Foliage Update

[Kerry29]

I spent a good chunk of today driving through northern New England. I cut through southern Vermont on VT-9, all the way to I-91. Things were mostly green, except at the highest elevations; the color has begun at Hogback Mountain, for instance (though it still has a way to go). I then drove up I-91 from Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury. Other than the odd tree here and there, things were overwhelmingly green...until I got up to, roughly, Bradford. From that point on, there was a lot more color. It was still predominantly green, but there were significant pockets of color all over the place. That remained, more or less, the case the rest of the trip--which was on US-2, through New Hampshire to Rumford Center, Maine, and then up ME-17 as far north as Byron.

Someone in Rumford told me that there was almost no color visible here until today--that what there is here has all snapped in because of the cold night last night. It's supposed to be very cold here again tonight (30-35), so it'll be interesting to see how much of a difference is evident tomorrow. Ditto the NEK, though I won't be back in that neck of the woods until Friday.

[ctyanky]

Kerry: nice update! I usually start my VT foliage trip around Sept 26th and glad I am coming a week later this year (per bm's recommendation). Looks like foliage is about a week behind but soon to become gorgeous in the coming days, especially after the freeze warning posted for the north tonight. What is on your agenda for the rest of the week? Keep us posted! Have fun!

[Kerry29]

It was right about freezing when I went out this morning (about 6 AM)--frost on the grass, fog pouring off the Androscoggin River. I shot sunrise on the river bank and was a popsicle by the time I was done (about 75 minutes on the shoot) and then headed up to the Rangeley Lake area. Color is much more developed up that way...not peak, but approaching that at the higher elevations. It's still mainly green with pockets of color down low. I've never been in this area before (and neither has anyone I know) so I spent a lot of time exploring (and keeping a lookout for moose--didn't see any, but did see a lot of wild turkeys, a fox and some whitetail deer). I checked most of the places I wanted to visit today (it was mostly sunny until very late in the afternoon, but I checked out some ponds both west and east of Rangeley, Height of Land, Smalls Falls, Cascades Stream Gorge, part of Mt. Blue State Park and a few other locations). Tomorrow I'm heading to Grafton Notch and will check out that area for the first time.

I have three more full days (including tomorrow) in Maine; I will revisit some of the places I checked today and, depending on what I see at Grafton Notch, will revisit there as well (depending on how much weather and color conditions have me shooting tomorrow). I head to Vermont on Friday...I'm probably going to make the trip to St. Johnsbury via Evans Notch and the Kancamagus Highway, but that remains to be seen. I'll be in St. J. for four full days (Oct. 1-4) and some time on Oct. 5 I decamp to North Conway, NH. I'll be there until Oct. 10 when I have to begin the two-day drive back to the Midwest.

Carol, I'll keep my eyes open for your itinerary.

[ctyanky]

Kerry: If you can, stop at Beaver Pond in NH. It is the most beautiful place ever! You will love it! It is Kinsman Notch on route 112. I guarantee you will be very happy shooting this pond! I think it is on Lost River Road..... I'm sure if you google it, you will find the GPS coordinates. Maybe someone has a photo to post here! Enjoy!

[minnesotaman]

Beaver Pond, last year. Sorry, I have completely forgot how to post a photo here that preserves the clarity of the image.

This was taken Oct 8 last year. My experience is that Beaver Pond is usually peak until around Oct 5 to Oct 9 or so. Cold weather might make put it on the earlier end this year.

The best views are to the east and southeast, which means not in the morning.

[Kerry29]

Kerry: If you can, stop at Beaver Pond in NH. It is the most beautiful place ever! You will love it! It is Kinsman Notch on route 112. I guarantee you will be very happy shooting this pond! I think it is on Lost River Road..... I'm sure if you google it, you will find the GPS coordinates. Maybe someone has a photo to post here! Enjoy!

Thanks, CT. I Googled it and it is indeed on Lost River Road. This is one of the general areas that MiM suggested I check, so I will definitely make a point to stop there (possibly on my way through to Vermont on Friday and then again when I'm back in New Hampshire, as conditions warrant). Thanks very much for the suggestion!

BTW, coincidentally, I stumbled across a Beaver Pond here in Maine, just off ME-17 on the way to Rangeley yesterday. It, too, is a beautiful location and I may photograph there again on Thursday.

[Kerry29]

Beaver Pond October 2015.jpgBeaver Pond, last year. Sorry, I have completely forgot how to post a photo here that preserves the clarity of the image.

This was taken Oct 8 last year. My experience is that Beaver Pond is usually peak until around Oct 5 to Oct 9 or so. Cold weather might make put it on the earlier end this year.

The best views are to the east and southeast, which means not in the morning.

Unless there's a spectacular sunrise to be had. I'll bet my hat that reflections are almost always better in the morning (because that's true almost everywhere).

Thanks for the image, and the details about timing. Sounds as though it will peak right in my window of opportunity.

[minnesotaman]

The pond is surrounded on the east and south by steep hills that delay the time the light hits the pond and those hills. Once it does appear, the view from the parking area across the water and into the hills is into the sun. You can walk two or three hundred yards through the bramble to the left of the parking area as you face the pond to avoid this angle. From that vantage you see the pond, the hills on the opposing shore, and an interesting very small island in the pond. No one seems to bother to do this--if the color is good people seem unable to pry themselves away from the view from the lot, which is quite arresting. I will probably check the color out there on Oct 3 or 4 depending on the weather.

[edmcguirk]

Kerry ;

minnesotaman is correct about the orientation of the mountains to the east and south, Beaver Pond is a nice location to shoot in the afternoon if you want the mountainside sunlit. But I have also had a lot of success photographing there in the early morning, the water is at it calmest (often this a very windy location). Early in the morning the water is in shade, but you can get wonderful reflections of the foliage in the water with a short telephoto lens. I actually prefer shooting here in the morning for this reason. If you are there on an overcast day, also check out Beaver Brook Cascades trail, which has a parking lot about a mile to the east of the Beaver Pond on the same side of the highway (south). It involves a little hiking but there are a series of cascades that go up quite a ways (it gets steep after awhile).

I'm planning on being in the northern NH / VT area on starting 10/1. Do you have any more current reports on the progress of color in that area?

Ed McGuirk

[ctyanky]

Kerry, Minnesota and Ed: When I was there I felt the peace and solitude surrounding me. I think there is a stone bridge or similar near the parking lot and that is where I stood. I kept saying to myself, "I have to come back here". I was with Phil from the forum and it was not quite peak yet but I could sense that it would be spectacular. The pond was like glass, no wind. I really hope you can get there and let me know what you thought about the sereneness of the spot. If a moose appeared there at the time, well I think I would be in heaven! (Aside from the "Holy Grail of Vermont aka Lewis Pond" Beaver Pond has to be at the top of the list, even though it is NH (gasp!)

[Kerry29]

Thanks all; I will definitely check out the pond, probably at least twice.

Carol, PM received and replied to.

[kcflanders]

Kerry,
If you get a chance, can you comment on the river and waterfall levels? With the drought I imagine they are pretty low. Every time I check the USGS river level maps, They are mostly showing 10-25%.

[Kerry29]

Kerry,
If you get a chance, can you comment on the river and waterfall levels? With the drought I imagine they are pretty low. Every time I check the USGS river level maps, They are mostly showing 10-25%.

Will do. Thus far, I can only comment on what I've seen in Maine, and it's a mixed bag. About half the rivers and waterfalls I've scouted in the areas from the NH border east to Rumford and north to Rangeley appear roughly normal for this time of year; the other half are decidedly low. For example, I went to considerable trouble to scout Dunn Falls, between Grafton Notch and Andover, ME. It's "trouble" because the hike in is ordinarily a real pain, with multiple creek crossings that often require wading. Not only was there no wading this time, even the rock hopping was a simple matter. As a result, Dunn Falls itself (especially Upper Dunn Falls) was extremely low, and this despite a couple of mornings of rain this week. But other falls I've visited--Smalls Falls, for instance, and the falls on Cascade River, etc., are flowing pretty nicely for autumn.

[Kerry29]

And I've replied to you, Carol, just minutes ago, this time via e-mail.

[Kerry29]

A few more thoughts on water levels, based on my experiences today. I spent the first 2/3 of the day way up north, in the Kennebec Valley of Maine. All the rivers and brooks (etc.) that I saw up there seemed to be in good shape. The back end of the day was spent in Evans Notch--much farther south (and west), on the Maine/New Hampshire border. Water levels in the notch seemed very low to me.

Take that for what little it's worth.