The Story Behind the Photograph - Sandwich Notch Road
Thornton, NH - October 2021
It's been a tradition to go camping on Columbus Day weekend and this year was no different. Foliage season was all around us, as was the warmer than normal October air. As much as the brisk fall air was missed, we were more than willing to take advantage of it while on a mission to find great New England color! With smiles on our faces, we were full of energy and excitement as we arrived at Rattlesnake Mountain for a hike ending with tremendous views of foliage surrounding the gorgeous Squam Lake!
While attempting to pull into the parking lot, a Police Officer was waving us on as to inform us that the parking lot was at maximum capacity, which is nothing new for this time of year, but still found myself frozen and now sitting parked in the middle of the road; the officer gestured as if he was saying that they are only letting a certain number of vehicles into the parking lot. He quickly shifted his gesture to move along and to let the traffic backing up behind us do the same. We drove down the road to discuss our next move. We were thankful that the trails would not be overcrowded and thought about all the hikers that we witnessed making their way back to their cars. We circled back to that same lot with my window down mentioning all of the cars that were heading out. My truck now parked in the road in a way as if to say that we were not to be turned away from this adventure and with a left directional flashing as fast as the afternoon was passing us by, the officer waved us in and yelled to the other officer in the lot that had us back into the last corner spot that was meant for nothing less than a 4x4 looking for a muddy resting spot while we hiked. We laughed when a Lakes Region Representative joked about how no one else has been able to park in this spot all day and how the parking lot has been great side entertainment for him while he was educating visitors about the area. He was very knowledgeable and was able to share a few good local, less trafficked foliage spots. He mentioned one spot that was so intriguing, I could not stop thinking about it during our hike up the mountain. We met a lot of great people along the way and even though it was an overcast day, the lake views were beautiful. The cloudy day quickly turned to a light rain (typical New England). Finding this new spot would have to be postponed to another day.
The following day's journey brought us to a couple of incredible waterfalls and local hikes with fantastic foliage and views, but this mentioned spot was just too hard to shake. Our camping trip was coming to a close, but finding this spot couldn't wait any longer and definitely not until next year. We set out determined and after a short search, we successfully arrived at a place that would not disappoint. This much anticipated location was now becoming our experience with mountain views, barns, farms, rivers, ponds, waterfalls, and of course, amazing foliage canopying over us as we traveled up and around this 9 mile one-lane dirt road. We found several pull off spots along the way that we took advantage of and one that would allow for capturing this farm with a foliage-filled mountainscape as a backdrop. This was well worth the couple days of building anticipation.
If we didn't decide to turn back, if it wasn't for the officer who let us into the lot or the officer who parked us in the muddy corner, and of course, if it wasn't for the Lakes Region Rep mentioning this special place, we never would have captured our experience on Sandwich Notch Road. We are extremely grateful and excited to share what we captured, starting with this beautiful farm in the mountains along an old dirt road that was built in 1801.
- Philip P. Reid, New England Prints
