Holiday Season Wishes / "Gratitude" Spotlight

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!🎄

So, better late than never, here is what was initially going to be that last Autumn Photo Highlight that I was planning to work in with a Thanksgiving message. Well, sometimes, life has other plans (as you will read, if you take the time to read this story at some point, lol!). But, even though it is Christmas and Winter now, I am going to stray outside of my comfort zone and highlight this glorious Autumn photo, and hopefully it will be ok 😬😂

After all, I think the meaning of gratitude is alive and at its best all throughout the Holiday Season. This is a bit of a novella, lol, but I think it’s a fun read if you find a few moments to enjoy over some hopeful Holiday downtime. So I’ll try to keep this prelude short…

I’d like to express my gratitude to all of you collectors, admirers, and friends following along that I have come to meet over the years. This life is a crazy one, filled with triumphs and tragedies, the highest of highs and the most soul-crushing defeats. And it can take some serious lunacy to keep going at it at times, but I can’t imagine any other way to go at it. And through all of this, I am eternally grateful for all of you who help support me in ways you may not even realize, even when I disappear for long periods of time.

I am going to do my best to do better in the coming year, and to finally work on bringing visions and ideas I’ve had for a long time to life. And I hope you will continue to enjoy the adventure along with me. Now, without further ado, and as I sign the back of all of my framed pieces - “With my utmost gratitude,”…

“Gratitude” - Little River State Park, VT

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. 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, 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 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 (October 2021) - 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.”

If you read everything unto here, thank you so much and enjoy a little Christmas Magic from our home to yours🥰

My annual outdoor display using mixed evergreen branches from the Christmas Tree outing

Stella

Harley Jane

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Goodnight!

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!🎅🎄❄️☃️

Brandon

“Happy When It Rains” Photo Spotlight

Hey everyone, boy are we getting a good soaking here in the Northeast! I was just outside checking on some things and caught a little of the fresh drizzle, and it reminded me of just how refreshing and re-invigorating that feeling can be - literally like the cleansing of a shower! And so I thought I’d take a break from the “glorious sun highlighting Autumn’s beauty” type of photographs I’ve shared recently and show you that rain, mist, and fog in the Fall Forest are also quite glorious! Depending on the scene and one’s mood at that time (just like Mother Nature’s), one could even say such conditions are arguably even better…

“Happy When It Rains” - Green Mountain National Forest, VT

I recall from this week in early October of 2018, that the mood you see here pretty much sums it up. I was on my traditional backpacking week between two Art Festival weekends up in Vermont, and I had chosen this little nook of the Appalachian/Long Trail near Killington. (If you read my “In the Heart of Autumn” spotlight on October 1st, yes that same stretch of trail!)

“Often, people will say what a great day to be out taking photographs on a bright, sunny day. And while, yes, I enjoy a lovely sunny day out on the trail as much as the next person, it doesn’t always exactly resonate with stunning photography outside of the wee early hours and then the latter hours of the day. But clouds, on the other hand, contribute to nice, even light, even during times of the day when light can typically be too harsh. And storms, well, they can create otherworldly conditions and atmosphere!

As I’m sure I mentioned in that other post, this stretch of forest is filled with towering Old-Growth Sugar Maples, not to mention Red Maples, White and Gray Birch, Beech, Aspen, Hemlock, and well, you get the idea - it is a magical place to find yourself lost in for a time!

And this time that I was given was wet. Multiple storms hovered over the region for most of that week, but you know what? I had such a memorable time filled with wonder just kind of hanging out for a few days. I had made a lovely little campsite hidden well off the trail, nestled in amongst some of the Giants of the Forest. And there I basically holed up in my hammock, rain fly, warm clothes and good rain gear. I can vividly recall how relaxing it was and the strong smell of the damp Autumn Woods. And when the rains weren’t too drenching, I would head out with my camera and explore…

Of the uncountable incredible scenes I came across on these early days of Autumn - the forest still lushly green, dappled with those Sugar and Red Maples beginning to vibrantly glow in their oranges and reds, veiled by mist and fog - this one made me stop in my tracks and ponder it for some time. And when that happens, it usually means it is time to break out the beast (aka the large-format 4x5 view camera).

Those soaked and saturated heart-shaped leaves just jumped out of the scene before me along with the downed birch trunk and foreground green, while everything else - hints of orange and the forest you know is back there is kind of cloaked in another world by the misty atmosphere. I just love how the image oozes with earthiness and mystery. You can just feel the dampness and smell the Earth! And one can’t help but wonder what other treasures lurk just beyond sight, out there in the fog…

After exposing my sheets of film, I meandered back to my little hammock cave and would soak in another night of rain drops falling through the forest, beading off of my rain fly and the Old-Growth Giants swaying in the breeze. I eventually would really get a good drenching on my backpack out, the kind that even solid rain gear can’t withstand forever haha, but I wouldn’t have wanted any of this rain soaked adventure to be any different. What a healthy, refreshing reminder to slow down and absorb the world around you.”

https://www.brandonklinewnp.com/printpurchasing/happy-when-it-rains

Take care and be on the lookout again tomorrow, I have another Treat lined up for this Halloween Weekend, because why not have a little excess goodness during this Spooky fun time of the year!

All my best,

Brandon

P.S. - It also recently hit me to get back to showing this when I do a photo spotlight to give you an idea of how the image could look in one of my Custom Curly Maple Frames!

"Autumn's Divine Glory" / "Maple Kissed by Dawn" Photo Spotlights

Happy greetings on this glorious mid-October day! And welcome to a few of you whom I just met in Northampton, MA at the Paradise City Arts Festival this past weekend, it was a pleasure. I missed posting this last week amidst the scramble of show life and travels, so I’m giving you a double whammy to enjoy. Very apropos, as Autumn’s blaze has been firing up through Northern Vermont the past couple weeks and is moving southward throughout the Northeast!

Funny enough, I had actually forgotten that these two images were made only a week apart from each other. In my head they were 2 different years, but no - only 5 days apart, both along the Long Trail while backpacking up Mount Mansfield near Stowe, VT. The first one somewhere in the ballpark of 500-1,000 feet higher up the mountain than the latter the following week. The foliage that year (2016) was special, as you can see! And as you will read direct writings from my journal, I was having very similar emotions on both backpacks…

“Autumn’s Divine Glory”

“- From my journal on October 6th, 2016 from where I made camp off of the Long Trail hiking up Mt. Mansfield in Vermont -

         I came upon these beckoning Sugar Maples late in the day and made camp right here in hopes to catch the dawn’s first light setting them on fire. Earlier today I smelled Fall distinctly for the first time this season. Halfway up this mountain, on the Long Trail, the delicious smell of Autumn leaves in the crisp air! Mixed with the strong scent of pine and fir and the Earthy aroma of damp soil in the coolness of shade towards sunset, the smell evoked the spirit of the season! Within this forest of Maple, Birch, and Evergreen, I sit with my eyes and thoughts fixed upon the stars and the silhouetted giant trees. Leaves tumble down upon me in the breeze as I drift amongst the stars. I await the morning light to cast its glow upon these mountains, ablaze with Autumn fire like I have only ever imagined...”

         -October 7th-  

         “I awoke this morning to a magnificent pre-dawn glow, accentuating the orange glow of the maples with its pinkish-purple hue. The first rays of light to touch these beauties were purely divine. Highlighted Birch bark and fiery Sugar Maple leaves contrast against the shadow of the Green Mountains. What a majestic scene in this golden light! The heavy smell of fir mingles with the unmistakable scent of Autumn. The leaves, the cool air, the dampness in this refreshing light. It is so peaceful as birds softly chatter and it lulls me back to a dreamy state... Autumn’s glory, so fleeting and so precious.”

www.brandonklinewnp.com/printpurchasing/autumn’s-divine-glory

“Maple Kissed by Dawn”

October 11th, 2016 -

“How glorious this crisp October morning is underneath this canopy of majestic Maples! When the sun breaks the facing mountains at dawn and casts its soft warm glow upon this forest, its light sets the fiery orange and red Sugar Maples ablaze! Like rekindling the flame that temporarily burned to embers, the Sugar Maples’ dark orange hue from their nightly slumber is awakened with brilliance!

         It truly is Autumn in all it’s glory where I sit right now, sipping my coffee. I have camped amongst some magnificent old beauties this past evening and morning. Although brisk, chilling winds whipped around last night for hours before calming, the sky was as clear as could be - starlit with a waxing gibbous moon glow. And this morning, not a cloud in the sky, that deep crisp blue like only October can produce. The sun gives warmth yet a chill at the same time. And the forest a splattering of fading lime greens, shimmering yellows, glowing oranges and burning reds!

         It is calm and quiet, unlike the peacefulness of the birdsongs and insects of Spring and Summer, you can almost hear the air this time of year. And oh, the smell of the leaves! Like only a forest floor blanketed with Maple and Birch leaves can smell… Yes, Autumn is in the air!”

www.brandonklinewnp.com/printpurchasing/maple-kissed-by-dawn

More Autumn adventures to come over the next few weeks! Until then, get out and enjoy the bounty of the season!

All my best,

Brandon

“In the Heart of Autumn” Photo Spotlight

Happy October everyone! As I mentioned before, I’m going to be highlighting some of my favorite Autumn photographs throughout this glorious season!🍁

“Before I really discovered Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, when I first started making yearly Autumnal pilgrimages up here, my favorite backpacking stretch became a section of the Appalachian/Long Trail that you can access from and/or near Gifford Woods State Park basically right in the center (or heart) of Vermont.

The trail (packed full with rocks and roots as is typical of the Northeast!), takes you through a magnificent forest of Beech, Birch and towering old Sugar Maples as you climb your way towards both Pico and Killington summits. The higher you go, more coniferous forest begins to dominate and you truly enter a different world from the one below.

I haven’t hiked it in the Fall that recently, although I did enjoy a Winter Solstice backpack there a few years ago which you may or may not see a result of in my portfolio’s future!😉… But of the few years of early October backpacks I did there in the mid-to-late 2010’s, my experiences were always magical.

From crisp sunny days with glowing oranges and reds to damp, fog, mist and rain creating otherworldly realms in these ancient mountains, I have experienced a lot of what Mother Nature can throw at you in this relatively short stretch of mileage.

And not to mention wildlife sights and sounds - I remember one evening hiking past an abundance of packs of glowing eyes in the dark wondering what exactly what it was watching me. Only later to hear wild yips and howls of coyotes echoing in the night. I’ve experienced this a few times here, as well as the hoots and howls of owls, both of which add a wonderful touch to the October ambiance if you ask me!🎃

I guess what all of this boils down to is this - ever since I have begun exploring New England, Vermont in particular, I have strongly felt that if a Season (in this case Autumn) has a heart and that heart has a Place, it is buried deep in the Green Mountains of Vermont, protected by the ancient forest that surrounds it…

On this particular morning, I awoke pre-dawn from my deep forest backcountry site and hiked close to a mile up to this lovely overlook I’ve always admired in the damp, yet crisp, cool October air to await full early sunlight highlighting the brilliant blanket of Autumn foliage. From the glowing Maples in the hills and valleys below, to the central Fir, to the bordering Birch trees acting skeletal, if you will - all of it encompassing the beating heart of the Place and the Season.”

All my best,

Brandon

P.S. - And in case you missed yesterday’s email, here’s a quick link to go back to the post to find out about a special offering for a limited time…

www.brandonklinewnp.com/trailblog/2025/9/30/greetings-from-the-northeast-kingdom-and-a-special-autumn-offering