The Chesterfield Gorge in Winter
I have some time off from work and no kids right now, so I decided to take a little trip out to western Massachusetts with a friend of mine. We are visiting a good friend, K, in Worthington. This morning, it was all quiet after a night of hellish wind and with a very light snow falling, we decided to go check out the Chesterfield Gorge. Thankfully, there is a fence along the path to the gorge, because it is a long way down and we were walking on snow and ice. K had Yaktrax, but I was roughing it.
So I brought the camera and even though it was a cloudy day out and conditions were a bit hard for photos, I managed to take a few that show how beautiful this stretch of water is. The river is the east branch of the Westfield river. On our way in yesterday, we saw a lot of folks kayaking the Westfield well downstream from this area. But we had the gorge to ourselves today.
The gorge is not that long but very pretty and very rugged, especially now with the winter conditions. There is a trail to the east side of the gorge and you can walk the length of it looking down. The drop from the top of the trail to the water is a good 50 feet, so even with a protective fence, I was being extra careful.
This place is pretty enough that I may visit again on my way back to Boston and bring the tripod. The conditions for photographing were a little rough today and these photos would have been better with a more deliberate approach (not to mention smaller apertures and lower ISO settings). If that happens, I’ll update the post, but let’s not plan on it. I may be fickle in the morning.
Comments
Comment from Ralph Munn
Time December 31, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Very cool, Dave!
I nearly took shots there today, drove right by with high expectations, but it was blizzarding at the time and I kept on driving.
Drop me a line if you expect to come back, and if I’m free maybe we can get together for a few pics!
Comment from DaveO
Time December 31, 2008 at 6:56 pm
You’re on Ralph. I don’t know when I’ll next be out there but it would be fun to have some company shooting such a beautiful area so I will keep you in mind for my next trip. I’m only in Boston, but it’s so hard to break free sometimes.
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Time February 5, 2009 at 5:56 am
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Comment from Richard Lovison
Time December 31, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Dave,
I’m happy to hear you had some free time to visit the gorge. I also found it a peaceful place and wish to return in the coming year. Nice images too… the first being my favorite.
Wishing you a happy new year,
Richard