SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
As leaves turn bright shades of orange and red, leaf peepers are flocking to places like upstate New York's Adirondack Mountains, ranked by travel companies as a top destination for viewing the fall foliage. To help visitors get the timing just right to arrive at peak color, New York state relies on reports from a hundred official leaf peepers. North Country Public Radio's Catherine Wheeler tags along with one of these volunteers.
CATHERINE WHEELER, BYLINE: On a gloomy morning in Lake Placid, the surrounding forests have transitioned into a blanket of fall confetti.
CATHERINE ERICSON: The colors are literally so fresh, so vibrant and crisp.
WHEELER: Catherine Ericson says her husband likens the scene to a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. Crimson leaves pop among the burnt oranges and lemony yellows with a backdrop of rich greens. Today, she's struck by how the overcast sky is highlighting a much richer hue.
ERICSON: Some of those are burgundy. Which I don't usually see a lot of the burgundy. You know, you see more reds and oranges and fiery reds.
WHEELER: For the last 10 years, Ericson has volunteered as one of a hundred official leaf peepers for New York state. Her observations are included in the state's fall foliage report, which tracks how the colors change week to week statewide. Department of Tourism executive director Ross Levi says the state's organized this for more than 40 years.
ROSS LEVI: The changing of leaves is one of the important reasons that people want to travel. They want to get out apple picking and pumpkin picking. They want to be out in nature. But the backdrop to all of that is that dramatic change of foliage.
WHEELER: Lots of states around the country track the changing foliage with online maps. In places like Vermont and Maine, state foresters or forest rangers send in their observations. Here in New York, Levi says leaf peepers scout for the brilliance of the leaves and specific hues, sometimes with delicious descriptions like cherry, marmalade, saffron or cinnamon. They're also estimating when colors will reach their peak.
LEVI: It's very challenging because foliage is not a uniform thing. You have change from mile to mile, street to street, day to day, whether you had a storm or a wind, how much sun you've had, how much rain you've had.
WHEELER: Up in Lake Placid, Ericson, the leaf peeper, drives around every Monday during the season to assess how the colors are progressing. Along a route between the village and some popular local hikes, Ericson hops out of the car to take photos of ruby leaves creeping up the mountainside.
ERICSON: It's so beautiful that pictures never do it justice. You have to see it. You have to be able to breathe it in.
WHEELER: Ericson says she takes accuracy in her observations seriously because she knows people plan whole vacations around these leaves. Last fall, about 2 1/2 million visitors flocked to the Adirondacks, according to a state-funded tourism agency. This year, travel companies ranked the region among the best leaf peeping in the U.S. and the world. Ericson says she thinks this fall beauty ignites a sense of wonder inside of all of us. She says her mom once described it as the leaves dressing up in their best colors before they die.
ERICSON: Seeing that spectacular transition and how life changes quickly and Mother Nature changes quickly and how you want to hold on to things for so long. And sometimes, you know, there's beauty in letting go, and fall is all about that.
WHEELER: The fall colors are just getting started in many spots across the country. In the Adirondacks, Ericson says they'll fade away in the coming days and weeks - a grand finale on the road to winter.
For NPR News, I'm Catherine Wheeler in Lake Placid, New York.
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