Glastonbury Mountain, Vermont

Wow what a great hike. Perfect weather and full moon. The leaves were incredible. It was the first week in October and absolutely amazing! We set out from The Gathering and hit the trail at a good time of day. We saw the extensive damage from Irene, but I gotta give it up to the Trail Crews. The trail was in great condition. The climb up was great. Saw a few hikers, including the guy that shared Goddard Shelter with us in 2008.
Glastonbury 2010- Post ALDHA Gathering

The Gathering, Mt Greylock

Sunset from the tower

It was just an awesome weekend. The leaves were peaking and it was really warm. Spent time with awesome friends and met new ones. We saw some of the devastation to the area at the hands of Hurricane Irene and this area and north just got it so hard. The cleanup was going really well and a lot of reroutes on the rivers away from house. So many people got stranded because of all of the bridges getting wiped out. Will take Vermont a little while but if they can handle the winters like they have gotten the past few years, they can handle this.

Franconia Ridge Trail October 4, 2011

So I went through and found some of my better pictures of the past hikes in fall. Just before the ALDHA Gathering in Williamstown, Mass, I went up on Franconia for a long day hike. Made really good time going up the ridge but once I got above treeline, it was slow moving. High winds and really cold temps made for some brutal wind chill. The climb up Lafayette was hard and kicked my ass. The view north was tempting for about a second. Getting to the hut was a relief but a little later than I wanted so I had to push hard on the gradual downhill of Old Bridle Path, but the trail was awesome so I stopped a lot. Going going at a pretty good pace once in the woods, was almost at a jog in spots. The leaves were as beautiful as I have ever seen up here. Not as nice as Maine and Vermont but the hike we went on in Vermont a couple of days later was pretty magical. That comes later. Enjoy these pictures- Franconia Ridge, NH 2011

Mt Liberty, White Mountains, New Hampshire