New England Autumn Fun Part II

This weekend my husband and I took a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Even though we had to deal with a flat tire on our second day, we had a good time (thank you Toyota for the full size spare under our 4x4 truck so we could drive home). We saw some of the most saturated, eye-popping fall color that a human being can absorb in one trip. We also saw tourists from around the world. Plenty of tourists. I knew people came here in the fall to look at leaf color, but I now have a greater appreciation for how popular New England is this time of year. We booked our hotel room three weeks prior to our trip, and we were lucky to get it. Most places were booked solid.

It only took three hours to drive from our home to Littleton, NH (where we stayed the night). It was a pleasant trip with no real traffic trouble. Along the way, we stopped at some scenic places. Upon arriving in Littleton, we spotted our hotel, topped off our gas tank, and found lunch at a great little pub in downtown. After lunch we took off in a random direction (well, a direction that my husband thought would be good; he is the one with awesome directional sense. I'm just the photographer!). This little trip yielded some great photos. We stumbled across a covered bridge among other things. I took a ton of pics. 

Covered bridge near Lunenburg, VT

The saturation and variety of colors were absolutely spectacular. Sometimes the best pictures are ones of the foliage up close. I took a number of wide, scenic views, but the best way to show the colors was getting "up close and personal" to the trees. Some of the colors are hard to describe. It's like a red-orange-yellow-gold-green explosion of beauty. 

Delicious maple colors

Autumn rainbow

There are also plenty of bodies of water (creeks, rivers, lakes) in NH that provide endless photo opportunities. We got off the beaten path a few times so I could shoot these creeks and lakes. We stopped by one pond that was so still, it was hard to determine what was real and what was a reflection.

Calm, cool reflection

Scenic creek with colorful mountains in the background

Another beautiful creek along the journey

You might wonder if I saw "The Old Man in the Mountain" that NH is known for. Well, no one sees the old man anymore because he fell off many, many years ago. However, I saw where he used to live:

Follow the arrow to where the face used to be

Sadly, now the iconic mountain face is just another mountain among many mountains in New Hampshire. However, I could still appreciate how lovely the mountain was, with or without the famous face. 

We had a fun trip despite the tire trouble and heavy traffic coming home. We found the neat places off the beaten tourist areas. I took some close up pictures that really captured the essence of the season. If you don't live near New England, take a trip one year to see the fall color. The timing can be tricky (this year's colors were a bit later than normal), but it is well worth the trip. Just make sure you book your hotel well in advance and bring plenty of memory cards!

Happy Autumn!