As autumn turns deciduous trees from green to brown via red, yellow and orange, Kevin Pilley discovers the world of obsessive ‘leaf peepers’.
“I’m a mixed hardwood guy,” Greg confessed. “I’m really into my sumacs especially. And the wife’s just dippy about maples. And completely gone on birch too. But who isn’t?”
‘Foliology’ – a word apparently concocted by North American tourism boards – is a billion-dollar business in the region of the US known as New England.
Most autumns, foliage traffic is heavy and there are plenty of logjams with “forest bathers” seeking out the best hues and most vibrant colourations.
“The Adirondacks [mountains] are pretty cool, so are the White Moun-tains of New Hampshire. The Rockies rock too.
“We’ve been just about everywhere. I’m a different animal when all the chlorophyll dries up. And the wife gets pretty hung up if she doesn’t get her annual dose of maple sugar.”
Greg and his partner Amy are self-confessed “leaf peepers”, whom I met in Acadia National Park, Maine. New England’s other states are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
They were both full of location ideas for virgin fall chasers and help for those afflicted with nature deficient disorder, like me.
Seeing the woods ablaze lowers my cortisol, I’m telling you. Canopies do me good. Acadia certainly does it for me
“Seeing the woods ablaze lowers my cortisol, I’m telling you. Canopies do me good. Acadia certainly does it for me. Doesn’t it, you honey? We’ve hit gold.”
His ‘honey’ smiled sweetly. We were sitting at picnic tables surrounded by a deciduous display that Greg considered as good as any he has “peeped”.
The reds, yellows and crimsons were reflected in the water of Acadia’s Tarn lake under Dorr Mountain.
Acadia on Mount Desert Island is Maine’s national park. Most tourists stay in the small town of Bar Harbor but there are a few celebrity residents too: John Travolta has a house nearby.
Bar Harbor was originally called Eden, after the Tudor alchemist Sir Richard. It became the place to be seen during the US’s Gilded Age, during the last 19th century, and was the birthplace of Nelson Rockefeller.
“You’ve got to go to Cadillac Mountain,” said Greg. “It’s the first spot to see sunrise on the east coast. Bald Porcupine is a nice paddle trip too.”
Amy passed the juice. “Let’s hear it for the balsam fir.” We took in the seasonal show.
“You done the Blue Ridge Parkway? Shenandoah National Park?”
I shook my head shamefully. “You should. Really spectacular.”
“Awesome,” said Amy, showing me photos of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“That’s us on Brasstown Bald in the Chattahoochee Oconee Forest, Georgia’s highest peak. Alabama’s got a pretty cool leaf fall trail.”
Manic-compulsive “peepers” centre their holidays around leaves and, sure enough, Amy and Greg cannot get enough tree litter.
“West Virginia around Pocahontas County blazed early this year. We hightailed it down Route 39 and it didn’t let us down. We listen to the fall forecasts. They say Interstate 77 to Charleston can stay colourful way into November.”
“Show Keith the picture of us at the Lowville Cream Cheese Festival. That was a blast.”
Greg and Amy have a long way to go on their wish list. They’d like to do the Hoosier National, Indiana, and Ohio’s Route 303.
“We come from Taos, New Mexico. People think we don’t know any trees apart from cactus,” they said, shaking their heads ruefully.
The snaps kept coming. Soon my lap was covered with colourful photos.
“That Beaver’s Bend, Oklahoma. We’d like to do the Ozarks and Michigan’s Upper Peninsular. Tahquameonon Falls and the Connecticut foliage cruise.”
According to some experts, there are foliage no-go areas. Amy warned me off Framconia Notch in the White Mountains on Columbus Day.
Greg told me that New York’s Hudson Valley is a well-known crush and Stowe in Vermont can get congested too.
“I’m a real anthocyanin junkie, “ said Greg, very seriously. “That’s the chemical responsible for the colour alteration.”
Amy smiled. “People think we are a few squirts off a full palette. But we’re just ardent outdoors people who dig leaves. New England is where it’s at from October, if you are into your mellow apricots.”
She was getting nostalgic over her snaps. “That’s us at the Fall festival in Warner in New Hampshire...”
Greg stood up. “If you’re fit you could do a loop of the Lake Champlain Bikeway through Vermont to Quebec. If you’re lazy, jump on a train up through upstate New York. That’s pretty neat, if you like brownouts.”
Visitors can enjoy the fall phenomenon from September up to Thanksgiving Day, but it tends to happen later on the coast than inland.
There are special, free fall foliage information hotlines, podcasts and even ‘fall cams’ from Sulphur Mountain Alberta in Canada to the Appalachians. There are plenty of places to branch out.
Another couple sat down at a nearby table. They were obvious eavesdroppers.
“We’ve done the Cataloochee Valley motorbike tour through North Carolina and driven the Kancamagus Highway through the Whites. Route 112.”
“Peepers” know their routes.
The man pointed at his wife and then himself. “I’m a big sourwood fan and she roots for redbuds. The southern Appalachians are great for cove hardwoods like yellow buckeye and sweet maple.”
“Don’t forget the pin cherry,” said Greg almost competitively.
“Or pignut and shagbark hickory,” added Amy with practised tree-upmanship.
They gathered up their things, hoped to see me around and walked deeper into the woods through the leaf mould.
“Foliologists” don’t die. They just wilt, fade away and eventually turn into soil conditioner.
For information about Arcadia National Park, go to:
www.nps.gov/acadia
www.acadiamagic.com
www.barharborinfo.com