October 9, 2022: Fall Gets Busy - and Pretty

Fall foliage season is in full swing right now, and it's a good one.

The colors are peak in the mountains, and just about peak here in the Lakes Region.  If you have a chance to get out today or tomorrow in either location you won't be disappointed.

Color in Franconia Notch

A walk around Lake Wicwas or anywhere in Meredith or a surrounding town will be rewarding.  This was the view yesterday from Crockett's Ledge in the Hamlin Conservation Area where it's not quite peak color yet:

View of the Belknap Mountains from Crockett's Ledge.

If you want to head north, I can recommend a very short hike in Franconia Notch that brings you to a wide viewpoint over Cannon Mountain and the Franconia Range including Mt. Lafayette.  

Bald Mountain overlooking Franconia Notch and Mt. Lafayette.
The trailhead is right at the main Cannon Ski Area parking lot (Peabody Slopes, not the Tramway).

It's just under one mile round trip, and you can make it a loop by going over to Artist's Bluff, another great view point, which makes it a 1.7 mile hike.  Or, if you still have a boat in the water, a paddle around a local lake will provide lots of great foliage sights, especially the maples along the shore line.

If you go for an excursion be sure to keep your eye out for wildlife as the animals are active now, preparing for winter.  Beavers are swimming across the lake every evening in search of food for their winter stores.  On one paddle to the dam on Lake Wicwas a beaver popped up barely10 feet from my kayak.  I had just an instant to prepare for what I knew was coming as the aquatic rodent looked at me and processed what I was before it dove and gave me a good dousing with a huge tail slap right beside my boat!  And those beavers have been busy.  The dam was stuffed full of a dense pack of tree branches and mud.

The water level is rising, and this is why.

A sturdy and well decorated dam.

The town came and cleared it out, and two days, it was packed right in again.

It's getting darker for my morning walks even though I've pushed them back by over an hour, but it does make them a little more mysterious.  Just yesterday I saw a dark object cross the trail in front of me and I knew it was a bobcat.  I kept walking and it paralleled me in the woods, perhaps 20 yards off the trail.  Was it stalking me or just annoyed that it couldn't take advantage of the easier - and quieter - travel on the trail?  I wasn't at all concerned, but I don't know - perhaps I should be....

A bobcat and I watch each other as we walk along in the dim light.

On another excursion I saw a large flock of at least 25 turkeys.

Happy turkeys with lot of seeds to find now.

This was a flock of multiple hens and their offspring as they into gathering into larger groups in the fall and winter.

Lastly, on Tuesday while doing trail work on the Red Trail in Hamlin at the spur that leads to Lake Wicwas I saw Maddie and what I presume is her mother.  No pictures of them, but I'm sure they are enjoying the beautiful fall weather and foliage just as we are.