Enjoying The ''Almost Winter'' Season

Autumn in New England and the Northeast is a continuum.

If you stay in one place and watch it day after day, it can seem to flow past in a more or less orderly progression of changing colors from green to orange and red, to yellow and russet, and finally, to brown and gray.

But if you move around, sometimes even just a mile or two, you quickly realize that any sense of order is a myth. One place can have green leaves and an almost summer-like look and feel, while a few miles away you know winter is just around the corner.

As much as I enjoy the splendor of Autumn leaves aflame in peak foliage season, I have to admit, I enjoy even more the quiet weeks after the leaves (and the tourists) are gone. It’s a different season. Maybe we should call it “Almost Winter.”

The quiet time after Columbus Day’s leaf-peeper tourist frenzy has abated is the perfect time to get out for one (or two, or three) last fling(s) with the outdoor pastimes which have kept you busy all summer. It’s a chance to prepare yourself both mentally and physically for the fun you’ll have when the snow flies and the lakes and ponds are covered with ice.

It’s also a great time of year for explorers and cheapskates. After foliage and before snow, lodging in tourist areas is as cheap as it gets—especially mid-week. Restaurants often run specials to attract customers. And many outdoor-related businesses, such as guide services, climbing schools and canoe or bike rental liveries have their prices at rock bottom right now.

My sweetheart Marilyn and I are consummate cheapskates, and almost always go off to someplace new and different at this time of year.

This year, for example, we are exploring the tourist-abandoned northern Adirondacks of New York ( www.visitadirondacks.com ) and the Outoaouais region of western Quebec ( www.outaouais-tourism.ca. ), which, I think, is pronounced “OOT-away”. Any place that has a 10-letter name with only one consonant has to be worth exploring.

Our tandem hybrid/touring bicycle is already on the car, the hiking packs and boots are packed and we’re ready to find whatever there is to find. You don’t have to go that far to fund fun, but if you can get away, why not?

Hiking and mountain biking are particularly enticing as the leaves leap from the trees (actually, I’ve heard that the trees more or less push the leaves off before winter—sort of like humans sending their kids off to college).

With the air cooler, you can travel farther than you can in the heat of summer. And where summer back roads and trails can often seem like leafy, shaded tunnels, at this time of year those same roads and trails are magic places of peekaboo views and dappled sunlight through bare, dancing branches. This is as true in your backyard as it is in the remote north country.

It’s also a wonderful time to get out and paddle a canoe or a kayak on flat water (river levels are, usually, too low for whitewater, though a prolonged “rain event” can sometimes change that in a hurry.

In any case, you know that the trails you hike or bike today are soon going to be prime territory for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. And the pond you paddle in the quiet last weeks of Autumn will soon see its first skim of ice.

Admit it, at some point when the snow and ice are melting, you’ll be dreaming of hiking or biking those trials or paddling that pond. So why not savor a last taste before winter brings new adventures. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!

Cross Training

The pleasant muscle burn and endorphin high you feel from hiking up a steep hillside is the same feeling you’ll get when you are snowshoeing this winter. And every mile you hike now is going to help you be in better shape for those cross-country skis, snowshoes or nordic skates.

Isn’t cross-training wonderful? Sometimes, it can venture beyond simple muscle strength and into the realm of technique

This past week, I was mountain biking on the exquisite Kingdom Trails in East Burke, Vermont, with my buddy Dave Shedd who happens to be a dedicated road biker and a former mountain bike racing champion. He was giving me a few pointers to help me negotiate a narrow, twisting trail through the pines with more finesse and confidence

One tip he gave me—to keep my eyes on the trail ahead and let peripheral vision and reflexes take care of the problems immediately under your wheels -- really resonated That’s precisely what you have to do in other sports such as downhill skiing and whitewater kayaking. If you don’t learn to look ahead at what’s coming, you can never learn to react quickly enough to gain any speed. One more little piece of the puzzle.

In some ways, flying through the woods on a mountain bike trail isn’t all that different from flying through those same woods on that same trail on cross country skis. You work your muscles going up, challenge your balance, reflexes and technique going down.

In other words, the more you do, the more sports you try, the more you can do. So get out now and get ready for fun this winter.

Safety Reminder

It’s hunting season over most of the New York, New England. Statistically, you are far safer in the woods full of hunters than you are driving on the road to get there. But it still pays, at this time of year, to wear unnaturally bright clothing when you are walking, running or biking in the woods.

All predators, and human hunters are no exception, key on movement, and sometimes, especially in thick woods, it’s hard to get a good look at something moving, especially at dawn or dusk or on cloudy, dreary days. Even a tiny flash of a bright color moving automatically signals that you are not game.

Fluorescent orange is the best choice, and orange safety vests and hats are easy to find and cheap insurance. There’s no downside to wearing safety colors, so why not make it a habit?