Fall foliage

[slyvermont]

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm sharing what I did this weekend in pictures. (Lots of pictures.) For those of you unable to enjoy our beautiful foliage in person -- here it is!

On Saturday, I took a walk downtown. This tree shows a nice interplay of yellows and greens.



While this tree is a vibrant red:



Downtown Montpelier, with the foliage in the background.



I get creative with some red leaves in Hubbard park (I knelt on the ground and shot up; the sunlight is poking through the holes in the leaves):



The Statehouse dome, framed with yellows, greens and oranges:



My favorite shot of the day, looking west down State Street, the Pavilion building on the right (the Statehouse is just west, out of sight)



Then, Rich and I went apple picking.

You can see the apple trees in the foreground and the foliage in the background:



Picking apples was very hard this year -- it was a poor season, and the trees were pretty barren. Usually we find one or two trees and fill bags. Saturday, we had to traipse from tree to tree in search of apples, and almost all of them were at the tippy top. So this is a very posed shot, at one of the few trees with ripe, reachable apples:



But we managed to fill two bags nonetheless:



On Sunday, I went on the annual "Friends of Foliage" hike. Michael started this 25 years ago -- he picks a day and a hike, and invites everyone he knows to come along. We've probably gone 5 or 6 times in the last 12 years (we weren't invited from the very beginning). The most people who ever came was 75 (lots of kids came), and that was a year we did it. This year about 25 people came -- and hardly any kids. I hitched a ride with friends, since Rich was out of town and Caroline didn't want to come. We took a lovely and very arduous hike up Burnt Rock, and then had a pot luck lunch at the top.

Here's one of the dogs that hiked with us:



Here I am at the top:



The picnic spot at the top. It really was a perfect day -- we could see the White Mountains in NH and the Adirondacks in NY.



The view, with a blanket of foliage, is below. It was probably a couple days past peak on Sunday, so there were lots of bare trees.



It was a very Vermonty weekend, except for the weather, which was unusually warm. 

Comments

[unzeugmatic.livejournal.com]

Those are very nice pictures of you, Susan -- particularly the one of you reaching into the apple tree and holding the apple.

Also, I forget what a glorious area of the country you live in. Wow. It can be pretty nice in the upper midwest, but nothing so glorious and dramatic as Vermont. How far out of town did you need to go for that final vista?

[slyvermont.livejournal.com]

The drive to the trailhead was about 45 minutes. Then a two-hour hike to the top -- and parts of it were very very steep. As the crow flies -- maybe 25 miles?

And thanks -- yes, Rich got a good shot of me.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Oh, how I miss the foliage in New England! ::sigh:: Thanks for sharing the pictures, Susan.

[yav-14.livejournal.com]

You live in an unbelievably gorgeous place! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[slyvermont.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem as gorgeous in November, when the predominant colors are grey and brown and the sun never comes out. Or January, when it never goes above freezing (and sometimes stays below zero) the entire month. Or April, when we are still wearing winter coats and everyone else is enjoying spring. So yes, I do relish these few weeks when it is unbelievably gorgeous.

Glad you enjoyed the photos!!

[knitress.livejournal.com]

You got all the good weather while we were gloomy and wet! Gorgeous pics, thanks.

[jedihealer.livejournal.com]

*Wonderful* pictures. Yep, this is why New England gets innundated with folks this time of year. If the weather only stayed this temperate. In a few months we'll both be crabbing. :-)

[dm-lunsford.livejournal.com]

Lovely, absolutely lovely! I especially like the one where you got "creative". ; )

The trees down south have only just begun to turn. But we've been a bit dry this year, so I don't know if we'll get much color before the leaves fall off. So thanks for sharing. You live in a very lovely place.

[spccadet.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me why I love New England after spending 5 days in San Diego loving being with my closest friends in the world again. Dammit I want a transporter!