Vermont’s highway 100

As I write this post, Peggy and I are situated in a cozy little cabin near Chazy, New York. Lake Chaplain is 5 miles to the east and the Adirondack Mountains are 5 miles to the west. The Canadian Border is 6 miles to the north. Here, we are looking out at Lake Champlain from the New York side. The land in the distance is Isle La Motte in Vermont, one of several islands in the lake. The reflection caught our attention.

Another view of Lake Champlain. No islands here. You’ve undoubtably heard of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, but have you heard of Champy, the Lake Champlain Monster that looks and behaves in the same way: illusive. And why am I thinking of Sasquatch now? Anyway there have been over 300 reported sightings of Champy over the years in the 125 mile long lake. I’ve stood on the edge of Loch Ness in an ancient ruined castle and searched the waters for Nessie. Minus the castle, I’ll do the same here. Just in case…

Peggy and I made a trip through New England in the fall 25 years ago when we had both taken a year-long sabbatical from our jobs. We decided it was time to visit the beautiful fall foliage again with Vermont and New Hampshire as our destination plus a side trip to Acadia National Park and a few of the scenic towns along Maine’s coast.

While one can normally expect fall foliage in Vermont to last into the first week in October, our arrival in the area suggested we were too late.

There were more leaves on the ground than in the trees. The woman at the Sticky Fingers Bakery (yummy), on Route 100 up through the heart of Vermont, told us that the state was facing a serious drought. The normal 25 inches had turned into 6. That’s desert level rain! Hello Global warming! The leaves, she told us, hadn’t been nearly as vibrant and had dropped early.

New England is beautiful with or without its colorful fall leaves, however. There would be plenty to occupy our time (and cameras). Our first night was spent in Williamstown, Massachusetts, a small town on the Vermont border. This colorful creek was flowing by the 1896 House and motel we were staying at.

We found a brilliant white capped toadstool growing on the lawn. It literally defined white.

Route 100 is chockfull of fun stores, restaurants and breweries to explore. The Vermont Country Store in Weston is the grandaddy of the stores. It was so big that Peggy got lost. I almost called for a search and rescue team. It turns out, however, what I call lost, Peggy calls shopping. She was busy buying Christmas presents. Our kids and grandkids love top grade Vermont maple syrup. And maple sugar candy. It melts in your mouth.

One of the clerks at the store told us that the peak of the fall color was the previous week. She suggested we drive over to Lake Champlain on Vermont’s western border to catch more color. That’s why I kicked this post off with photos from the lake.

The limited fall foliage didn’t mean there weren’t hold outs. A few trees had volunteered to stay dressed up for the week. The lack of color made them stand out! They were the belles of the ball, so to speak.

We parked under striking orange and yellow leaves next to a small lake where we had stopped for lunch. Peggy was eating a cinnamon roll from the Sticky Fingers Bakery and I was eating an apple turnover. Healthy, huh?

Even these two beatup holdouts were alive with color.

Me, happily consuming my Sticky Fingers apple turnover. Peggy just had to take a photo.

The winner for our fall Vermont colors was right outside a small cabin we had rented north of Stowe.

This is our handsome little cabin and the tree. The cabin comes with a story.

Our original plan had been to stay in Stowe, Vermont. It’s considered the most picturesque of the Vermont towns. When I saw the $300-350 prices per night of available places left to stay, sticker shock set in. I started looking at the surrounding areas. This small cabin was about 25 miles to the north and came in at under $100. It was love at first sight. “Go for it!’ my buddy exclaimed. We like cabins in the woods. “Bring warm blankets,” the owner urged, which suggested that heating might be a problem. We threw in four quilts, a down cover and our backpacks.

Beyond that, I apparently didn’t read the small print.

After a pleasant drive over country roads, we arrived at the cabin. As promised, the owner had left the key in the door. Inside, we discovered our furniture was a double-bed sized futon and a coffee table. Electricity was a battery connected to a small lamp. Our water was in a large bottle on the porch. As for a bathroom, it was an outhouse located about 25 yards away. None of this mattered to us. We are backpackers. We even had an extra lantern, a backpacking stove and headlamps along.

The real challenge was the cold. Temperatures were dropping below freezing and the cabin came with air conditioning, i.e. gaps in the structure that guaranteed that the temperature inside matched the temperature outside. Somehow, I ended up with one blanket. Peggy ended up cozy. I’ve never been able to figure out how she does that. It was a warm blanket, however. My biggest problem was cold feet. I put on my slippers. The other problem was having to pee, not once, not twice, but three times. I rarely have to go twice and never 3 times! Out I dutifully went each time, at least off the porch.

Peggy woke up at 12:30 after my second trip and we renegotiated the blanket distribution. I actually slept warm and cozy up to 5:30 and my third adventure into the great outdoors. I managed three hours of sleep throughout the night. Not bad, considering.

I’ll conclude with a few fall photos we took near Chazy, NY, where we stayed after our Vermont cabin.