Month: November 2020

Fall foliage

A spectacular year for fall foliage.

This fall brought us some of the most intense fall foliage we’ve ever seen, in three decades of living in the upper valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. When we had a seriously long drought this August, so many were concerned about a potentially disappointing fall-foliage season, but we’ve experienced quite the opposite! Don’t miss the full gallery.

The trees around our home in their fall foliage; Lyme NH.

Farnum Hill

A late-fall outing in a forest close to home.

This weekend’s outing was a mild hike across the ridgeline of Farnum Hill, in nearby Lebanon, NH. Its trails stroll along the rolling hilltop on an 820-acre reserve managed by the city as a space for wildlife and recreation. Here at the end of October (Halloween morning!) these hardwood forests were mostly bare, with a colorful carpet of fallen leaves covering the forest floor. I walked out and back along the spine of this ridge, enjoying the sunshine of a late-fall morning and the crisp crunch of barely-frozen leaves along the trail.

A late-October snowfall mingles with the fall foliage along the trail in Lebanon, NH.

The trail begins at a marker noting the historic King’s Highway, “the first planned colonial road in Lebanon”, and now a class-VI woods-road suitable for walkers and skiers.

The trail begins along the historic King’s Highway in Lebanon, NH.

A light dusting of snow on the fir trees recalled the early snow that drifted through the morning before.

A late-October snowfall dusts the fir trees along the trail in Lebanon, NH.

A small critter walked along top a snowy log, not too long before I did.

A critter had made its way along a snow-covered log.

Hike stats:
distance: 10.3km round-trip
time: 2h20m
gain: 367m