The perfect break from New York’s overwhelming vibe, before the winter definitely breaks out, is to admire the colors of the «Indian summer» when the forests take on a very special atmosphere. Indian summer begins from the end of September when the leaves of the trees begin to spark and glow in hue of red and yellow and one of the areas where the wonder of the autumn foliage is more intense are the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The leaves of the maple, oak and alder trees in the forests literally explode with color in the Indian summer, more than 800 species of trees ensure that the forests glow like flames.
It was the perfect timing: the end of October, when with a group of friends we decided to go hiking on the White Mountains. We choose the Franconia Ridge Hike which seemed to be one of the nicest hike and also not the toughest (by the end of the hike we discovered it to be tough enough for not hiking people like us). The hike was tough: 3,566′ in elevation and a 8.3 mile loop but for the stunning views and the experience it was totally worth it.
The hike began with a warm color palette: red, yellow, orange and ochre, the leaves of the trees were exploding with color and even though it was starting to get cold you could feel the sun warming your face. Step after step the climate started changing and with it also the landscape. I could definitely start feeling cold, the warmth of the sun was replaced by a sparkling winter breeze. Goodby autumn, welcome winter! The colors now were in the shades of white and grey, snow took over, literally. It started snowing. Once on top of the ridge the view from the exposed ridgeline was superb. You could see the Winter colors on top shading into the Autumn flames.
It was a challenging hike, without my mountain boots I wouldn’t have definitely done it, but, it was a very unique wonder of nature.
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