than 10 ft away from me and made the same picture. I turned to him, cleared my throat and said "Youre welcome for the nice photograph..." That I think has been the rudest thing I have encountered while out shooting.

Mary E.Carey said...

This is a great post with all the links. Jeffrey, what the heck are you talking about?!

Anonymous said...

AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

:)

Fishing413 said...

Excellent post. I couldn't help but laugh at the AWWWWWs lol. Great shots of the deer though. Moments like that make it all worth it! Quabbin is defenitely unique and beautiful place. I take my kayak fishing there in the warmer weather and spend more time admiring the scenery then fishing. I have also caught some nice rainbow trout from the swift. So close but it makes you feel a million miles away from urban madness.

Tony said...

Thanks. Hard-core Simpsons fans will know where I got that 'aawwww' idea from...

They wouldn't let me take my kayak (a 12 footer) out into the main reservoir when I tried a couple years ago. I was confined to an adjacent, calmer-water area on the very northern end, by route 122. I think it was gate 31. The Swift, on the other hand, is kayak nirvana...

Fishing413 said...

I have a 12.5 footer and had the same problem. I was able to launch at gate #43 which is still a very large body of water.
Where to you launh your kayak on the swift? I have always wanted to try to paddle it. I have fly fished there in waders but never in the kayak.

VanDog said...

The tower against the darkening sky is a nice shot.

I got a chuckle out of the Awwww's too.

Tony said...

Fishing413, there's a nice concrete launch on Cold Spring Road in Belchertown, right near where a newer bridge goes over the river, a couple miles downstream from the route 9 overpass.

Thanks VanDog, your post on it was the first time I ever heard about that tower...