Daniela and I spent another night in a motel close to the town of Manchester, VT. Like before, here, too, it was a building that had reception on one side, with a note that this one also had a restaurant that served breakfast, while on the other side there were spacious and comfortable rooms lined along a ground-floor wing, while in front of each room there was space for parking a car. Very simple and very practical.
Morning in Vermont
Although here and there it was possible to see patches of blue sky, the Batten Kill River valley, east of the 7A road, was still filled with fog.
Morning in Vermont
This morning, we were particularly interested in this road, 7A, because right next to it, some 7 km south of Manchester, there is a small parking lot and a house where one needs to go in order to buy a ticket and also a road toll token. Namely, on this morning, Daniela and I were first going to the top of Equinox Mountain or Mount Equinox, as it was written on a nearby sign.
In order to get by car to the top of the mountain, where there is a superb viewpoint, as well as a couple of other viewpoints along the way, the visitor needs to buy the ticket and then they give you a token that needs to be inserted into a mechanism on the ramp that is located literally right beside this house, since the road to the top starts here.
Equinox Mountain
With its maximum height of 1170 m, Equinox Mountain is the second highest in south Vermont and the top can also be reached on foot following some of the several trails that exist here. But, like most of the visitors, we were using a car. This road that leads to the top has its name, Mount Equinox Skyline Drive, which by itself is not that important, but it is interesting that this is the longest private paved road with road toll in North America. It is slightly less than 8.5 km long, while the elevation gain is almost 1000 m.
When I say that this is a “private paved road,” I mean it literally. Moreover, this whole area, around 28 sq. km of Equinox Mountain, was over time bought by Joseph George Davidson, a renowned American chemist and inventor, who was also a very successful business man. It was precisely him who in 1947 had this road built, which has only been maintained since then. It is interesting that in 1960, Davidson ceded a piece of his land to the Carthusian order and it was then that their monastery was founded on the west side of the mountain and this is the only Carthusian monastery in the USA, while being completely closed to public. However, the things did not stay there. With his will, in 1969, Davidson transferred his whole estate to the Carthusians.
Daniela and I drove to the first viewpoint, but there was not too much to see there. Still, it was worth making a stop in this place, because between the tops of the trees I could see the Green Mountains and that the Batten Kill River valley was still covered in fog.
Equinox Mountain
In addition, the trees here as well displayed those wonderful autumnal colours of their leaves which was particularly striking as a contrast to the blue sky.
Equinox Mountain
Then the road took us to a flat section where there is also an extension of the road for the cars to stop. I was absolutely delighted by the beauty of the sights around me.
Equinox Mountain: view at the east and the Green Mountains
Equinox Mountain: view at the east and the Green Mountains
Equinox Mountain: view towards the top
Equinox Mountain
When you look to the west here, you can also see the monastery itself that is situated at the foot of the mountain and is of while colour.
Equinox Mountain, west view
On the top, there is a spacious parking lot and a nice building, but I was too impressed by the sights that were even more striking in such a fine, sunny weather.
View from the top of Equinox Mountain
The air was perfectly clean and if somebody was interested it was possible to see far away. When the conditions are good, it is possible to see four states from here (Vermont, New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts), as well as a part of the northern neighbour – Canada.
View from the top of Equinox Mountain
Naturally, Daniela and I first went into the Viewing Centre where one can read various information and also see exhibits linked to the mountain and the Carthusians. There is also a room for prayer or meditation.
Viewing Centre
But, within the building, there are also terraces that allow for a wonderful view, while also getting a few more metres in height.
Equinox Mountain, view at the parking and the northwest
Equinox Mountain, northwest and north view
This is where my dear friend took a photo of me. It is clear that she is a talented photographer and I am very grateful to her for this fine memory.
Nice memory from the top of Equinox Mountain (Photo by: DAJP)
There is a possibility to go for some short hikes here as well (for those who have arrived by car), but Daniela and I had to continue with our journey, since we had a very ambitious plan for the day. To start with, we descended down to the main road where we continued northwards, thus passing through Manchester once again, and then we headed north-eastwards towards the town of Woodstock.
Again in Manchester
Leaving Manchester
Leaving Manchester
After Manchester, the road starts to ascend slowly and already after some 15 km one gets to Bromley Mountain Ski Resort. Although the weather at the beginning of October, when I was passing through here, was ideal in every sense of meaning, one should bear in mind that there is a lot of snow here during winter and the temperatures plummet.
Back in the day, when I was coming up with this route, it occurred to me that perhaps we could sit down here and have a coffee, but once on the spot, we concluded it was far too early. That’s why we only stopped briefly in order to have a better view at the surroundings and then we moved on.
Bromley Mountain Ski Resort in October
South view from the parking lot by the Bromley Mountain Ski Resort
After this, we continued further and I must say I was immensely grateful to my friend Daniela not only for her wonderful company, but also, in this concrete case, for the fact that she drove all the time. Not for a second did she complain that it was boring, or that she was tired, or anything else. She drove nicely, smoothly and safely, while I had the time and opportunity to look around and take as many photos as I liked.
And, during this concrete stage of our journey, I enjoyed the sights I was surrounded with to an enormous degree. What I could see around me was exactly the reason why I wanted to come to Vermont in autumn. Ever since I had made the plane reservation, I had been joking that I was coming here in order to look at the – leaves. Well, on this day I had the opportunity to see them everywhere around me. All the beauty of nature and the natural phenomenon linked to the multicoloured autumn leaves were especially accentuated because of the splendid weather that we had. The sky was dazzling blue, without a speck of a cloud and this emphasised even more the incredible colours that can be seen in this part of North America each autumn. The season starts more or less around the middle of September and lasts until the end of October.
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
From time to time, the road took us through smaller settlements, but the area was mostly dominated by nature.
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
Autumnal landscapes in Vermont
At some point, the road took us to the small town of Ludlow where, above the main road, there is a railway bridge.
Coming to Ludlow
In order to get a better impression about what it is like to pass through these landscapes in autumn, here is a short video:
So, everything was wonderful, the road was not crowded and we both enjoyed the beautiful sights around us. And then, as if this was not enough, soon after we had left the town of Ludlow, on the right-hand side we could see a small lake. In fact, this is not one, but rather four small lakes that extend here between the towns of Ludlow in the south and Plymouth in the north.
Through the trees we could clearly see that the nature was abundantly generous and the landscapes were spectacularly beautiful, and then we finally found a place where we could safely stop beside Echo Lake. I ran out of the car immediately and descended a few metres farther to the lake shore.
I felt completely mesmerised here and could barely move away from the beauty of the sights in front of me and eventually return to the car. Here is just a part of the photos I made here. It is important to emphasise that I took photos both by my camera and mobile phone, and thus the colours in some photos appear different although possibly showing the same detail. I don’t mind it in the least.
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
With a lot of understanding and patience, my fabulous friend Daniela briefly stopped in a couple of places more, while I continued to take photos. Later, which is not customary with me, I even additionally processed some of the photos, in terms of cropping them, in order to emphasise some details. I enjoyed every second of it.
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Echo Lake
Was I content and happy after taking photos at Echo Lake? Yes, and immeasurably so. Did this prevent me from enjoying intensely in and taking more photos of the nature we were passing through? Absolutely not.
The day was perfect and Vermont was showing off its most beautiful side.
Fall in Vermont
Fall in Vermont
Not far from Woodstock we drove past yet another covered bridge. I have already written about this type of bridges in (https://www.svudapodji.com/en/usa-22-4/). Here I would just mention that the bridge seen in the photo below is called the Lincoln Covered Bridge and that it was built in 1877. In terms of the application of some construction element, this concrete bridge is unique in the USA. By the way, Vermont is not only famous for its magically beautiful autumn, but also by the fact that over 100 covered bridges from the 19th century can be seen in this US state. Up to this point in time, I had seen and taken photos of two of them. Well, one has to start from something.
Lincoln Covered Bridge
The Lincoln Covered Bridge spans over the Ottauquechee River. When we were getting ready for this leg of our journey, Daniela and I came across some information saying that this river just had to be seen and apparently the best place was a picnic area beside the road. We stopped there, took a couple of photos and that was it.
Ottauquechee River
We were just a few kilometres away from the centre of Woodstock and our plan was to go for lunch there. We even agreed which restaurant we would go to. This was basically a very good plan, but it had one flaw. It did not foresee, and this was unforeseeable, the incredible crowd that we came across in the town, probably because it was a glorious sunny autumn day and probably because it was the time for lunch. To start with, we had a huge problem finding a parking spot. Eventually, we left the car in a place that was a good place to park the car, or perhaps not. We were not sure. Since she lives in the USA, Daniela is much more familiar with the local driving rules, but in this place this was simply not clear. On the other hand, I suppose that after a few days of very infrequent encounters with few humans, we were both taken aback by that crowd in Woodstock.
We went to the selected restaurant, but as it turned out it was closed. Then we agreed on the spot to go to another one – but there were no seats available. We realised we would not be able to have lunch here since we had not booked a place in any of the local restaurants, while all the time we were in fact preoccupied with the car and where we had left it.
All in all, we agreed to continue with our journey without staying in Woodstock any longer. Although Woodstock was clearly a very lovely and picturesque town (one branch of the Rockefeller family lived and had their property here and they could choose to live wherever they wanted to), the circumstances were not working in our favour, so I was also quite content with our joint decision. Admittedly, I was partially sorry I did not get to see yet another covered bridge that is located practically in the centre of Woodstock, but there was nothing to do. This is the Middle Covered Bridge which, despite its nice “historic” look, is not particularly old at all – it was built in 1969.
On the other hand, probably because of the beauty of the nature we had driven through that had apparently filled up all parts of me in charge of visual expression, or perhaps because of this futile search for a restaurant and the worry about the parking, I simply had no inspiration here in Woodstock to take any photos. So much so that I only took a photo of some pumpkins nicely arranged on a bench in front of a house. This was very unusual for me.
The only photo from the centre of Woodstock
But, because Daniela and I were a little hungry, we realised we could not just continue with the drive with our stomachs completely empty. So, we stopped at a store beside a filling station (we also had to fill up the tank), so we bought some sandwiches there.
As I have just suggested, a crowded town inspires me rarely, but I mostly react very well to food and everything that has to do with food. And so, first I noticed and then I bought some maple syrup here. Namely, in addition to being famous for its autumnal foliage and covered bridges, Vermont is also one of the main producers of maple syrup. The syrup is obtained from a tree species called sugar maple (Acer saccharum), while the technique for getting the syrup was developed by the Natives who originally inhabited this territory.
When in Vermont...
After this break, Daniela and I were ready to continue with our trip and we had a long drive ahead of us now. However, the circumstances, and I guess Vermont itself, led us to make the next break already after a dozen kilometres or so.
Along the way we could see to the left of the road the Taftsville Covered Bridge, but that was too suddenly for me to get my camera ready. Less than 10 minutes later, a large crowd on the road told us that we had just come across something interesting. So, we crossed a contemporary, uncovered bridge, parked the car and got out.