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California dream'in of New England Fall Foliage

Lessons learned by CA photographer, making plans for "09"

by Jeff "Foliage" Folger

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Credit: Jimmy Caputo

Backlit maple leaves

Credit: Jimmy Caputo

Single red leaf

Credit: Jimmy Caputo

Red leaves against white bark

Credit: Jimmy Caputo

One-half mile north of N.H. Route 16 at Conway Village over the Swift River

How's everybody's plan for fall foliage going?

So far, we've had to think about what you want to see, where you want to see it and having a backup agenda in case you?re not finding the elusive peak. Also, I've mentioned a little about lodging and how you should plan for this real early!

In talking to Jimmy Caputo, a photographer out of La Verne, California (www.papergiraffe.com) I may have overestimated the difficulty of finding a place to stay at night. But I would say it depends on what your comfort level or needs are. (Read on to see how he did it and decide if you would have been happy).

Jimmy contacted me several times during the 11 days he was in New England. If you think I do a lot of miles during the fall foliage season, keep this in mind, he was only here 11 days and he did 6400 miles. And even with all that mileage I don't think he felt he really found that elusive peak color!

(Jeff Foliage) What was your goal/plan for finding good color?

(Jimmy)"I studied the past color forecasts and results, as well as the current year forecasts and reports. I knew I wanted to spend eleven days there and I was going to try my best to catch peak as it made it down to about Stowe! That way, during my stay, I could chase peak around the New England states. I also felt that this plan would give me the ability to catch areas that were a little before peak as well as a little past peak. Not to mention, I felt it gave me a good cushion if I miscalculated my timing and location of where I thought peak would be when I arrived. I had never been to New England so this was all new to me. I scheduled my flights to arrive on the 11th of October. I thought I was on top of my game and guess what? About nine days early, it started to peak fast and that made me decide to jump on the phone and change my booking to a next day flight. Like $400 extra!"

(Jeff Foliage) What sorts of places did you choose to stay in? Did you have reservations on all the days, certain days or did you wing it every day?

"Kate and I landed in Boston at 4 in the morning, got a rental car and drove north. We had no reservations. Mostly, We took each day as it came. I just knew I wanted to get up into Vermont and New Hampshire. We started my touring in Woodstock, Vermont. We just spent the first day exploring the Woodstock area. Come that evening, We went to like ten motels or B&Bs and no rooms were available. We did find a room at a Motel 6 in White River Jct, though it was horrible and We would never recommend it.

Later that night, I checked hotels further away and found that a lot were available, just that the Woodstock area was booked. The only night we made a reservation ahead of time was in Acadia. I knew it would be crowded. It was the holiday weekend. I found a nice motel for around $70 a night and ended up hanging around a couple nights."

"After the first night, we would chase where we thought color was and shoot pictures all day. I used the "find lodging" button on the GPS around five every afternoon and called all the close ones. We stayed at little Mom and Pop motels. Tiny rooms, but often in awesome little areas. The cost was about $49 a night, some as much as $80 and some as low as $32. They were perfect. We don't have places like that in California. If you pay less than $100 for a room it's going to have a dead body in it. LOL!"