Get Your Heart Pumping This Fall With These New England Adventures
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WHILE YOU’RE THERE: It’s worth trekking to Deer Isle for a well-earned breather at Aragosta at Goose Cove, a new restaurant and lodge with an ever-changing menu of farm-fresh veggies and just-caught fish, plus seven cottages and four suites. OR TRY: A Maine adventure that flexes slightly different muscles: The October water’s juuust warm enough to set out on a two-day whitewater rafting trip down the Penobscot with Three Rivers Whitewater, based in West Forks. Class V (read: hazardous) rapids await. Make like a bird at Boundless Adventures, in Berlin. / Photo courtesy of Boundless Adventures WHILE YOU’RE THERE: Cozy up with a cup of apple cider at nearby Berlin Orchards, then hop on a hayride to pick Mutsu, Macoun, and Red Delicious specimens at their prime. OR TRY: The challenging aerial courses at Ramblewild, in the Berkshires, which incorporate hanging stirrups and rolling logs. iStock WHILE YOU’RE THERE: Unwind with mussels mariniere and a glass of something white at the Restaurant at Burdick’s, a French-inspired spot in Walpole co-owned by the filmmaker Ken Burns. OR TRY: Soaring along the Quabbin with Hang Glide New England. Its home base in New Braintree is the only place to catch a bird’s-eye view of central Massachusetts. SURVIVAL TIPS How to Weather the First Frost Like a Pro It’s all about the underwear. That’s wisdom a traveler in Iceland once bestowed upon me, and after putting that adage to the test last year while hiking around Massachusetts in frosty weather to write a guidebook, I can say with certainty: The hardiest among us know how to layer.Start with silk—always silk—for the first of many very important layers, as it wicks away moisture and stays comfy all day. Merino wool comes next for the same reason, followed by some durable fleece (we’re looking at you, L.L. Bean). With a proper uniform on, there’s nothing stopping you from conquering New England’s backcountry when autumn’s chill strikes. Hiking Mount Katahdin in the early hours of the morning? Got it. Patiently waiting for a turkey to stroll by on a New Hampshire hunting trip? No problem. Fill a thermos with some piping-hot Dunkin’ before setting out, and consider the outdoors mastered. With a proper uniform on, there’s nothing stopping you from conquering New England’s backcountry when autumn’s chill strikes. Hiking Mount Katahdin in the early hours of the morning? Got it. Patiently waiting for a turkey to stroll by on a New Hampshire hunting trip? No problem. Fill a thermos with some piping-hot Dunkin’ before setting out, and consider the outdoors mastered. WHILE YOU’RE THERE: Toast to perfectly blue fall skies at Lawson’s Finest Liquids’ shiny new Waitsfield taproom, which serves up tall glasses of its juicy IPA Sip of Sunshine. OR TRY: The packed-dirt roller coaster that is the famed Kingdom Trails, a bucket-list trip for mountain bikers in East Burke, Vermont. iStock WHILE YOU’RE THERE: Head about an hour and a half northeast to Fort Fairfield to shoot golf balls at the course at the Aroostook Valley Country Club, which straddles the Canadian border. OR TRY: Adding a little surf to your turf with a day of fly-fishing in one of Chandler’s ponds. The only thing more colorful than the brook trout darting to and fro? Reflections of foliage on the water’s surface. Check out more New England adventures to take this fall