Northeast Kingdom on Fire

[pwt54]

I took route 100 north to route 58 east in Lowell and went to route 5A in Westmore and turned left and went to route 105 west and to West Charleston. I then took a side road to route 111 and the Morgan Store to meet Tim our fearless webmaster. He took me to a couple of his favorite foliage sites. I'll keep the first one a secret because it's a dead end road ending in a farmyard. The second one is the gore Road going north from route 111. Then it was my turn, so I took him to do the East Branch Road from route 114 in Averill to route 105 in Bloomfield. The colors were intense! I could have stayed there all day but we wanted to eat more than bushes so we went to Island Pond for a very late lunch. We talked over a lot of things then he had to go home, so I took a few side roads home. Now, routes 100, 58, 5A, 105,111, and 114 were all near peak. Those roads should bee good all week and into next weekend. It will be past peak after that. Farther south the colors are less advanced and will peak after next weekend. I took a quick trip to Peacham and it's very early down there right now. It should be interesting next weekend but not peak for another wek after next weekend. Colors won't get any better than this week, so get on up there. I'm taking my Mother and Aunt up there tomorrow.

[ixl]

Thanks for the report, pwt. Please show us some of your pix!

I am continuing with my plan to come up north on Wednesday.. though I am not sure if I am going there first or the Whites. Maybe there, I need to find out more about how the Whites are doing. Hopefully the hurricane will stay to the south-east...

I am still trying to learn the geography but have gone through an entire guide to VT attractions so I understand the lay of the land a bit better now. But I am not sure of a couple of things.

Two areas I am potentially interested in are the Stowe region and also Groton SP and vicinity. Stowe is fairly far north and pretty far up, how far along do you think they will be mid-week through the weekend?

Groton is south of Peacham which you said is just starting. Would it be too early for there, or is it at a higher elevation? I am noticing even down here that the higher reaches are >50% and some of the valleys have nearly nada.

Are there any other areas in the northern half of the state likely to have good color this week, or is it too early for anywhere but the NEK?

Appreciate your thoughts. I do want to see the NEK at peak but I only get one shot at this so I am trying to figure out what else will be at peak (or close -- I like some green mixing in) this coming week. I will be coming back the week after so hopefully more will have turned by then.

Thanks!

[pwt54]

First Groton SP. I was down to Peacham today which is next door to Groton. It's early, but the maples are looking good. I don't know about the White Mts. There should be colors in the higher elevations like there is down your way. The color change in the Kingdom from last weekend to this weekend is incredible. Get up there above Burke as soon as possible. It's moving fast.