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"In autumn, don't go to jewelers to see gold; go the the parks!" - Mehmet Murat ildan

New England offers the best fall colors and we love to drive all along the countryside of Northern New England states such as New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine during this season. Last year, we drove to multiple beautiful remote areas of these states during fall but owing to our busy schedules at work, we couldn't visit any such remote areas this year. Instead, we just visited few well known places of New Hampshire and a lesser known place of Vermont. This is a small travelogue of our visit to White Mountains in New Hampshire and Chittenden in Vermont two weeks back.

White Mountains National Forest:

This is the favorite place for leaf peepers to visit during fall. We usually avoid going to this area in fall since most of the places will be over crowded. But since we had time constraints, we chose to roam around White Mountains owing to the short distance from home. Our idea was to take a short hike to Artists Bluff, visit Crawford Notch, Kancamagus Highway and return home.

Drive to Artists Bluff at Franconia Notch. The colorful I-93 in New Hampshire:

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Echo Lake:

To hike Artists Bluff, we need to park the car at Echo lake parking and then take the marked trail. Echo lake is a beautiful lake located at the base of Cannon mountain ski area. I was expecting a crowded parking lot but was surprised to see it completely empty. I still have no idea why it was so empty during the peak of fall season.

Deserted parking lot at Echo lake:





We roamed around the Echo lake for sometime before hiking. The temperature was very low:

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Artists Bluff:

Artists Bluff is a overlook located opposite to the Echo lake. There are two trails to reach there. We took the shorter one which is 0.5 miles. It's not a good idea to hike in those freezing temperatures for long time.

We need to cross the road across the parking lot, walk towards I-93 until the trail board is visible:





The trail passes through dense forest:


First half of the trail is pretty steep with boulders:











There are small overlooks from where Cannon mountain is visible:

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It took us around 45 minutes to reach Artists Bluff. The view of Echo lake with the backdrop of Cannon mountain is amazing:








It was a very nice experience sipping hot tea which we had taken from home in that cold weather:





Northbound I-93 towards Vermont:

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We spent a good amount of time at the Artists Bluff enjoying the views. The amazing fall colors made us forget everything about the freezing temperatures. There was just another group of 4 on the summit.

Views of Cannon mountain while descending:





We then went to a view point across the I-93 to get a good view of Mount Lafayette:

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Crawford Notch:

We had ample amount of time left before returning home and hence decided to drive through Crawford Notch to reach Conway and then return to I-93 through Kancamagus highway.

Views at Crawford Notch:

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Kancamagus Highway:

After Crawford, we drove through the scenic Kancamagus highway to return to I-93. We had a very bad experience during last fall at this highway where the traffic resembled that of a big city with frequent blocks everywhere. It was a pleasant surprise this time as I didn't see any crowd at any of the viewpoints.

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Chittenden, Vermont:

Chittenden is a very small town tucked away in Green Mountains in Vermont. I had visited this place in summer and loved it. It's a very remote place with hardly any visitors. While it was cloudy the previous day when we visited White Mountains, it was a clear day today with plenty of sunshine. I always make it a point not to take the interstate highway while driving around in Vermont. I instead prefer driving in back roads which pass through beautiful sleepy towns. I took the scenic Vermont route 100 to reach Killington and then took the back roads to Chittenden. Chittenden has a reservoir where visitors are not allowed. We need to visit the Lefferts pond next to the reservoir from where visitors can access the reservoir.

Beautiful rest area at Brattleboro, Vermont:











The trail around the Lefferts pond passes through woods. The fall foliage appeared as a red carpet of flowers on the trail:

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Lefferts Pond:

After few meters into the trail, we get a panoramic view of the Lefferts pond:

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Chittenden Reservoir:

View of Chittenden reservoir from the Lefferts pond trail:














Since there are no services at Chittenden, we came to Killington in search of hotels. There was just one restaurant called Charity's Tavern which was open. I must admit that we had one of the best lunch at USA at this tiny local restaurant. We ordered vegetable fajita and it was very fresh and tasty. The locally made cheese was very fresh. Vermont prepares some of the best quality cheese other than the famous maple syrup. The restaurant folks were super friendly. Vermont is full of such small restaurants where they prepare some quality food.

Charity's Tavern restaurant:


On the way back home, we stopped at Brattleboro, VT and took a stroll on the bridge over the Connecticut river on route 119. This river serves as the border between Vermont - New Hampshire.





It was a satisfying drive to these two places at New Hampshire and Vermont this fall. Even though we did not venture into remote, offbeat areas like last year, we liked the outing as we did not encounter any crowds at any of these places. While no visitors can be seen at Chittenden at any time of the year, it was a big surprise to see thin crowds at New Hampshire. The highlight of the trip was the food at the fantastic local restaurant. The fall is at peak this week here at Massachusetts and if time permits, we are planning to visit the Berkshires this weekend.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[abirnale]

Awesome pictures! The fall colours are something unique to east coast. And north east states on this belt have the best views and scenes during fall. Just before it becomes one long white and cold season, fall colours offer these beautiful scenes.

I used to frequent every fall season to Rocky Gap Mountains down in south and that was time of the year we used to enjoy most with family. On a regular weekend if you could setup a BBQ stove on one of the campsites closer to these mountains during falls, it would be the most amazing experience ever!

I think Kashmir is one similar place here at home in India which also shows these fall colours. Of course not to this geographical extent

Great pictures and to the point summary of the trip. Thanks for publishing here.

[amitoj]

Excellent travelogue! Thanks for the pictures. I specially liked the shot with tea.

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

The fall is at peak this week here at Massachusetts and if time permits, we are planning to visit the Berkshires this weekend.

I had gone to Berkshires last weekend.

You are right. Fall would be at peak this weekend. Don't miss it, although I suspect it is going to be cold and raining at least one day.
But the beauty of fall colors is everywhere in New England. This year the fall colors are really nice as compared to the last two years.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Excellent travelogue! Thanks for the pictures. I specially liked the shot with tea.

I was about to comment on that and I see you already have! What ever may be the colours, we need to have that "chai" !

Awesome log @guyfrmblr!

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Originally Posted by amitoj

I had gone to Berkshires last weekend.

Nice picture. Where is it in Berkshires? I'm planning to drive through the Mohawk trail and visit Greylock mountain near North Adams this Sunday. While returning, planning to take the MA-116 and MA-122 which pass through some really beautiful Massachusetts towns.

This year the fall colors are really nice as compared to the last two years.

You are right. This year the colors are very bright. I had never seen Franconia or surrounding areas in this state last year.

Originally Posted by ampere

I was about to comment on that and I see you already have! What ever may be he colours, we need to have that "chai" !

I specially liked the shot with tea.

Since there is plenty of interest surrounding the tea, let me put up the brand name too - Kannan Devan Tea