Jones River: A Duck's Eye View

A kid's movie.

This was a fun project. We - the JRWA crew - have been discussing film making concepts for almost 2 years now. We've had some common ideas and some individual ideas, but I think the stumbling block has always been execution. We are working with some folks with the equipment and expertise that will eventually generate a great product. But I continue to struggle with how to relate the concepts in my mind to others who might implement them.

So while I figure that out, I thought I'd try a DIY version. I spent a few days learning some under-appreciated features in Google Earth. With that as a basis, L. helped me develop the story outline. Then on a beautiful Friday afternoon we toured around and shot some targeted bulk footage in the hopes of catching some usable pieces. We then spent the next three days editing the footage and writing the story around the it.

Here's the end product. The audience is 5th graders in Kingston, who will get a look this Friday. It's a silent version for now as it suits the venue. A soundtrack will eventually follow.

Sorry water

So back to the story of April 30th. When we left this story we had just hiked up Cannon in a freak late April 2’ snowfall and skied down through the most water logged snow I’ve ever seen.

This little blog is about water and sure enough our story that day was also water’s story. We headed out of Franconia Notch and so did the water. The mighty Pemigewasset River starts its 65 mile journey right here at Profile Lake at the base of Cannon - filled by all that melting snow. We left the Notch and found a spot in our favorite brewery - the Woodstock Inn. We quickly replaced lost calories and fluids from the hike. Then we headed across the street to a perfect little park along the Pemi. What a spot! The water was fairly high and cold from all that spring snow melt. People and dogs were enjoying the sundrenched rocks in the middle of river. I forgot to bring the camera, but let me tell you the scenery was DDDelightful.

It was hard to tear away from the sunny rocks but we knew we had miles to go. But we weren’t in the car long when we realized that days like this are rare and need to be maximized. So we pulled off the highway a few exits down to explore a spot J had been researching. Stopping at a roadside store we looked across the street and saw that our story had rejoined water’s again. This time it wasn't snow on the mountain or snowmelt in the river, this was clear, cold spring water bubbling up from the deep aquifer. Filing our bottles we were ready to move on.


J had been wanting to check out Franklin Falls Dam. This is one of those crazy Army Corps projects that I’ll never be able to wrap my head around. Here are the stats…


And here we meet the Pemi again. At this point the Pemi should have gained strength from the addition of hundreds of tributaries that have joined its progress since we left it as the small mountain stream in Woodstock. Instead, it is broad and slow thanks to the Franklin Falls Dam. This is a massive flood control dam (I talk more about them here ). Built in 1943 I have to assume that this was part of a jobs creation program because this thing is so strangely massive and so completely out of place it’s hard to understand why else it would be built.


We walked around for a while exploring both sides of the ‘keep out’ signs. I’m sure the Jamaican beer and the spring greenery contributed to the experience but this seemed to be truly a lunar landscape. While NASA brings people to the moon, the Corps brings the moon to the people…right smack dab in the middle of a scenic New England town and a noble river.


And then we were on our way. The water was on its way too. While we had an easy trip home the Pemi still had another dam to block its path before reaching the Merrimack series of dams of its own. Sorry water.