Vermont Foliage - Burke Mountain Hike

I hiked up Burke Mountain on Oct 5, 2019 and had to share some of the photos I took. The best time of the year to hike in the Northeast Kingdom for foliage is the first week of October. It's incredible how the leaves change every year, reminding me that no matter what happens in life, it will go on. I was in particular need of a solo hike to reflect, enjoy, and listen to my favorite podcasts. The hike up took about 2.5 hours up on the Red trail, accessed through the lower parking lot of Burke Mountain. On the way down I took the access road, and halfway down I asked a friendly local if they could bring me the rest of the way in their pickup truck. On the way up I saw lots of squirrels, breathed plenty of fresh air, ate lots of pistachios, and felt grateful that I could spend five hours outside by myself and feel totally safe. We're lucky, because that simply isn't the case in the majority of the world. 

This is my favorite photo that I took because the leaves look like lanterns floating in the air. I appreciate how you can see the leaves changing from yellow to red, especially for friends in other parts of the world who have never seen this transformation before.

This was about three/quarters of the way up. Note: This is a ski hill in the winter so I often ski down these same hills when they are covered in snow!

Look it's Lake Willoughby in the distance. There are a bunch of good hikes you can do over there too, including Mt. Pisgah.