Route 9 And Vermont National Forest 71 Foliage Jackpot - Highly Recommended

[loafer89]

Date: October 4th, 2015

location: Vermont Route 9 and Vermont Forest 71

I started the day with a drive to Mt Greylock in Massachusetts with so/so foliage conditions and a lot of green foliage below 2,500'. We continued onto route 7 North to Bennington, which is primarily green with about 15% color change. Turning onto route 9 to head home I was not optimistic about finding a lot of fall foliage color, but that all changed once we gained elevation and continued past Woodford. The foliage became vibrant with tons of red color, not my favorite, but rare so far this year in Vermont.

Turning onto Vermont National Forest 71, we where met with an abundance of vibrant red, yellow and orange coloring, especially on non Oak covered hillsides.

[ixl]

Thanks for the post. This is my neck of the woods, and I plan to be up there this weekend, it should be peak around then. Hopefully the storm on Friday won't have too much wind with it.

[loafer89]

It looked near peak to me except for the Oaks. I am not sure about this weekend especially with rain showers in the forecast for Friday. This area may be past peak by then. It was nearly bare 1 year ago a this time, so it's late this year.

[ixl]

We'll see. In my experience rain doesn't do much damage as long as it isn't accompanied by wind. Wind and hard freezes cause the most leaf drop.

I have seen color up there as late as this weekend before and of course this is a very late year. That second shot is Searsburg Reservoir, a common target of mine a few years ago.

If I miss it there, well, I guess I'll look around somewhere else.

[loafer89]

We'll see. In my experience rain doesn't do much damage as long as it isn't accompanied by wind. Wind and hard freezes cause the most leaf drop.

I have seen color up there as late as this weekend before and of course this is a very late year. That second shot is Searsburg Reservoir, a common target of mine a few years ago.

If I miss it there, well, I guess I'll look around somewhere else.

The NWS is calling for 0.50 - 1.00" of rain on Friday along with gusty winds, not something we want with peak foliage.

[ixl]

Can you show me where you see that? Thanks. Everything I've checked says winds under 10 mph.

Anyway, I have shot this area many times, if it drops, I can go next year.

[loafer89]

Can you show me where you see that? Thanks. Everything I've checked says winds under 10 mph.

Anyway, I have shot this area many times, if it drops, I can go next year.

Albany NWS forecast discussion mentioning breezy conditions on Thursday night:

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php ... hlight=off

NWS Burlington is calling for wind and the rain amounts I mentioned earlier for central/northern Vermont.

[ixl]

Thanks. I'll report back on Saturday but I've dealt with these cold fronts many a time and it's usually not a big deal if it blows a bit briefly. We shall see.

[loafer89]

From the reports/pictures I am seeing from further north into Vermont, it looks like this area has/had some of the brightest fall foliage coloring in the state.

[loafer89]

This area was past peak on Sunday afternoon and about 15-25% bare.