As much as I like living in mid-Michigan, there is one place in Pennsylvania that can't be replaced at the top of the list of places I'd like to be at this time of year.
Back in the early days of my formative being, my grandparents purchased some property east of Ligonier. On top of a mountain/ridge. In the fall, I would walk the unimproved roads and trails with my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. The smell of decaying leaves and home fires have never left me. I remember fondly the feel of a slight breeze, and the sting of driving rain and sleet.
Although our house had all the conveniences of modern housing, in the Fall we favored a fire for heat and camaraderie for entertainment. We were on the outskirts of civilization where power and phone service could not be counted on once the weather turned bad.
I remember the color explosion of the leaves. The bright reds, the sunlit yellows and the shades of orange against a blue sky. Human sight is wonderful. Memory, as long as I have it is pretty good also.
In 2010 I was fortunate enough to be at the Laurel Mountain Ski area for a day of hiking around. The ski area had been closed for a few years. I skied there many years ago when a season pass for a kid was around $10. For years, the area was open for hiking. On this day, the colors were at their height and the days was slightly cloudy. Perfect.
Photographically, nine years ago I was shooting with a D90. Great learning equipment. Thanks to meta data, I can see I was shooting with a Tameron lens. The Tameron experiment didn't last long before I switched to Nikon lens' for my use. And for some reason, I was shooting in RAW format - and I probably didn't know what it was about. I do know now, and thankfully I kept the files. With improvements in software and nine years of experience, these images turned out OK. Note to rookies, shoot RAW even if you don't know why (yet). Looking at some of these settings, what was I thinking? I was expecting to see AUTO.
These pieces of equipment and buildings are no longer standing. They were removed in 2016 when the area was overhauled (snif) and new equipment was installed. The area is now closed to hiking as far as I know. If I ever get to explore the area again, it will be on rented skis. In the sunshine. Above freezing.
This is chair 15. I have pictures of this scene, from different years where this chair is in the same position.
Chair 15 in the Fall
NIKON D90/TAMRON AF 18-270mm F3.5-6.3
27 mm, 1/320, f/13, ISO 400
EV -0.67, Aperture Priority, Size DX
The area of the hill where this lift was did not exist in the early days. I did ski here once during the time of this lifts use. I won't say I was a hot dog skier in those days, but I loved skiing under the chairs and yakking with the chair occupants. They were short conversations. It was a different time.
Laurel Fall Chair Narrow
NIKON D90/TAMRON AF 18-270mm F3.5-6.3
27 mm, 1/500, f/13, ISO 400
EV -0.67, Aperture Priority, Size DX
As tight as the previous picture is, I like the openness of this one. And on the same day, in the same area, the colors here almost look painted. Different weather patterns on the hill.
Laurel Fall Free Style Slope
NIKON D90/TAMRON AF 18-270mm F3.5-6.3
27 mm, 1/400, f/13, ISO 400
EV -0.67, Aperture Priority, Size DX
The D90 is a 12.3 MP camera. Doesn't leave a lot of room for cropping, but the images seem to show up OK on the monitors. I've become spoiled with the higher MP counts of the D7200 and D500. Big difference.
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