The Natural Resources Council of Maine recently hosted a “Fall In To Winter” photo contest, with 22 people from around Maine sharing their gorgeous Maine photos. Here are all of the photos from the Winter category. The “Winter Winner” in this photo contest was Wendy Weiger of Greenville Junction, Maine with her winter Katahdin photo. Congratulations, Wendy! And thanks so much to all of you who shared your photos and/or voted.
We share these winter photos as a goodbye to winter as we said, “Hello,” to spring next week! Come back next week to see the Fall category photos.
- Wendy Weiger’s photo: Katahdin. “During a multi-day snowshoe trek in Baxter State Park, I paused to watch the moon set over the Katahdin massif. It was mid-February, a half hour before sunrise, and the temperature was about minus 5 Fahrenheit. It was cold enough that my camera battery kept freezing, meaning that I needed to tuck it under my clothing to thaw it against my abdomen. It was hard not to gasp when the frigid metal touched my warm body – but transcendent moments like this are ample reward for the rigors of backwoods travel.”
- Barbara Murray shares her photo from Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. “It is a photo of ice just beginning to form on a pond. What we love and find to be beautiful is what we choose to protect. I take photos as my advocacy work to protect our natural resources.”
- Roger Merchant writes this about his photo, “All Along the Watchtower” — “On the edge of winter from No. 5 Mountain, the view east suggests cool stillness, but this moment revealed itself to me in an icy battering wind.”
- Hildie Lipson shares her photo of Androscoggin Lake in Wayne, Maine.
- Gerard Monteux shares his photo B&W Ice and writes, “This was taken not far from my house in Hancock. It was pretty spectacular in color, but (in my opinion) even more striking in black and white.”
- Roger Merchant writes this about his photo, “Bear Mountain Legacy” — “Bear Mountain rises northeast of Patten. This was the last peak my dad and I climbed in the early 1970s. I strapped on his snowshoes and up we went on a cold winter day. I’m grateful for our climb together. He left this life in 1976 from ALS. Bear Mountain still stands and remains my family legacy peak.”
- Gerard Monteux’s photo, Blue Ice. “This was taken in Hancock, on one of those perfect mornings after an ice storm blew through. I was flat on my back in about two feet of snow for this one...but ya gotta earn the shot, right??!!”
- Wendy Weiger’s photo: Borestone — “Maine artist Celeste Roberge pauses under tall conifers during a snowshoe hike on Borestone Mountain, a Maine Audubon Sanctuary, on the first day of December 2018.”
- Phil Whittemore writes, “I took this photo in New Sharon Maine, on Cape Cod Hill. I have always loved this location; the landscape and the beautiful overhead mountains are stunning!”
- Linda Woods shares her photo of Carrabassett Stream from the Narrow Gauge Trail and writes, “Do you see the angel? We love cross-country skiing on these excellently groomed and tracked trails.”
- Cassie Lalemand shares her photo of a Cedar Waxwing in Harrison, Maine. She also shares this photo by Victor Hugo: "Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her; still, she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings."
- Phil Whittemore shares another photo from New Sharon Maine, on Cape Cod Hill.
- Roger Merchant writes this about his photo, “Cloud Hidden” — “Clouds can shield us from the big view, yet broken clouds offer spaces that access the blueness above Katahdin from Nesowadnehunk Deadwater.”
- Susan Rafferty writes, “This photo was taken on the Farley Trail at the Wells Reserve. It overlooks the Little River estuary marsh and looks out to the ocean’s horizon. So serene and so ecologically important.”
- Wendy Weiger’s photo: First Roach Pond. “Sunrise viewed from the shore of my camp on First Roach Pond, December 11, 2020. The White Cap range rises above the eastern horizon. The Hundred Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail runs along its ridgeline.”
- Sam Horine took this photo during his first ski of the season and writes, “This is a flowage on the Lakewood Golf Course in Madison, Maine.”
- Betty Olivolo calls her photo “Fog on Spruce Creek on a Snowy Day, Kittery, Maine,” and writes, “Perfect day for snowshoeing just outside my door.”
- Phil Whittemore writes, “I took this photo in New Sharon Maine, on Cape Cod Hill. I have always loved this location; the landscape and the beautiful overhead mountains are stunning!”
- Gerard Monteux writes about his photo, Frozen Leaf: “I was struck by the icy perfection.”
- Steve Cartwright shares his photo of an orange full moon, rising over Southern Island in Tenants Harbor, the island home of artist Jamie Wyeth.
- Barbara Murray shares her photo from Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. “It is a photo of ice just beginning to form on a pond. What we love and find to be beautiful is what we choose to protect.”
- Betty Olivolo calls her photo, “Hidden Seal at Seapoint Beach, Kittery, Maine,”and writes, “Beautiful light on this day at Seapoint Beach, and happily discovered the seal silhouette in the rocks later when I examined the photo.”
- Donna Conkling shares her photo of ice goblets on the edge of the Kennebec River below Skowhegan.
- Barbara Murray shares her photo from Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. “It is a photo of an ice skim covering plants in the landscape during a first freeze. What we love and find to be beautiful is what we choose to protect. I take photos as my advocacy work to protect our natural resources.”
- Francesca Galluccio-Steele shares her photo of an ice storm in Deering Oaks Park in Portland.
- Tony Marple captured this view of Katahdin’s snow-covered peak
- Alicia Heyburn snapped this photo in January of this year at the Neptune Woods conservation property in Brunswick, part of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, and writes, “Never underestimate the power of play and the simplicity of it. Ice + sloped trail + snow pants = tons of fun. This is the Winter Explorers Club, a program of Brunswick Recreation Department run by Teens to Trails.”
- Jennifer MacDonald took this photo at Pond Cove in Cape Elizabeth on January 30, 2022, the day after the Nor’easter. “This is the view from the end of our street. It is one of my favorite places to stop and reflect, to take in the gorgeous view, and the best gift of all is that each day looks different from this vantage point.”
- Betty Olivolo calls her photo, Reflections on a Crisp Winter Day at Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine” — a beautiful winter day at Rachel Carson.
- Linda Woods shares her photo of “a "secret" waterfall (well-known by ice climbers) on the side of Old Speck Mt. in Grafton Notch, accessed only by snowshoes along a stealth path, as she “had to have something from [her] favorite place on Earth!”
- Steve Cartwright shares his photo of a snowy old hillside farm field in Hope.
- Alicia Heyburn shares her photo of Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton and writes, “When your daughter needs to be delivered to the Portland Jetport at 5:00 a.m. for her return flight to college, make the most of it and climb a peak for sunrise! Right after this shot was taken the clouds moved in and snow began to fall. The rest of the day was a yucky ‘wintery mix,’ but early risers got a bright start.”
- Steve Cartwright’s photo of Tenants Harbor village dressed in fresh snow.
- Hildie Lipson shares her photo overlooking Androscoggin Lake from the north.
- Hildie Lipson calls this photo, “The Trail Ahead.” She took it in Wayne, Maine, in January.
- Linda Woods took this photo at Vaughan Woods in Hallowell, also known as “Hobbitland.” She writes, “Whenever there is a lot of melting water, Hobbitland is the place to go. It's a beautiful natural treasure so easy to get to.”
- Tony Marple shares his photo of the view from East Baldpate in Grafton Notch in western Maine.
- Tony Marple shares this view he photographed of Webb Lake as seem from Little Jackson Mountain in western Maine.
- Susan Rafferty writes of her photo, “This was taken at the Wells Reserve on the morning after an ice storm. It was 15 degrees, and in the background is an all-season garden. I do not believe any gardening was done that day, although immediately after the taking of this picture, a wonderful meditative and brisk nature walk took place.”
- Rebecca Alford shares her photo from Wells Reserve at Laudholm in Wells, Maine. “This is a beautiful place to explore.”
- Rebecca Alford took this photo down at Wiggly Bridge in York, Maine.