Fall Colors – 2016

“OCTOBER

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

…

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow,

Make the day seem to us less brief,

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know…”

        Robert Frost

Beguiled we were when the White Mountains were ablaze in color this autumn.  The vibrant hues of red, purple, orange, and gold were spectacular and held on for a long time in New Hampshire.  In fact, there is still a lot of color on our trees at the end of October because the Buttonwood Inn is located at the southern end of the White Mountains National Forest and they turn later. 

At the northern end of the White Mountains, above Mount Washington, leaves began turning around the last weekend in September.  We directed many of our early “leaf peeper” guests north to view the color change.  They also had the choice of going up Mount Washington on the Cog Railway or drive or take the shuttle up on the Auto Road offering a fine vantage point to see more color in every direction at the summit.

On Columbus Day weekend, Bill and I were fortunate in being able to drive up to Crawford Notch near the Appalachian Mountain Club Center and observed the fall colors at peak.  Since we became innkeepers nine years ago, we were not able to leave the inn and see the White Mountains in all their autumnal glory.  Having decided to buy sandwiches, we stopped in at the White Mountain Cider Market & Deli beating the crowd who filed in behind us. 

Back on the road, Route 302, we followed cars in a stream of traffic at a leisurely pace passing cars from the opposite direction.  Usually this mountain road has very few cars on it.  It all seemed orderly with folks pulling over at various stops to capture images of the beauty of the colorful deciduous trees against the deep green of the conifers.  We pulled off onto Mt. Clinton Road in the area above Crawford Notch and found the last parking spot at the base of Mount Eisenhower. 

Sitting high above the road, we relished our delicious sandwiches while delighting in the views of the fiery White Mountains surrounding us.  We were in awe of the expansive array of color in the quiet of the mountains filling our hearts with nature’s beauty.  We continued onward to capture the view of the Omni Mount Washington under the back drop of the Presidentials in their full regalia of orange and deep coniferous green.  I felt this was God’s reward for us to experience having worked so hard and long for our guests this past October.

There were so many leaf peepers this peak Foliage weekend from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and other parts of the United States.  This by far is the most popular month to reserve your vacation in advance viewing the magical colored forests of the White Mountains.  If you spend three or more nights, we can suggest other tours on the Kancamaugus Highway (a national scenic highway) over to Franconia Notch to Sugarhill then north to Route 2 which skirts past the northern part of the Presidentials.  There are many short walks through the forest to waterfalls and covered bridges along the way to experience nature.  We can also recommend scenic mountain hikes to the summit with views of the valley and surrounding mountains.  You can reserve at the Buttonwood Inn on-line or call us at 1-800-258-2625 for the next Fall Colors – 2017 vacation.