Erica and I started our exploration with high expectations, or at least I did, when we decided to visit the East Portal. We were there for perhaps fifteen minutes before we drove back to the West Portal. The East Portal did not seem to offer as much as the West Portal at the moment. At some point while standing beside the East Portal I vaguely recall saying, “I hope the beavers are okay,” as if they would be disappointed that we hadn’t visited them in a while.

 

This visit to the West Portal was different from our first visit but just as exciting. We were careful not to slip in the thick mud and slush in the area as we made our way back to the beavers. I’m not sure what it was about this visit but the water seemed still, serene… I could have stood there for hours just taking in the scene. Regrettably: I did not take a picture to remember the moment. I did however take a picture of the tree we came across last time. We were amazed to see the progress the beavers had made in the last month. I wonder what it will look like next month.

 

 

We took a couple time lapse videos to see what the result would look like and moved on to the tunnel. Carefully, we weaved our way around the mud and pointed out all the things we missed when there was more snow: the clear stream to our right, the depth of the stream to the left of the tracks, and all the rocks I naturally tripped over every few feet. And this time when we neared the West Portal: “Hey demons!” To be completely honest I have been completely absorbed with all things… spooky… lately and this time I was ready for something to scare me. This trip wasn’t made for that purpose but I was ready. I lost count of how many times I said, “What was that? What that the demons?” “I think it was a bird–” Erica (the logical one). Ghosts or spirits would have been the proper name but I was lost in the world of memes that particular morning and kept reciting them throughout the trip (sorry Erica).

We spent time taking video of the location, trying out the time lapse feature, testing the slo-mo feature, and taking a couple boomerangs. I thoroughly enjoyed using Erica’s tri-pod and temporarily hi-jacked it (sorry again, Erica) while taking a stroll around the area, still stumbling over those rocks. I was testing out all of these features hoping to make a Hoosac Tunnel “moodboard gif” of sorts, but completely failed to figure out how to upload them onto this blog. As someone who encounters countless moodboards every day I thought it would be interesting to try and make one. While they lack any clear “mood” or color scheme it was fun to make.

 

One time lapse video I took was in one of the two moodboards that I (dare I say) cleverly titled “Demons”, has (what I believe to be) a funny backstory. I was making a time lapse video of drops of water falling in the tunnel, fascinated with the way the light was shining into the water. I was standing there for only a few seconds when I heard a crack and the sound of water splashing and immediately panicked. “Was that you,” Erica asked me. I remember yelling and saying something along the lines of, “IT WAS A DEMON,” as I ran… It was actually an icicle… And I didn’t stop recording when I started running so the whole thing was captured and condensed into two seconds.

I’m going to try and find a way to upload these subpar moodboard knock-off gifs and if nothing works I will find a new method to display the meme-filled exploration Erica and I experienced on our second visit to the West Portal.

 

….I wonder what the beavers think of these snowstorms every weekend….