Day Twenty-five - Leaf Peepin’

After exploring much of the eastern coast of Maine, it was time to turn our sights westward. We stopped at an information center, to gather more maps. The lady at the desk stated, “One option would be to go on the Kancamagus Highway”.

I said, “The Kanga-what?” 

She smiled and replied, “Kan-ca-mag-us, people pronounce it many different ways”. Then she hesitated and added, “You may have slow traffic with the leaf peepers”.

Quizzically, I asked, “The leaf what?” 

Her reply was, “We call them ‘Leaf Peepers’. The people who come to see the fall colors. The Kancamagus is a popular drive for that, but it really slows down as the cars creep along.”

Although too early in the fall to see the best fall colors, we decided we would go “Leaf Peepin and creepin’ ” on the Kancamagus Highway across central New Hampshire.

The two-lane road follows the Swift River winding over the White Mountains. 


One short hike led to Sabbaday Falls. The leaf strewn trail was a golden walk in the woods.




The falls itself was at low water, but we could see how the rock had been carved by the force of the waterfall during high-flow periods. The water was crystal clear in the pools below the falls.


 It was a very pretty drive, even though the fall colors weren’t at their peak. We did get in a lot of “Leaf Peepin’ ” at the various pullouts, view points, and campgrounds along the way. 

Once on the west side of the pass, we pulled in to buy some maple syrup from a farmer who had a booth on the side of the road.  We chatted with him about the area and he suggested if we wanted a pretty drive, to drive north to Littleton, NH, and then go down the east side of Vermont . 


As a result of our conversation, we headed north to the upper portion of the Appalachian Mountains of upper New Hampshire and Vermont. Close to Littleton, we came to the largest mountains we had seen since crossing the Rockies. Although more rounded than the younger craggy mountains of the Rocky Mountains or Cascades, there were pretty views. 




And, we got to do more “Leaf Peepin” as we travelled through the other parts of New Hampshire and Vermont.

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