Dave and Sue's Blog: 2012 NEW ENGLAND AUTUMN TRIP -- North from NYC

From NYC we had a marvelous experience seeing the spectacular reds, golds and yellows of New England's Autumn. We loved the Maine coast line with it's sentinel lighthouses. The white steepled churches were beautiful. The weather was crisp, if not really nippy. It was a wonderful time of year to visit this part of our country that we've seen so little of in the past.

We had eleven days to make our trip north and then return to fly out of LaGuardia airport in New York, and believe it or not, we put nearly 3,500 miles on our rental car. It was a lot of driving, and at times we chose not to stop and do some hiking because it was a little to cold or rainy. We had great weather in general though. We felt the coldest temperatures, as was expected, when we went out on the beach on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

THE LIGHTHOUSES

It took us 20 minutes to hike this rock pier to the lighthouse at the end.

While we were at the end of the granit pier, checking out the lighthouse, a lobster fisherman came to check his traps. It was interesting to watch him pull up the boey that marked the trap, connect it to the mechanical winch and pull in his catch. As he harvested his bounty, he threw back the ones that were too small. We were really glad to observe the process. Now we knew what all the boeys were for that floated along the whole coastline.

THE CHURCHES

Alright, I know. .. these churches aren't from our trip up north. They were taken from the top of our bus tour through NYC. I'm really impressed at how beautifully ornate they are. For the time that they were built, it's very amazing! No huge cranes. Just beautiful workman ship and muscle power.

COUNTRY CHURCHES

I loved the country churches -- almost always white. Most of them were Baptist, but we saw some Anglican, some Methodist and a couple Protestant.

This is my favorite (above) -- mainly because of the pretty autumn leaves and pretty blue sky to adorn the simplicity of the single spire steeple. The sky and clouds below were a great back-drop to the church.

The power-lines distract from the view -- just like here in American Fork, between our house and the golf course. We need to get them all buried.

THE LEAVES -- This is what we came for!

There was sumac in abundance from NY to Prince Edward Island. It seemed to be the first to turn.

We found a wonderful place called Coos Canyon. The gorgeous fall leaves were flanked by a lovely flowing river and huge slabs of rock.

We hiked a little over an hour on the Appalachian Trail. It was quiet as could be. The trail was covered with leaves, and we enjoyed the sunshine. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately 2,184 miles long. The trail passes through the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The path is maintained by 30 trail clubs and multiple partnerships, and managed by the National Park Service and the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The majority of the trail is in wilderness, although some portions traverse towns, roads and cross rivers.
The Appalachian Trail is famous for its many hikers, some of whom, called thru-hikers, attempt to hike it in its entirety in a single season. Many books, memoirs, web sites and fan organizations are dedicated to this pursuit.
An unofficial extension known as the International Appalachian Trail continues north into Canada and to the end of the range, where it enters the Atlantic Ocean.