My eyes are drawn to water… ponds, streams, vernal pools… Savoy holds a treasure of favored spots. I’ll often scramble down Tannery Gorge after a heavy rain to photograph the cascading water in discovered light. Most people take the marked trail along Ross Brook leading to the spectacular 100′ falls described in guidebooks. I prefer descending along the eastern fork, or Tannery Brook, that empties a series of wetland and beaver ponds passing by the foundations of the original sawmill and tannery. Beyond that point, dramatic vistas descend through towering vertical plates of mica schist, product of bizarre geological collisions. The image above is the first of many stops along that route. Beyond this point, changes in elevation become more and more dramatic with an experience like something you’d imagine at Versailles — each new vista being more amazing then the last, culminating at the 100′ waterfall of the Ross Brook that is sure to drop your jaw.

I love everything about the Tannery, not just the gorge and the waterfalls. Every visit is an adventure. I’ll often head down just to look out over the pond and wetlands and maybe set-up a tripod to shoot a time lapse sequence. There are always ducks at the far end and sometimes a curious beaver swimming about. The trees and mountains frame the reflective pond and it’s beautiful, especially when the clouds are mottled and dramatic. And I’ve walked back behind the pond mid-spring when it’s still kind of wet, and every step is full of discovery. There is a hidden circle of water rimmed with a carefully maintained beaver dam and a huge rock that looks like a ledge outcropping (a glacial radicle) on the far side. Hiking around from the back I’m able to climb that huge stone and I find it littered with entrails. Apparently hawks enjoy dining there. Lunch with a view! The last time I was hiking in the Tannery I came upon something curious that, on close inspection, turned out to be a fresh pile of steaming bear scat! My eyes widened realizing he was probably watching me from behind a tree. Closer to the road down by the Ross Brook Bridge, there is a rich abundance of Trillium and Trout Lily in season, and an endless assortment of Viburnum Trilobum (high bush cranberry). I love those lyrical white blossoms and their heavily variegated leaves. When you are in the woods and really enjoying yourself, it doesn’t take much… the whole world is fascinating.

Sharl Heller is a lifelong defender of forests and natural spaces in the mold of John Muir. She is the president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance, founder of the Friends of Myles Standish State Forest, a Massachusetts Keystone Cooperator, and an unflinching advocate for wildlife and habitat throughout the state. Sharl visited here earlier this year and about the moment this photo was taken… bonded eternally with Savoy.

• The photos and the words go so well togeather. Two forms of expression which are distint but enhance each other. Bravo.   Trina Sears Sternstein

• Love your photos and words. We discovered Savoy in 1970 and knew we wanted to be there. Wish you could have seen some of your vistas back then – changes. Tannery area and Ross Brook Falls (127 ) were somewhat different and easier to hike. We actually found remnants of the old tannery – metal barrel rings, train ties and spikes marking the tannery roadway, etc.  We built our home not far from Bog Pond. Hope to meet you and see your works, great stuff, Lorraine    Lorraine Hartnett

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