Autumn HodgePodge

For most of us...especially us hikers and forest bathers.....Autumn is the perfect season here in the NorthEast/the East....er..."right" coast! 😏

I'm a fan of what I call my fave hiking season:  mid-August through mid-December here in New York State.  So I loved these questions for today's "hodgepodge."  Head to this blog to learn more. 

1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? 

hiking in the mountains with no sweat dripping down my face and back; no bugs; moderate temps; glorious color; bonfires; thick cozy sweaters as October nears its end; pumpkin displays and fresh apples from the local orchards. 

2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list? 

I have a bucket list but it's not  necessarily an Autumn one.  So I'll just list a few things I want to do before Christmas season gets here:  hike one new to trail in the ADK high peaks; have a bonfire party with some of our close friends; hike another trail in the Blue Hills Reservation area (south shore Boston) during Thanksgiving week with my nieces, daughters, etc. Spend an afternoon on the beach at Loon Lake before November arrives. 

3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently? 

That's a lot of questions!  Ok first one:  I like all of the foods listed above.  Absolute faves would be butternut squash or cranberries. (we have apples and sweet potatoes all year round and I do love them as well. I don't really do pumpkin anything other than I make really good pumpkin muffins I've been told.  But pumpkins sit as decor around my house vs eating them.  I do love pumpkin seeds and eat them throughout the year. 

How do I like butternut squash or cranberries prepared?  Squash that's mashed with earth balance butter, nutmeg, a drizzle of maple syrup, and stirred well.  Served piping hot.  Cranberry chocolate cookies is a fave recipe I tend to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with Dave's side of the family.  I also make pretty good cranberry orange muffins and I get requests for those often. 

The thing I've had the most recently:  my husband made homemade Handheld Apple Pies last weekend with some of the just picked apples we had picked on our date day. 

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate. 

Change is typically a wonderful thing for me. I actually like change. Change of the 4 seasons (I could NEVER live in the south or southwest!!); changing up my home decor; etc.  Change is actually good for us.  It tends to "grow" us emotionally or spiritually.  Some change is hard but if it's in the will of God for me, I tend to be better at embracing it. A quote I like: 

and a fave Christian quote about change: 

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? 

Is there a spot?????!!!  UM. We live near the following by a half hour to an hour:  The Adirondack Mountains (Always tourists and leaf peepers!!); Vermont (same); Berkshires of MA. The annoying thing is the people from out of state, typically the southern states, who just stop their cars on the mountain roads to snap pics and ooh and ahh.  It's like they've never seen a pretty tree before! Last year I was driving to a trailhead and  three  cars from the southern states (I won't say which ones but 2 began with a V and one has the initials FL) were blocking access to the lot.  I had to get out and ask them to park on the side of the road. They looked at me like I was crazy. I said I would contact the NY DEC if need be and they might get fined for blocking trailheads.   They moved on.  If they did a little research, there are many place in the Adirondacks to pull over...large safe pull off's for cars that don't block traffic or hikers.  There's one town in Vermont that actually has to close one area due to all the "leaf peepers" and their disrespect for people's property.  

Of the places listed in the above link I have been to Stowe VT.  It's gorgeous.  This year my oldest daughter and my sister Joy and I are going to Weston VT which is also gorgeous.  We will shop at this famous place.  Several years ago, I went with Joy and my youngest daughter. We loved it. 

From the link in the question, the place I would most love to visit is the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. But I'll do that in Summer because the Adirondacks is where you find me in the Autumn months. (Or the Green Mts of Vermont! )😊

6. Insert random thought:  there's really no place like the Adirondack Mountains. 

me on the edge of Gilman Lake
 South- Central ADK Mts
 early October 2024
roadside lake after just a short 10th of a mile from the cars

Elizabeth Point on 13th Lake
in the Siamese Pond Wilderness Area
of the Central Adirondack Mts. 
late October 2023
after a 4 mile hike...
this  spot is about 1.5 mile hike from the cars

Creek Road in the town of Hope
Southern Adirondacks
late October 2022
Before a 7.5 mile hike 

me on the Summit of Mt VanHoevenberg
High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks
early October
hike was 4.7 miles 

Holmes Lake 
western edge of the Southern Adirondacks
October 2019 at peak season
hike was just 2 miles 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!