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After staying pretty local enjoying the fall colors we were able to escape for an overnight to the Green Mountain National Forest. The Green Mountain National Forest is Vermont’s only national forest and it was high on the list to check out, since larger areas of public land are pretty hard to come by in Vermont. We also had the Waybury Inn on the list of things to see. The Waybury (the outside) is the Inn in the show “Newhart” owned by the Loudens and known on the show as the Stratford Inn. Since we took on the new profession as innkeepers we’ve been watching old Newhart episodes and wanted to go see the Stratford in person. It’s isn’t white anymore, but otherwise it’s the Stratford.

We didn’t have a lot of time to look around before a huge tour bus showed up for lunch but it looked like a neat Inn.

We got to the Waybury by way of Middlebury. Middlebury is a neat little town with an interesting downtown, it’s what you picture when you think of a small town in New England. Otter Creek runs right through town and there’s lots of evidence of prolific marble quarry activity.

After we finished looking around Middlebury we headed up into the Green Mountain National Forest. It was time for lunch and we needed to stretch our legs and the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail provided the perfect spot for both. The trail featured some poems written by Robert Frosts, and is apparently located close to a farm where he spent 23 years. The poems are perfectly arranged to fit the geography of the trail and you can imagine him writing them at this exact spot.

After the trail and some kokanee sandwiches we set out for some more exploring. Although the leaves were already gone at home up north, this trip was a little extension of fall as we followed the changing leaves south.

It seems like all the campgrounds in the entire state closed on for the season on the second weekend in October, but luckily the Green Mountain National Forest allows for some dispersed camping if you can find it. We found a potential spot before it got too late in the day and then fished a nearby stream for an hour or so, before setting up camp. No fish were harmed, but the fall colors provided a beautiful backdrop.

Before we knew it the sun was racing for the skyline and we settled in to camp for the evening. We had a great view of the forest as the sun set over the Green Mountains.

Our second day exploring started off with a stop at Texas Falls. The falls are a pretty impressive series pools and drops, on a warmer day I bet it is tempting to want to cool off in one of the deep pools.

After Texas falls we tried our hand with a bit more fly fishing on the Middlebury River, again no fish were harmed.

The remainder of the day we spent exploring the forest and enjoying the last of the fall color before finding another dispersed site. Lucky for us the Forest provides a list of suggested areas to look for dispersed sites, which was helpful for our first trip to the forest.

Like every weekend getaway, time is short and our time was running out. It was time to head back north and say farewell to the Green Mountain National Forest. We still have a lot of the forest to see, but we are off to a good start.

See you on down the trail.