A perfect fall day in New England
Wow. My wife and I got on our bikes and rode to the top of Mt. Wachusett today (round trip was 63 miles, about 4800 feet of vertical climb).
The temperature was 55-75 degrees, depending on where we were at the time. It can get pretty chilly when you ride near a lake or a stream in the shade, but the top of the mountain was bright and sunny and actually got kind of hot. The skies were that crystal clear blue you only get this time of year. We had a frost last night, and I think the trees responded — brilliant orange and yellow and red, with plenty of green still around. There’s a stretch through the town of Sterling where the road cuts along the side of a hill. Uphill is a large green meadow with a single white rock about the size of a car sitting in the middle of it. Downhill is a huge expanse of green grass that stretches about half a mile before bumping into a forest. It’s beautiful and peaceful and stirs something deep within me.
The peak was incredibly crowded, but on a bright and shiny day like today even the hundreds of tourists who drive to the top of the mountain didn’t bug me. Everyone has a right to enjoy a day this good.
ObGlobalWarming: the climate zones in New England have been moving northward by 25 miles a decade during my lifetime. The weather we used to have in northern Connecticut is now the weather they have in southern Vermont. Trees don’t migrate this fast. So enjoy the leaves while you can.