Quick Autumn Morning Hike Up Mt. Willard

It was going to be a beautiful Monday morning, and I had the day off, so I set out for a quick hike up Mt. Willard in Crawford Notch hoping to catch a little foliage up there.

On the drive up the colors were hit and miss, and it seemed a lot of leaves had already dropped. When I arrived at the trail head there were already a number of cars there. It was busy for a Monday Morning. It was chilly too. Temps were in the low 50’s.

The walk up was slow and steady. Many leaves had fallen and the ones that fell on the trail were noticeably chewed up and mulched from the past weekend’s hikers. When I arrived at Centennial Falls, I was surprised to see water in it with the drought we have been having in the northeast.

I continued up the trail and only ran into a few people here and there. Once at the top the sun was shining and there were only about 8 other people. As I took some pictures more people were arriving.

So I wandered up along the edge of the cliff for a different angle. I never get tired of the view of Crawford Notch from Mt. Willard.  I was also able to get a picture of the Willard Station House foundation down below. There is also a beautiful trestle over the Wily Brook next to the station house.   

I could hear more people arriving at the summit, so I did not stay too long. On the way back down there was a steady stream of people heading up the mountain. I am glad I got to the trail head when I did. Lots of leaf peepers, with selfie sticks and tourist with al kinds of media equipment. All this on a Monday morning.

After I got back to the car headed home and took a trip up Zealand Road. The leaves seemed more colorful there then in Crawford Notch.