Vermont Travel Notes

Photo taken in Waterbury VT, October 27, 2010

One of the great things about Vermont is its natural beauty even in seasons when you would least expect it. Right now is a good example. Most of the colorful leaves are not only past peak, they're lying on the ground. We're transitioning into Vermont's "stick season" where all the trees look like sticks. While it does not have the gaudy color of two weeks ago, the hillsides are still eye catching. At the lower elevations there are splashes of bright yellow and larger patches of rusty reds. It can be quite striking.

Yesterday was a good example. I enjoy this time of year when the sun is low on the horizon in the morning and late afternoon. It makes for dramatic natural lighting and it's especially fun to observe when the sky is a cobalt blue or swirling gray with sunlit highlights.

Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

Our weather today was not conducive to foliage viewing but it's predicted to be better tomorrow and fairly good on Sunday. Many areas are past peak now plus the wind and rain has knocked off many of the leaves that changed colors. However, there are still some areas coming into good color.

As I've mentioned previously, the Vermont foliage report I think does the best job is on vermontvacation.com where you can find observations by VT forest rangers who know what they're talking about and are not hyping travel to Vermont. Here is a link to the October 14 Foliage Report.

If you plan to tour VT in the next few days, I recommend that you line up lodging reservations in advance. We are nearly full tonight and full Saturday night for example. However, we have many rooms available Sunday night. That is likely the same situation for most Vermont lodging properties but not all. Click this VT Lodging Forecaster link for a useful guide to how busy inns and motels around the state are. It varies by location.

Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

We got off to an early fall foliage here in Vermont but the colors are still

changing and we have many days left before we're past peak everywhere. I

was looking at the hillside across the street yesterday and was pleased to

see so much bright red and orange has shown up.


As usual, some hillsides are further along than others. Looking closely at the

trees here at the inn, I see some trees that have few leaves left holding on

and other trees that have only just begun changing and are still mostly green.


The tree above is in front our inn and always looks spectacular for a week or

so every year. It doesn't look very good the rest of the year and I hardly pay

attention to it. But when fall rolls around, this tree is one of the first to blossom

with a bright color that makes up for the other weeks of the year.


When the lighting is just right, this maple has a day-glo orange color that is

sometimes so bright, it almost looks fake - as though someone painted it a

color that you would only see on a hot rod, not a tree. It is past its peak now (I

took the photo about a week ago) but plenty of its sylvan neighbors here are

looking very good.


Some people here predicted a quick end to the foliage because of the early

start but they've been proven wrong and I think we have at least a good ten

days left and longer in some areas like the Lake Champlain valley.


Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

Vermont's Killington resort has a "K55" deal available for a short time that you should
take a look at if you are thinking of skiing there a few times this year. The K55 is a
one day lift ticket that costs "just" $55 which is almost a 35% discount from the weekend
window rate of $85. The offer expires October
15.

The K55 is not good during the usual peak periods of late Dec-Jan, mid Jan
MLK weekend, and Presidents' Day week in late Feb.

You are limited to ten tickets but if you are going to buy that many, you should
take a look at some of the other discount programs Killington offers such as
the Express Card or the On-line Etickets. Of course the best deal is a
season pass. You can see some details and analysis on this Alpine Zone page.

Known as "The Best of the East," Killington is the largest ski area in the
East. It has 200 runs and 33 lifts spread out over seven mountains. But a
contender has mounted a challenge to that claim, Sugarloaf in Maine is
adding more acreage and will be larger in some categories. If you care, see
the "East's New Beast - Sort Of" article on Skinet.com.

Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

I've watched Vermont fall foliage reports for a decade and the one I put the most faith in comes from Vermont Department of Forestry rangers. They are out in the field and they know what they're talking about. Heck, they even studied it in college. For years. At great expense.

Their report is available at the Fall Foliage page on the Vermont Dept. of Tourism page.

You will find reports on other websites but if you look closely you will see that they base their reports on the foresters' reports. In other words, they go to the website I mentioned above and rewrite it a bit.

Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

Fall foliage in Vermont is off to a good start. Small spots of color have been visible for about a week and now they are gradually becoming larger spots. No bright reds yet, mostly yellows showing. It seems a little early to me but I think the foliage should last well into the second half of October because we've had good rain the past few weeks to help the trees avoid stress and thereby not shed their leafs faster.

The photo above is from a newsletter I got from Jay Peak, about an hour's drive north of us nearly on the border with Canada. Their leaves are roughly a week ahead of ours here in the Waterbury area.

So, is it leaves or leafs? Click here.

Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus