#Middlebury #FallFoliage
Trees on the shores of Sperry Pond show off their vibrant fall colors in this photo taken several years ago. This year’s fall foliage is expected to be very colorful. (Curtiss Clark photo)
By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY
Pumpkin spice everything. Halloween. And eye-popping, jaw-dropping beauty delivered free to your doorstep every day. That’s October in Middlebury. It’s when beautiful flowers and charming (or not so charming) wildlife take a back seat to our magnificent trees.
Just think about it: People from all over the country – all over the world really – scramble to get accommodations in New England this time of year, hoping to time it so they’re here for the peak foliage period. We’re guaranteed a front row seat no matter what week it falls on.
Topping the list of colorful trees are sugar maples, which provide us with sap in early spring that we process into delicious syrup. In October, their leaves turn bright shades of fluorescent orange. Their cousins, red maples, provide crimson leaves. Birch and redbud leaves turn lemon yellow.
Driving along Middlebury roads, or hiking the trails in October is like going through towering vases of bright flowers. Just as in a floral arrangement, the deep greens of spruce and pine provide an accent that makes the bright colors seem even brighter. Even rainy days are beautiful, the leaves leaving kaleidoscopic confetti on the darkened pavement.
If you prefer your vistas on foot rather than by car, here are ideas for some hikes on Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) properties, along with trees you might see there and the colors they turn in autumn:
Lake Elise has some lovely birch trees (yellow leaves in the fall) that will silhouette against sparkling blue waters and colors on the opposite bank if you go right at the main entrance on Long Meadow Road by the cemetery.
Fall leaves drift on the surface of Larkin Pond. (Curtiss Clark photo)
Larkin Pond: Enter from Long Meadow Road about a third of a mile from the intersection with South Street. (Yes, this is apparently the same Long Meadow Road, discontinuous like many roads in Connecticut.) Right near the entrance are several shagbark hickory trees (yellow), and a white oak (orange to brown) stands to the left just before the wooden boardwalk. To the right after the boardwalk there are a red oak (maroon) and a yellow birch (yellow).
Sperry Pond/Juniper Hill Preserve: Park at the new MLT headquarters at 312 Park Road Extension, and hike from there to Sperry Pond. At the entrance are several large Norway Spruce trees, and a large red oak is in the back yard of the house. On the right is a yellow poplar (yellow). Pass the fallen trees on the path and on the left is a red maple (red) and a beech trees (yellow).
To help folks enjoy the properties and tree identification, the MLT has partnered with the Middlebury Public Library, where you will now find two folding pocket guides, “Connecticut Trees and Wildflowers,” and two books.
The book “Identifying Trees of the East” by Michael D. Williams is especially easy to use. It has a section on leaf identification. The next section has tree descriptions on the left, with pictures of the leaves, bark, and tree shape all together on the facing page. The National Audubon Society “Field Guide to Trees – Eastern Region” has especially useful color plates that show leaves in autumn, grouped by color.
One distinct advantage of learning to identify trees is they have a charming habit of standing perfectly still while you search the book and guide for clues to their identity.
Find more information about the Middlebury Land Trust at middleburylandtrust.org. Contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com.
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