Were it not for the generations of American patriots, past and present, who stood united in sworn defense of our nation and interests, seeking not glory, but the preservation of our freedoms and way of life, my family'd not have had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful trip up north. With little fanfare, but a powerful sense of duty and willingness to defend--to the death, if necessary-- the freedoms we enjoy in this magical land are 100% due to our military.

Count my family as one who never have, and shall never, ever forget those to whom we both personally and collectively owe so much, and are humbled by: our brave fellow countrymen. Your sacrifices were never in vain, and will never be forgotten.

May God continue to bless and shed grace on these United States of America.

Hope folks have a great Memorial Day holiday.














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Looks as though you had a great time.
Cool photos, except the crickets. I was eating salt and vinegar flavor potato chips till I saw those.

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Nominated Hands down WINNER.

BEST post of this year (so far, anyway)

GTC

Great post and agree.

Though smoking right by a gas tank on a small boat in an ice cold lake with no life jacket on.....is kind of a bad recipe I think.

Well said intro & very nice pics. Thanks for posting them. 163bc

Thanks for the consideration and warning, but that tank isn't filled with gas, friend. It's beer.

Leighton, that's the nicest photo essay I've seen in quite awhile......thanks for sharing it with those of us still stuck in drudgery! LOL

Keith

Great pics! You really know how to handle a camera, as well as a fishing rod.

Paul

Gorgeous photo essay. I always look forward to then and you don't disappoint. It is some beautiful country there.

Is the one guy your brother??

Very nice pictures, Leighton. I'd swear that no one had any fun during the entire visit, just looking at the evidence.

Great looking family you have.
CT

Hi Leighton,

Having read many of your previous posts and knowing your dietary habits, I have to ask...

Is that bait, or dinner?

John

I second that motion!

Way to go KG.

This made me forget about work for a few mintues,Leighton.


A+,bro'!

What a trip!

Thanks for the pics.

like....

Beautiful pics.
Some great looking grub.
Like the store, could rumage there for awhile--

Ha.....How many tries did it take to get this shot correctly..?

Great pics....

You've a way with words and sentiment. I feel the same way.

Sweet photos as usual.

Always look forward to your posts as I love the outdoors and good food and you have a wonderful way of incorporating both.

Nicely done and thanks for sharing!

One more vote for the best of the year!

Looks like some good times there mang.....

i'm thinking i better lose 10# before i go up there in oct. otherwise i'll gain another 10 on top of the 10 i need to lose now.

Leighton, is that you riding the hang glider in pic 3?
Mark

Wonderful posts Leighton!

Is that up in Maine? sure looks like it..

spectacular scenery up that way!

Where is this?

Pretty country.

Both, sort of. Not mine, though. That's what the lakers were feeding on; rainbow smelt. A landed fish upchucked that one. His last supper, if you will.

Well, almost. Technically, his last was a Krocodile, a model with bucktail teaser .

Thanks for the nice comments, folks.

L, you and your family have a Great Memorial Day. You all went to where a person can feel at Peace. Good for ALL of you!!

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Where were the pictures taken? Maine or out west? Beautiful pictures as always.

looks like New Hampshire to me.

NH/VT/ME on the Canadian border, mostly north of the 45th parallel.

Jim has it. Trip was 95% northern NH, but a couple shots are from the NE Kingdom in Vermont, and Maine. One of the nice things about New England states: they're so small, one can invade three in one afternoon with a little work.

Yessir. To the gent asking about the hang glider: that's actually a specialized, organic hang glider of sorts. Locally, they're known as crows, though.

Happy Memorial Weekend to you also my friend! Great pics, N.H. is a great state! have some good buddies there! hope to make it back some day! storming here right now!

Where's you since of adventure?

Kamo, nice pictures

Upper Connecticut River methinks, a few years back me and the missus and the dogs went as far as Lake No.5 (???) looking fer warblers and moose, seen both

Only worrisome part was that little town right on the border where the border makes a right angle turn from east-west to north-south, we was worried we'd stray into Canada with our firearms without knowing it.

Great pics, as usual.

Birwatcher

L, come on man crickets!!! Really? gross.

Other than that, simply awesome photos as always. My best to you and your family!

Matt

Great post.

May I ask: where is the general store in the pic?

Great pics.

Did the salt&vinegar or sour cream cricketts catch the most fish?

Everything else made me hungry.

Jayzuz, what a bunch of Marys we have here. You'd think a grown ass man, especially the type who make their own groceries in the field wouldn't screech at the thought of munching a few fried bugs.

That all said, I bought them for the gag factor, gifting one box each to my wife and mom. Mom shrieked and swung a palm at my head when she saw the main ingredient. Wife, who has enjoyed a few deep fried locusts and other bugs in Japan and other countries, took opportunity to slyly steal mom's box. Both are now at home. I hear they go great with a stout. I'll report back. Maybe. Thought I suspect it'll be insect snack time after a bout of whisky tumblers, not a pint of brew.

Thanks for the comments. A few more pics to follow.

Two words: burst mode.

Leighton - as always, very well done! Thank you.

Man, that is one well-built bridge to handle that load.

It's not a general store. It's an antique shop type deal. The wife and I really enjoy going through their wares. We walked away with a few more treasures for our collection.

A few pics from there I took inside. One could spend hour upon hour there. Way cool stuff.













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L,

Is that shop on Rt. 3 by any chance?

George

If my wife stepped in there I just as well find a three hour movie somewhere!

I was hoping you'd be chiming in at some point.

And yes, it's where you think, bud. Da Potayta' Bahn. Good call.

I sold some of my old schit there while in college. The farm out behind used to belong to a girl I graduated with.

I guarantee you drove right by my old house (my parent's place) if you came down from Pitts. You probably wouldn't pick up on the old Historical Society building right by the cemetary, but it's less than half a mile south.

George

While waiting for the warden to spend some more of our dough I walked out back. Train tracks behind the building, and then a field that I believe had a soccer pitch on it, but I may be crazy.

We stayed in Pitts (Lopstick), so yes, drove by your old digs. You're a lucky man, having grown up in that area. I've been going for almost 30 years, and grow fonder of the area every time. Got some nice brookies in the river, some 'bows and lakers in both 3rd and 2nd. Didn't have time to try 1st or Francis. Five days flew by, but we'll be back. Have rods, will travel.

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Outstanding thread Leighton!

Groveton is, basically, a ghost town since the mill closed. I need to get home, though, as it's been too long. I have to go pick up my camper in Lancaster and will probably slide north to see what the old place looks like after two years.

I'll be taking the wife and boy up to Pittsburg in late August. We'll camp, fish and hit the Lancaster Fair. My preference is with Francis, but only based on nostalgia.

George

Thanks, EH and all. This was an important milestone for me, as I managed to get my brother into his first trout ever, and Mrs. KG's first lake trout.



Also got my parents into my beloved north country after many long years. My folks got me started down the path of being a outdoorsman/fisherman/nature lover at a young age, introducing us to camping when we were very small. I am deeply grateful that even as big city dwellers, they had the insight to get us out to places where the city lost its grip over us. And vice versa, perhaps...

I remember camping with them when my brother and I were so small my old man used to use his trusty army shovel to dig a hole that he'd then hold us over to do our business. I was around two-ish.

They'd not been up into northern NH for some 35 years, and to see their eyes light up at the beauty of the place, and the gasps at moose at almost halitosis distances, well, my heart was truly swelled up and at ease. Unfortunately, I think their days of camping out are over, so I rented a cabin for them to be comfortable, and it was the right call.

I plan to make it something of an annual thing. Spend time with your family, y'all. They--and we--won't be around forever.

Cheers.

Wait, the fair in the town with the McDs (the only one I know of in those parts), where 3 goes into the town, then hooks a right to head out of town, with the McDs on the left? If so, I love that fair. Still pizzed I didn't jump on a rifle purchase there many years ago...

That would be the one. The Lancaster Fair is the fair for us woodboogers . It's always Labor Day weekend. I never missed one growing up. My brother and I would live at my grandparents in Carrol County during August working the blueberry fields. They would get us home just before the Fair and then back to school.

Good times....

The Notch just ain't the same after the "OLD MAN" fell!!! i guess i'm just lucky living up here ,take it for granted pretty much, Marks a nice guy up to the "potato barn" altho a bit pricey !!!!!

Not sure of his name, but if Mark's the bearded fellow who owns and runs the place with his wife, the pic of the red t-shirt that says 'Red Sox' in Japanese is what he was wearing the other day. Nice folks in our experience dealing with them. As has been the case since we stumbled upon the rough gem, they've been fair to deal with. We drop a little coin, and pay cash, and get a substantial % off tagged prices. But agree they are a bit optimistic about some of their wares. I'd love to have taken that bad-arsed hand-forged bear trap, but wasn't in love with it nearly enough to drop 850 bones on it. I'd have paid half that in a heartbeat, but he was holding out. Some city pigeon will likely buy it with the rush this holiday weekend. I'll find another one of these days.

As far as the Old Man, well, I was sorta bummed when he lost face and all (ha, ha), but was horrified at the early proposals involving people 'repairing' it.

x

Looks like a good time with the family.
Thanks, seeing these pictures, I've got to take a family vacation. With the economy the way it has been I keep saying I gota take the work while its here, its been four or five years sense the last real vacation.

You're welcome. Hard to see, but the above pic was taken in an old trapper's cabin. Those documents above the adventures in logging artwork are actual trapping licenses from the 1930s. That kind of old stuff I can really dig.

Cool pics

MAN! I could spend DAYS in that old store.

That's funny. I took one of those pics thinking of you specifically, Terry, honestly. If you look carefully, in one of those cases you can see original copies of Dick Tracy, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, etc. I don't know what it is, being a lad raised in the 70s, why I am drawn to stuff from a generation before me, but I am.

Yep, I noticed, another thing that caught my eye was the NRA (National Recovery Act) poster on the wall. Remember seeing them in stores yet when I was a mere child.

Yes Mark Yelle and his wife own the "Potato Barn" there good people, i used to stop there pretty often when Emersons was in business , used to go to Emersons,the potato barn,and the village gunstore in Whitefield , its all just 1 hour north of me,with Emersons gone i don't go north quite as much. Don

The Emersons issue still bugs the schit out of me! I spent a lot of time in that store during my formative years (it was between the elementary school and the high school where mom worked). Jim, Ray and, to a lesser extent, Brian were all very patient with me. I spent a lot of my summer job money in that store and most of was shot up before the end of the weekend.

18 to buy ammo my azz......

Leighton - I forgot your mountains are smaller than ours. Skewed my perspective a bit!
Mark

kamo gari
please sir, never grow up.
the rest of us have too much to lose
Great post and thank you

Soon to be in my version of gods country and although I don't think I can live up to either the pics or the cooking I will give it my best effort.

Thank you for the pics and inspiration. I have not saw my mom and dad in a few years and look very much to spending some quality outdoor time with them in N MN starting Friday.

You are so right in the importance of family!

Once again thank you.

Another gem of a thread, nice work Leighton!

Thanks, boys. Ravenr, that's funny the way you put that about not growing up. When that shot was taken by my wife, I thought my folks had left (we lunched next to the falls under the bridge). Turns out they giggled as they watched their grown sons monkeying about like idiots, swinging from the rafters.

My wife told me that later on, Wee Muther pulled her aside and said that my old man had said something that moved her. As they were driving back to the cabin, my old man said, "It's so wonderful to see that the childish spirit and lust for life hasn't left the boys." I'll never forget those words.

Cheers, and thanks for all the kind comments. Glad to have shared a little something of my family and the outdoors I love so much here.