Dont go to ... areas in South-central- west Vermont

[umdterp]

Hello,

This is the route that i took today for vermont colors and it was a disaster. I just want to alert people going there....

I followed one of the routes given by some one here for this one day trip...

from albany, ny
87 north to Route 29 at Saratoga Springs (exit 15, follow signs to 29 East).
East (right) on 29 to Route 22 north.
North (left) on 22 to Salem, NY.
East on 153 at Salem to E.Rupert, VT.
North(left) on Route 30 at E.Rupert.
Right on Route 133 in center of Pawlet, VT.
follow 140 from Middletown Sprgs to Route 7
Follow route 7 to 100 for granville (moss glenn falls)
GO to middlebury through VT125.

Total disaster in all these areas. No leaf at all (forget the color) in any of these routes. Not even in middlebury.

After spending the entire day without seeing any useful color, i am heading back to maryland, from where i came.

Hope this helps.

[Heather Forcier]

Wow, that is really too bad! I was going to check out Route 100 and 125 - was it not turning yet or past peak? Colors were really good two days ago around Camel's Hump and Bristol area. Just starting to change around Addison.

[umdterp]

No leaves in these areas... Everything has fallen. All i could see was bare trunks...However, I am not sure of north or south of these routes....

[gswave]

I second that... slept at Okemo tonight, the whole area has no color, very very disappointed. I planned to stay another night here but instead will try the eastern part of the white mountains.

[courtmel]

bm-

Thanks for the positive feedback. My spirits are starting to peak again. We are staying in Stowe Wednesday-Sunday of this coming week and are not opposed to driving to see some nice sites. Would you be kind enough to maybe suggest to the best of your ability some routes we should maybe check out?

Thanks,
Susan from CT

[pwt54]

I was through the Pawlet area this afternoon. The colors are still early. There are a lot of Oak that haven't turned yet and the Ash are still in the greyish brown phase and look bare at a distance. The real problem is the maples with their red and orange leaves turned a little earlier with the wet year and are going bare. Foliage north of route US 4 has more maples than south of route US 4. South of route US 4 there are more Oaks and Ash trees and these trees depend more on the direction of the sun for best viewing. With the sun in your face or at your back the trees ahead look bare or dull. Look to the side and they look good. This has been driving me nuts for years.

[pwt54]

Heather, Those routes will be gone by on the route 100 side but okay toward route 116. Autumnleaf, check my " Phil's Phrantic Pholiage Tour" post for some ideas.

[gswave]

After Saturday in Okemo/Killington area (where color was MIA) I drove on Sunday to the white mountains via route 25 - mostly past peak but still a beutifull drive - the best drive was Route 113 on the NH maine border - it still had some nice colors.
On Monday I did the NH/Maine border along the coast.

My conclusion is that this year the colors were not as vibrant, the sugar maples didn't have the bright orange and red colors they usually get, it seemed their was more yellow and brown and not as much orange and red as usual.

[pwt54]

After reviewing my foliage yours for this year, it looks like the maples turned early this year. On the weekend of Sept. 23rd I did a tour of northeast VT and northern NH and there was a lot of bright red and orange. The next day I did the Peacham, Cabot, and Barnet and once again a lot of bright red and orange. In the trips I did the last 2 weekends there was a lot of yellows and the dull red of early turning Ash and Beech trees but very few of the red and orange maples. What looked like a great seson on Sept 23rd has turned into a so-so year.

[Andy]

I drove 1500 miles between Oct 7 and Oct 14. Color was unpredictable and spotty. UmDterp, I am surprised by your comments. I drove from Fairfax through Monkton, down to Bristol, eventually catching Route 7 and driving it all the way down to Arlington. On the return trip, I came up 30 to Middlebury and then followed 7 all the way into Burlington. I saw the best color of the week on the trip north. Addison County seems to be one of the few places where the Maples had not dropped their leaves. Plenty of full foliage maples. I flew home out of Burlington today. Again, in the air, I saw a lot of reds (something conspicuously missing from most parts of the state) around Burlington.

PWT: It appears you are absolutely right. My uncle, who is a farmer who has a lifetime of Maple Sugaring and logging in Vermont, tells me that the hard Maples do not take heat and dryness stress well. Apparently the dry spell late this summer took its toll on them and they experienced early, significant leaf drop. The only place I didn't seem to see this phenomena was to the immediate east of Lake Champlain, and--inexplicably, along portions of Cloudland Road and the road between Woodstock and Pomfret.