Columbus Day weekend dawned clear and dry, with a sky as blue as can be. We had two of our dearest friends visiting from Long Island, so on Friday we took them on “the local tour.” First stop was in Gilmanton at “Four Corners.” The sugar maples were at their best, the Town Hall and the Community Church a stunning white against the sky and leaves.
We headed east to Alton Bay, and then followed Rt 11 northwest along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee. A stop at famed Weirs Beach was a must; what a delight to find it almost deserted, after the throngs of people and traffic before Labor Day! The view across the Lake to the foothills of the White Mountains was as good as ever. Then north to Meredith – one of the prettiest towns on this shore of the Lake – and time for lunch! It was still warm enough to eat outdoors on the deck of Kara’s Cafe, and enjoy the food and the local sights.
As October has gone by, Fall colors have burst out! The sugar maples were first, early in the month, with their orange and scarlet – but they are also the first to fade in areas exposed to wind and rain.
Now the birches, beeches, red maples and oaks have added their brilliant palette of yellow, orange, rust, deep red; while pine and hemlock provide a dark green background. Across our lake just before sunset, the hills and shore become a stunning orange!
But among my favorites for color are the humble roadside sumac, which here grow to be modest bushes and not 30ft trees as they do farther south. Their palette runs from green/yellow to orange/scarlet.
We enjoy a feast of Fall color in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and we are grateful!
A New Hampshire Journal 