Like the Wizard of Id poking his finger skyward, the last Maple of Fall at the Birch Ridge Inn tenaciously holds on to her color.

Like the Wizard of Id poking his finger skyward, the last Maple of Fall at the Birch Ridge Inn tenaciously holds on to her color.

It is hard to say exactly when it happened, but some time over the last 3 days, during periods of wind and rain at Killington, the Fall Foliage leaf peeping season capitulated to the wishes of Mother Nature. Welcome to Twig Season!

What is Twig Season? It is the period in Killington marked by the following:
A. The majority of leaves on the trees have fallen to the ground;
B. Temperatures markedly turn colder
C. Changing seasons create an extended period of foreboding, overcast, skys.
D. Precipitation increases. Sometimes it is outright rain; sometimes it is a heavy mist.
E. Snow is mentioned in the local weather forecast.
F. All eyes turn towards the mountain wondering when Ski Season will begin.

If you look at the last 3 days, all of those conditions have been satisfied. Including the last one. Buzz around town was about the resort firing up their snow making system with the onset of cold weather this week. The buzz was so strong, that Mike Solomano, the President of Killington, has posted messages reminding people not to get too far ahead of themselves, because the weather forecast for Killington is still calling for above freezing temperatures most of the week.

Such is Twig Season. Cold..damp..foreboding...devoid of color. People chomping at the bit for it to be over. The excitement for the coming winter building. I want to go skiing now!!!

But we have to go through a couple of weeks of it. The ground needs to chill down to support the first snows of the season. That snow will arrive any day now. It may be forecasted as a coming storm. It may be the light mist of Twig Season hitting an unusually cold patch of air as it falls to earth. But when the first snow comes, and everything turns bright and white and pure; all will be right with the world again.

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank all of the guests and friends who visited with us at the Birch Ridge Inn this fall season. We enjoyed meeting many new faces. We shared your wonderment at how beautiful Vermont is during the Fall. We learned some things about what is going on in the outside world away from the resort bubble of Killington that we call home. We hope you enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed yours. And we look forward to seeing you again, the next time you return to the place we love and call home.

Wherever life takes you, enjoy the world around you. It has been a great fall season at Killington. Now it is time to Think Snow!