Pictures from Camel's Hump, Vermont

I think my favorite of the fall colors is the toasted yellow-brown of the beech leaves.

A view from the top of Camel's Hump with Lake Champlain in the distance.

The loneliness of the long-distance mountain hiker.  Actually, there was a bit of a mob scene at the summit, but as you can see, it was possible to get a bit of your own space to gaze and contemplate.

Our crew at the top, digging into the goodies.  Clockwise from top (sort of) are Kim, Mark, Chris, Anne, Katy and Karen.

Beginning the descent along a wide open face of rock and alpine grass.

A cool lichen shaped like a trumpet.

Camel's Hump.

Karen and Katy.

A lovely grove of beech.

In the center distance is Mount Mansfield, the tallest peak in Vermont.  It is also a stellar climb that I have done in other years.

Another view from the top.

Mount Chocorua

A big rock with a wonderful patchwork of lichen.

Some cool mushrooms. I have no idea what they are. I didn't eat them.

New England at its best, looking from the slopes of Mount Chocorua towards Mount Washington.

Fall colors and distant mountains.

Me, from the top of Mount Chocorua.

Lichen bullseyes and blueberry.

Looking up towards the top of Mount Chocorua, at 3,490 feet.

A view from the top.

Lisa, Emily and Rob, my hiking companions.

A lone raven, drifting south, Lake Winnepesaukee (I think...) in the distance.

I can't quite figure out (other than to do one at a time, in reverse order) how to sequence photographs in a preferred order. No big deal.

Yesterday I took my first big fall hike of this year into the New England Appalachians, to see the always astounding colors of the leaves spreading in unruly washes across the hills, to visit with some of the wilder elements of this planet, to replenish a part of my being, to exercise my limbs in a long(ish) climb into some of the higher parts, at least for around here, and to enjoy all of the above with a few friends.

The mountain was Mount Chocorua in east-central New Hampshire, one of the storied White Mountains, just a bit south of the famous Presidential Range and Mount Washington, reputed (believably) to have some of the fiercest weather and wind on Earth. You can see snow gracing the top of it in one of the photographs above.

Chocorua is not one of the 40 or so 4,000 footers, as it tops out at almost 3500 feet, but it will easily fool you into thinking it one as it has a long approach with a couple of steep climbs and a wide, spectacularly craggy treeless zone at the top that has stunning views in all directions, and, usually, a fierce, cold wind.

Anyway, these fall colors and aging granite mountains are one of the great treasures of this part of the country, and Autumn is just not complete without a trip amidst them, and so I went, and now share what I can with you. Enjoy!