After a few cold nights and a prolonged dry spell, fall foliage has arrived seemingly overnight. Even as I write this, enterprising neighborhood children are selling cider and doughnuts from a roadside stand. I have a hazy, juicy IPA in one hand and a new pair of hiking boots on my feet. This is Peak New England, right now.
Today’s was a short hike— our primary mission was to record a GPS track to use in a upcoming training, but it took us from a roadside overlook with stunning views up Lafayette brook toward the summit obscured by clouds
And into a corner of the National Forest where the last wildflowers of the season bloom among the ferns
And every section of the trial is illuminated by the bright leaves that arch over the path
And even though the drought has reduced the streams to bare trickle between rocks, the contrast between bright leaves and dark water catches the melancholy of autumn.
Oh fleeting glory
Who can recall the richness
When biting winds blow?
Recommended additional reading: the autumn-themed haiku of Matsuo Basho, found here.