Before we get to that, however - here's an update from photographer/leaf peeper B. Lombardi of Rhode Island:
I just got off the phone with my sister. She just returned from a 3 day trip up through Errol NH and over to Rangely Me. She said that whole area is ablaze with color. This is the same area we were in about 3 weeks ago. According to her, Lake Umbagog is brilliant, The Balsams, Dixville Notch are also showing a lot of color. She said it's near peak so most likely this weekend. If anyone is wondering where this is it's up on RT. 16 in NE New Hampshire and NW Maine, not far from the Canadian Border. You can consider this report to be very reliable. She's an accomplished photographer and fall foliage is one of her main subjects. She also said that mid VT. is progressing slowly so it sounds like Columbus Day Weekend might be around the high point for color in the middle section of VT.
Maine - colors in the northernmost counties (zones 6 & 7 on the Maine Foliage color map) are at peak or are near peak. This weekend (through next week) will be the time to take a drive up in northern Maine, NH and VT. Storms and strong winds can wreak havoc on the foliage so you might want to enjoy it over the next 10 days or so while it lasts.
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New Hampshire - For the northern half of NH: "...the colors are changing at all elevations now, and it will just be a matter of days before this area reaches peak fall foliage." About 75% there. (see postscript below).
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Vermont - "Foliage is reaching peak color this week in sections of the Northeast Kingdom and Lamoille County...good color will be found on pretty much any road from Stowe to Quebec.”
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Raking it all in: This is a good time to head north.
PS - Jeff "Foliage" Folger of Yankee Magazine was interviewed on the Weather Channel last night. He's heading up to northern Maine too; perhaps I'll see him up there. Jeff spent some time in northern NH (in the Sugar Hill area - one of my personal favorites) and he mentioned that the colors were getting close to peak in NH but were "not quite there".
Jeff also mentioned that some of the colors seemed "a little on the dull side" to him. Having said that, I thought the colors in the shots Jeff posted looked very nice, and the Weather Channel reporter conducting the interview commented on this as well. "I dunno Jeff....that looks pretty good to me!"
Here's the deal: good photographers like Jeff have to view things with a critical eye. I'm the same way. And as I watched the brief interview I think I understood what Jeff meant to say. That some of the colors might not be as vibrant as a some people might prefer, but that doesn't mean that the colors aren't there. It's all relative.
But the way I see it, there's no need to worry about "dull colors". Don't let that scare you away from a day or weekend trip if you have the time. Get out there and enjoy the season while it lasts, because the colors I'm seeing where I live are gorgeous!
Starting today, the next three weeks should be "all she wrote" for northern New England. And a good nor'easter could shorten that time span considerably.
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