Past Peak? Maine Still Had Plenty of Color!

Before our trip to Maine, we had been told that the fall colors were “past peak.” But as we flew into Bangor, you couldn’t prove it by me!!

The view from the plane was a patchwork of orange, gold, rust and green. If this was past peak, I certainly wasn’t going to complain!

As we started the 2½-hour drive north to Danforth, I began seeing things along the road that I didn’t understand.

First came a large field of fluffy white stalks. I opened ChatGPT and asked Chester what I was looking at. His suggestion? Probably cattails!

Now, I know what cattails look like—or at least I thought I did. I had never seen them looking so feathery. It turns out that the familiar brown heads break apart as the seeds mature, releasing all that fluff to help carry the seeds on the wind. I was seeing a later stage of the cattail…

Next, I kept noticing trees that looked like fir trees, except that they were bright yellow. Were they dying? Was something wrong with them?

Once again, Chester came to the rescue and identified them as tamaracks, also called eastern larch. These conifers turn golden yellow and shed their needles in the fall. So that yellow was part of their autumn show!

Just look at how feathery those needles are!

But even more than the individual branches, I loved the contrast they provided in the forest. That bright gold against the deep green made me stop and look again.

Of course, my quilting brain couldn’t leave that alone. A little golden yellow surrounded by darker greens—what a wonderful reminder of how much difference a bit of contrast can make!

We may have missed the official peak, but there was still plenty to see and tuck away for inspiration.