Recently, I spent a couple of hours hiking the Barn Island Wildlife Management area in Connecticut. This is the largest coastal property in the state – 1,013 acres.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that I love fall, but for those of you who don’t know, I LOVE FALL!!!
These photos will hopefully explain why. The sun is still warm, but it’s cool enough to hike without suffering. The flies are gone, and so are most of the tourists. The trees light up the forest with their colors, and even the dying bracken fern is beautiful.
As the leaves fall, the contours of the land reemerge, as do the rocks and the stone walls, and birds’ nests. Here are some headstones in an old cemetery. They are pretty hard to read, but one seems to be for a little girl, and dates back to 1750.
The light is pale and clear and the sun takes a while to melt away the frost on the grass.
Here’s an interesting whirlpool, created as water from the marsh is sucked into a culvert.
Some of the marsh grasses turn very red, even redder than the maples.
Great hike, great friends, great season. Lucky me!
Digging RI 
beautiful photo up top, dn! i was there again today, third time in a week. it was super busy with hikers, mountain bikers, joggers, dog walkers, and a couple of graduate students working on their theses… not to mention about a dozen boat trailers at the boat ramp. actually met two people i knew! it’s the grand central station of wildlife management areas on the weekend,
LikeLike
So we were there at a good time, then. Nice and quiet.
LikeLike
Gorgeous! The natural world can not be beat, in my book. Would love to walk there.
BTW – just returned from Cape Elizabeth trip and on a rainy day I visited the Portland Museum of Art’s wonderful Winslow Homer exhibit. His grand-nephew sold the land and Homer’s studio to the museum and the museum now offers studio tours. All studio tours are sold out for 2012. Hope to find myself among the lucky in 2013. Hope to do the bird sanctuary walk too.
Hope all is well. Missed seeing you at the farm this summer.
LikeLike
I heard about that show. We were in ME a couple of weeks ago and stopped at Kettle Cove on our way back. Unfortunately, it was raining so we couldn’t sit outside.
LikeLike
Gorgeous landscape, beautiful color, great walk…you ARE lucky! 🙂
LikeLike
I am indeed. Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am.
LikeLike
You’re showing a lot of reasons so much of the world tries to be in New England this time of year. And, yes, how lucky you and the rest of us in this region are.
LikeLike
Well, a life without obvious, changing seasons would not be a life I would enjoy. It never ceases to amaze me how many people – Rhode Islanders especially – can’t wait to get to Florida for the winter. They just love it down there. Not my cup of tea.
LikeLike