New England Leaf-Peeping: Day 3

Mountain Road scene off Highway 272 near Norfolk.

Bucolic scene along Mountain Road at Rustling Wind Stables.

Rain, rain go away, little Stanley wants to photograph. Today was a short day of leaf-peeping even though my wife and I found a couple of true hidden gems.

With heavy rain and no sun to brighten the leaves, it made a tough day for photography. Yesterday, I took 276 pictures; today only 46 even though there was more color today. 

Mountain Road off Highway 272 near Norfolk in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills is hidden gem No 1 as we finish day three of a 14-day leaf-peeping trip around New England. No crowds, just stunning color.

My wife and I are relaxing right now in a beautiful room in the Litchfield Inn, sipping a California Chardonnay and eating cheese. The inn is at 432 Bantam Road; www.litchfieldinnct.com or (860) 567-4503.

This morning, we visited Lake Wononscopomuc (do not ask me how to pronounce it). It is across the road from the Interlaken Inn where we stayed last night. For more information on the Interlaken go to www.interlakeninn.com or call toll free: (800) 222-2909.

I visited Haystack Mountain State Park in Norfolk. There is a 34-foot-high tower at the top of the mountain that was built during the great depression as a public works project. On a clear day you can see Long Island Sound, the Berkshires and peaks in Massachusetts and New York Not today, however. 

A roadway takes visitors halfway up the mountain to a parking area. From the parking area there is a rugged half-mile trail to to the summit. It ended up to be about a 4-mile hike in the rain for me. I was greeted by a porcupine as I reached the tower. He didn’t stay around long enough for me to say hi.

The half-mile trail is beyond rugged and once you reach the tower, you have 53 steps to the top observation platform.

I took a less “rugged” path down, which turned out to be a lot longer than I had anticipated. I ended up back on the road to Norfolk about 2 miles from the park entrance. My wife stayed behind solving her Sodoku puzzle. I could not get a cell phone signal so I could not tell her to come and pick me up. Two hours later, I arrived back at the parking spot after walking in the rain along the main road and up, up, up the park road. My wife was still in the car working on a a puzzle. I just have to stop taking the road less traveled by.