October 5-11, 2024

By Tim Briese

Teresa and I went on a fall outing to New England in October to see fall colors and to explore other sights. First stop was York, Maine to spend a weekend with nephew and niece Austin and Emily. York is located on the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Maine. Our hosts did a splendid job of taking us out on various short hikes to explore the area. The first morning they took us on the two mile Fisherman’s Walk around the local harbor and then they showed us other sights.

a view on the fisherman's walk

austin, emily, and teresa

the nubble lighthouse

That evening we drove to the top of Mt. Agamenticus (elevation 691’) to walk around and enjoy the panoramic views at sunset.

view from the top of mt. agamenticus

The following morning we went on a scenic hike in a nearby nature preserve and then walks on nearby beaches.

scenery in the preserve

a very old cemetery out in the woods

on a beach walk, with a lot of seaweed on the shore

a view from the harborside restaurant, where we dined that evening

As we were leaving town the next morning we stopped at the beach for some sunrise photos.

Then we headed into New Hampshire on this rainy morning and drove the Kancamagus Scenic Byway, considered by many one of the most scenic routes in New England. Numerous stops and short hikes were in order.

the river beside the kancamagus byway

the albany covered bridge

the lower falls on the river

sabbaday falls

sabbaday brook

The next morning we drove across Vermont on our way to the Adirondacks in upstate New York.

colorful foliage in the green mountains of vermont

The ‘Dacks were a primary destination for us on this trip because we had never been there before. The fall colors were a little subpar this year because of an extended drought but we enjoyed them nonetheless.

chapel pond along the road to lake placid

We stayed in Lake Placid for two nights and made a side trip to Saranac Lake the first afternoon.

saranac lake

The next morning we hiked some trails on the Brewster Peninsula on the shore of Lake Placid.

on the brewster peninsula trail

Later we hiked a three mile paved trail around Mirror Lake at the edge of town.

a view on the mirror lake loop hike

The next day we continued driving through the Adirondacks to Long Lake, and hiked to scenic Buttermilk Falls a few miles outside of town.

buttermilk falls

We enjoyed dinner at the historic Adirondack Hotel restaurant, and stayed that night at a lodging right on the shore of Long Lake.

long lake

We got up in the middle of the night to walk down to the beach to see a fine display of northern lights.

The next morning we drove past Indian Lake, and thought of the Cowsills' hit song about this area and played it on our phone. We drove on to Syracuse that day, for our flight home the next morning.