Maple Sugaring at Twin Lake Village

Twin Lake Village is an amazing old fashioned hotel in New London, NH that has been owned and operated by the Kidder family for 120 years. They produce all their own maple syrup for the restaurant, using a process that has changed very little over the decades. The emphasis of the hotel and the sugaring operation is on maintaining traditions that are enchanting to watch, and incredibly hard physical work to accomplish. The result is a miracle: sweet natural maple syrup from the clear sap of the trees.

This documentary was mostly filmed with a Phantom 4 Pro camera drone, plus some footage with a hand-held camera. Thanks to the Kidder family for cooperating in the making of this film. They are solid and modest people who I am proud to count as my friends.

A side note: this is my longest and most complex aerial video yet, and one that is dear to my heart. 40 years ago, I had a cabin on Colby Hill, where I set out 125 taps and collected that sap to bring down to the TLV sugarhouse. I can remember some very late nights of vigilantly tending to the evaporator. That was a long time ago – hanging out with the Kidders this winter and observing the entire arc of the sugaring season was a wonderful flashback.