Vermont & New Hampshire fall color splendor

I haven't quite figured this blogging out yet. Photos aren't landing where I want them but hopefully you can figure it out.

Someday I'll catch up to current news... If I hadn’t kept a short log of what I did each day I wouldn’t be able to catch up at all. I’m 2 weeks behind and when I was writing from memory for the last post I said I was heading to hike Mt. Washington in Vermont. I had the state right but the mountain wrong (that mountain is in New Hampshire). From the Adirondacks in NY I headed into Vermont and made my way to Mt. Mansfield, the highest peak in VT at 4,393’.  I took a steep route up to a ridge and then hiked along the ridge to the summit.  I got up there fairly early and the trees were coated with a thick coating of hoar frost. It added a nice contrast to the fall colors visible below.

I arrived at the ridge back where you can  see the radio towers and enjoyed a great view as I continued up the ridge toward the summit.

When I first topped out on the ridge I was surprised to see folks in street clothes. It turns out folks could pay to drive their car up the auto road to a point close to the summit and a 15 minute hike could take them to the summit. Many only went a little way and said “I don’t think it will look much different from there than it does from here” and turned back toward their cars. Mt. Mansfield could be summited from 3 different directions (2 hiking routes, one drive). I had picked the most ambitious route. But, hey, if you don’t “earn it” you don’t appreciate that summit view, right? Or at least not as much…

I took a different route down from the summit of Mansfield.

I drove into the town just north of Mt. Mansfield.

Amazing murals painted on silos in Jeffersonville, VT.

The next day I took care of some business for my Dad’s estate, toured the Ben and Jerry’s Factory, and got in a 7.5 mile hike to the top of Camel’s Hump. It was a sunny weekend day and the summit was packed! The ranger that was stationed up there said it was the busiest she’d seen it all season. That was another summit that was accessible from 3 routes, but all were hiking routes. The last ½ mile all the routes converged so it was very slow following folks up while tons of other folks were making their way down from the summit. I got up there at 3, probably (maybe?) after the worst of the crowds.

Camel's Hump is a popular destination on a sunny weekend day.

View from Camel's Hump. The ranger was pointing out the
peaks associated with Long Trail, an extended hiking route.

 I only drove a short way down the dirt road from the trail head (which was posted for no camping) and found a ­­place wide enough to pull off and camp for the night. 

As long as it’s a public road (hopefully a quiet one) and there’s a place to get well off the road, I generally don’t have a problem hanging out for the night. I’ve spent a few nights at trail heads too. Between driving to charge up my 2 house batteries as I’m heading to my next play destination and the solar panel, I’m happy to say that I’ve spent many more nights “free” camping than paying for campgrounds.  I generally only go to campgrounds or RV parks when I need to empty/fill tanks.

So, after 2 hikes in VT I headed off to New Hampshire. I try to pick scenic byways or smaller roads rather than interstate freeways. And of course VT and NH in the fall have great fall colors. I think some of the scenic byways marked on maps are especially for “Leaf Peepers” as they call us folks sightseeing to take in the fall colors. My NH destination was Mt. Washington, the highest peak in that state and in New England at 6,288’. I wasn’t sure which was the best route up Mt. WA so I spent the day sightseeing and wound up circumnavigating the mountain.

Early on the trail up to Mt. Washington.

View while driving around the mountain.

I hiked up it from the east side, hitting the trail at 7:30 a.m. since the days are getting short. I took Boott Spur Trail up on the recommendation of 2 folks at the visitor’s center. The other 2 routes up from that side go up ravines and don’t get out for views until near the top. Minor details that the wind was HOWLING. It was sustained winds of 50mph with gusts of 65-70 in the forecast for the morning, backing off to 35-40mph in the afternoon with clearing in the forecast. It was no small trick to hike up an exposed ridge in such strong winds. It added a whole new ‘adventure’ to the hike. I had to place my feet very far apart and my hiking poles well out to the sides. If you’ve ever seen a photo of a giraffe with its legs spread so it can get its mouth down to the water for a drink, that’s what I felt like when the winds were gusting from the sides. I was laughing to myself that the prospect of winds of 35-40 was a GOOD forecast. 

The view up the ridge I'm heading for.

Mt. Washington is up there somewhere.

I was hoping there would be a view when I got to the top.

LOTS of people clustered around the summit sign, it was still very windy with gusts to 50mph.

The cog train, or you can drive your car.

It cleared while I was up there.

So many great views on the hike down, and WAY less wind!

Partway up the ridge I entered the clouds. They were sailing overhead, briefly exposing views, but for the most part I couldn’t see the summit I was heading toward. It must be a common condition; the trails had tall cairns placed very close together with a big white rock on the top of each cairn. It wasn’t hard to find my way. I knew before I got there that you could drive your car to the top or take a train so I wasn’t shocked to see hordes of tourists. I even took advantage of the cafeteria and enjoyed a hot bowl of chili and hot cocoa to warm me up. The clouds cleared while I was having lunch so I took the ridge route back down to see the views I’d only had hints of on the way up. It was a 12 mile hike, I got back to my car as the sun was setting. I was VERY happy to be able to take a shower at the visitor’s center, courtesy of the Appalachian Mountain Club. Part of the trail I’d hiked on included a section of the Appalachian Trail. I went back to the same place I’d open-camped the night before; just a quarter mile from the trailhead.

South Moat Mountain.

 

The next day I didn’t drive far. I wandered around the town of Conway and parked at a trailhead for South Moat Mountain at 3:30 in the afternoon and just hung out. I hit the trail first thing in the morning and had the summit to myself for an hour before other folks started arriving as I was heading down. It’s a popular local hike and I suspect lots of folks chose to play hooky since it was a surprisingly warm fall day. On my hike down the sun was kicking out so much heat that I took off the extra layers and was in shorts and a tank top. The first time in a while. Two of the locals told me that the fall colors are more vibrant this year than they’ve seen in years, so I picked a good year to see my first ever New England fall colors.

I had planned to go join a friend I first met 33 years ago when we were both cycling in Scotland. He was organizing a bunch of friends for a fall foliage campout on the Massachusetts/New York border. Folks were to bring potluck food, hiking clothes, and musical instruments. It sounded too good to pass up so I was going to head west again rather than east as originally planned. But the weather forecast for rain/snow cancelled the 3-day campout so I reverted to the original plan and headed for Acadia National Park. My absentee ballot was waiting for me at General Delivery in Bar Harbor (aka “Bah Haabah”), Maine.

It took most of the day to drive there but the weather is forcing me to pick up the pace. My van is not equipped for freezing temperatures; it’s a 3-season coach. I was hoping I could get to the top of Kathedin – the highest mountain in Maine but it’s in the north of Maine and the weather is getting colder and the days shorter. I called the park where the mountain was told me the forecast was for snow for the weekend and Sat. night was the last night you could camp in the park. After that you’d have to camp outside the park and drive to the trail head in the morning and get back out of the park before 7pm. With fewer daylight hours and needing to drive to get to the trailhead for an ambitious hike, it’s just not feasible at this time of year. So, sigh… I have to let my “high point” pursuit go for ME (for now anyway). That mountain is also the culmination of the Appalachian trail, so it would’ve been nice to get there.

My absentee ballot was calling more to me than getting my annual pass to National Parks (in >4,000 miles of driving, this is the first NP I’ve hit), so I went first to the post office and took care of that and popped it right back in the mail. Then I headed to Acadia and it was too late to get my pass so I found a place to open camp and went back the next morning.

This is getting far too long so I’ll leave it here for now. When I get internet coverage I’ll post this and some photos and then pick up with my Acadia hikes in my next post. But I’m still several states behind since was in Massachusetts when I started this post and I’m now in Rhode Island.  I really will catch up at some point…