fall – David Kotz

Mount Crawford in fall foliage

Absolutely spectacular!

It was still dark as I drove north through the dense valley fog, confident I would encounter a brilliant sunny day once I turned east and climbed away from the Connecticut River Valley. My destination was Mount Crawford, a popular peak in the heart of the White Mountains. At 3,128′ it is not one of the 48 ‘high peaks’, the four-thousand-footers that inspire so many people to “bag them all” and earn the AMC’s Four-Thousand-Footer patch. (And for some, like me, to do them all more than once; I finished my second round in August.) But, frankly, Mount Crawford is far better than many of its higher cousins: it has a splendid view – earning it a spot on the list of 52 with a view. Today, in full fall foliage, the view was absolutely stupendous. Read on!

View of Mount Washington and the southern Presidential Range,
along the Davis Path to Mount Crawford.

First snowfall

Winter is here?

At daybreak today we woke to our first proper snowfall – with an inch of fresh snow on the ground by 7am. We’d seen snow flurries once or twice in the past week, but now we can confidently say that fall has ended and we’re entering stick season. It appears raspberry season has ended, as well!

Mount Monadnock

Back again, after 41.5 years.

The first (and last) time I climbed Mount Monadnock, in southern New Hampshire, was over four decades ago… as a senior in high school. Despite living in New Hampshire for nearly all the years since then, I have never returned. Why? my impression is that it is always crowded. It was true in May 1982, and it was true now in November 2023. (Some say it is the second most-climbed mountain in the world, behind Mount Fuji in Japan.) Read on for the story of my visit this weekend, and for the gallery of photos!

View of summit of Mount Monadnock from the Pompelly trail.

End of the sculling season

all good things…

I enjoy sculling (rowing) on the river, in the early mornings, from May through October. Prior to May, the water is too cold for to be out on the water alone; after October, the air is often too cold. (My personal threshold is forty degrees; rowing in 30-degree weather is far too chilly!) Darkness is also a factor this time of year… it’s too dark to see before 7am.

Some years, though, I manage to sneak in one or two more outings in the first days of November, when the weather holds and my calendar allows. This morning I enjoyed one final spin up the river, passing the few remaining ducks, geese, and other migrating birdlife. (On a recent outing, I saw four bald eagles!)

Time to wash and stow the shell until spring… and with snow flurries in the air three days ago, it’s time to dig out the snow-season equipment!

First frost

Finally!

It has been an incredibly warm fall – with temperatures hitting the 80s(!) in September and often in the 70s in October. Historically, local gardeners could never count on frost-free weather after Labor Day (first weekend in September)… though in recent years it was not uncommon to make it through September without a frost. This year, as recently as Saturday (75ºF and sunny) it was looking like we might get through October, too, without a frost.

Today, the last day of October – Halloween! – the first frost finally arrived, applying a crisp coating to the yard and the fallen leaves.

Below are plots of temperature in our garden, at head height, over the past week and over the past month.

For those not from around here, these are crazy warm temps for October!

Raspberry season!

A bountiful harvest.

Fall is here, and that leads to one of my favorite parts of the year: raspberry season. Pam’s garden has a highly productive raspberry patch, partly due to the unusually warm fall weather so far. (It is October 4th and we have yet to see a frost, or even come close!) I’m picking about a quart every day. Yum!

Equinox

Equal day and night.

Today (22 September) is the fall equinox – when we have equal amounts of the day with sun and no sun. The length of the day is changing fast – indeed, faster than any other time of the year except spring equinox – and it is really noticeable every day. Today was rather cloudy, not a great day for solar power: