Northfield Falls

On the first day during my photography trip to Vermont I had wanted to find Northfield Falls.  I’d seen a couple of shots of these waterfalls online, but not many, so I wanted to try for myself.  I used Google maps to try to find them but it led me to the middle of a street, families sledding in the fresh snow – a classic New England winter landscape.  I was given some odd glances as I drove around the block twice looking for an entrance to the falls without success.  I gave up as the light was slipping away and planned to try tomorrow.

The next day I arrived back at the Northfield bridges and asked a local how to find the falls and I was told that Hurricane Irene had destroyed them some years back.  Being a little skeptical I decided to scout myself.  I walked along the river, by the rail tracks and after about 10 minutes could hear the rush of water.  I could see the falls through the trees down a really steep embankment.  At this point I tried to consider going back across to the other side but there would be an obstructed view.  After some deliberation I looked for the less steep part where there would be some trees for support and made my way carefully down.  Half way down I lost my grip and slid a third of the way on my butt.  I used my tripod as a crutch and made my way to the bottom and walked along the cliff edge to the falls.  Glorious sight!

Northfield Falls, Vermont, New England in winter

The snow was coming down and blowing around so I needed a good supply of wipes to keep my filters dry.  I took a lot of shots but thought I would need to revisit.  This was the shot from my first trip down.  I came back two more times, trying to get that perfect New England winter landscape.  The last day I arrived at sunset.  I was happy and fortunate that the only clouds in the sky were behind the falls, coloring nicely on a frigid, January evening.

Northfield falls, Vermont, New England in winter- sunset light

Then back to the car to defrost and drive back home.


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