powderfreak

Shoveling GGEM snow has been a pastime of mine for the last decade or so.

I think even people who didn't grow up in poverty have that same problem. Human nature to want to do something that you can instead of having someone else do it for you. I do like the logic though, ha, let me do you a favor and let you rake my yard for money. It's totally true, keeps the economy going, it just sounds funny. Could've paid someone to put in new floors this summer but instead did it myself with a friend. There's some aspect of something being fun to learn a new project too vs. paying someone to do a routine item that's just boring AF . Also an age factor I'd imagine too. My father now pays for a lot of things he used to do... once past 50 years old it seemed he started paying more and more for random things he never would've let someone go near when we were young kids and he was in his 30s/40s. Now past 60 he just wants to golf and pays for most mundane things. Low of 49F last night... god damn it is mild at night. These departures are insane.

It has happened incredibly quick. Peak was probably Tuesday or Wednesday of last week and it's already going largely orange. The bright reds seem done. Luckily there's no big wind or rain in the forecast so we should hold the orange look for this week. If we got a good rainer or a breezy day, it would clear the trees out pretty quick IMO. What's interesting is we still haven't had a frost and really the area has only had I think a couple days of 30s for mins. The mountain summit hasn't hit freezing either. But the leaves don't seem to care that it's really mild relative to normal. They are moving along fast to go dormant for winter. They can't fight the solar changes.

Peak color has now moved down into the lower elevations (under 1,500ft down to the valley floor at 750ft). This little hill in view tops out around 2,200ft. But the foliage is now taking on that more uniform orange look of "past peak" but still colorful. Just the variety of color has diminished as we move out of the "fruity pebble" stage. The Robinson Springs neighborhood of Stowe...

Moving past peak. It's now the much more uniform orange color that signifies the back end of foliage. A couple reds holding on but by and large the reds are now in the lower elevations/valley. Above 2,500ft there's a lot of bare trees (for reference this photo was taken at 2,500ft looking straight out). Best variety of color is down near 1,500ft and down into town.

For sure, there’s definitely that voice in the back of your head that’s like “this is incredibly nice now when it could be 44F and raining, but how do we skip that stage? Is that coming all of November?”

Clouded up over here. Mountain is definitely past peak now. Still some good color in the base area but lots of leaf drop up higher. Starting to get that November look all the sudden… except with shorts and a t-shirt temps. 3 weeks late but leaves be gone.

Ah foliage season. Where you park tight on a 50mph state highway.

It's pretty crazy how far above normal this is... but it is absolutely top 10 weather 60s and 70s over 50s. Normal is 60/38 at MVL. So far this month we are only +3 on the highs but +10 on the mins and that looks to get even higher, especially at night. If there is a time of year for a torch, it's now (and April).

Absolutely. Backpack leaf blower was game changing. Can just push a whole yard of leaves into the woods with a blower in a couple hours. As a kid I loved mowing the lawn but raking was like going to the dentist.

We used to go to Woodstock for Thanksgiving growing up and I remember several years raking leaves all day at my grandmother’s while food is being made. Brings back memories, not always fun ha.

Man you are lucky, or he just picked up his meth. Every visitor here goes exactly 50% of whatever the posted speed limit is. I’d love for them to be in such a rush. I’m about to make a sign for my SUV that says “Congrat’s you’ve exceeded 30mph. The posted limit is 50. Next let’s try to go over 40.” Luckily in VT you can legally pass on double yellows.

We are past peak on the hill now I think. Best color is at 1,500ft... above 2,500ft has a lot more bare trees mixed with the yellows. Crazy how fast it happens. Like literally in 72 hours you can watch it go peak and then move past.

Crazy. Still stuck under the inversion down in the valley. It's torching up at 1,500ft with 67F at the ski area (feels like summer). MVL actually went from 52F back to 51F it looks like in the last 10 minutes in the fog. Nice 15 degree delta between 1,500ft and 750ft. All the higher elevation sites outside of the fog are up in the mid 60s to near 70F.... while the low spots are still upper 40s to low 50s. Very pronounced in N.NH too next to the Upper Valley where the fog is still thick. 15-20F difference between Phin's area and the valley sink around Whitefield and Jefferson. It's crazy how long it takes for the inversions to mix out this time of year. By November they won't mix out at all sometimes. Then when there's an elevation snow event it's the exact opposite, lol.

Pretty much spot on normal from my photos. Some years earlier like last year's drought, some later like 2015 and 2016. Looking awesome out there. The sun almost washes out the variety of color and it takes on a more orangish/yellow glow on the whole.

That's incredibly cool. I've only flown in a helicopter once over Mansfield while taking photos for marketing. It's such an awesome way to see the sights. I hope I get another chance some day to go up in one.

The weird thing is how long it takes to mix out this time of year. It's been full sun now for a while and the valleys are still "cool" relatively speaking. Many stations at elevation are in the mid/upper 60s... but the river bottoms are stuck in the upper 50s. A month ago it would be in the 70s down there at noon. See it also over by Phin's area... "Broadacres Farm" in Randolph at 1,650ft is 68F and Alex's area is 64-67F while all the stations down near the Moore Reservoir are in the 50s (one as low as 55F). So weird to have the inverted temps last past noon even with sunshine. Mixing takes forever this time of year.

Man, what a beauty of a day. Shorts and t-shirt weather at 1500ft. 67F up here at elevation.

With this talk of rain ruining the weekend I went and ran through all the models and have no idea what you guys are even discussing? Is the thinking that storm comes further north? Looked dry on the whole if you average the 3 days out. Maybe some showers on Sunday afternoon/evening south?

Sun came out today for the first time since last week. Enjoyed a nice foliage stroll with the wife and dog after work. Just spectacular weather. Hit 71F at MVL, down to 46F now. Above normal but could be much worse. Hung out above 3,000ft until the shadows grew and it got chilly. The hillsides are now orange and red on the whole.

Dude this shot from Barnes Camp is insane! The boardwalk, marsh, fog, Notch… you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s print worthy for sure. Also the drone must be about directly over the 1,500ft Barnes Camp Snowstake, ha. But what a shot!

Nice to see some blue skies today!

I told you what would happen if you let people know… I trusted you with the Randolph/Gorham market. You were about to get everything from Berlin to Whitefield.

Fake cold tonight?

There's a variety of post processing and fall colors are tough because they are so bright on their own. Just adjusting the lighting can change things. Like here's an example from last weekend with only lighting changes. From an under-exposed photo in an extremely dark rainy day, to a brighter image. Just adjusting the lighting in the camera or in the post-processing stage makes for a big different. The full on saturation boost is a bit much but often times shifting even lighting to a more well-rounded exposure can make a big difference. I play with lighting quite a bit. I know every other photographer on the planet does too... but the trick is to avoid completely blasting the color out.