Chasing Fall in Vermont: Burlington Bike Trail

A good part of the previous year was spent exploring Northern America, especially the USA. One of my favourite parts was definitely watching the trees turn into a shade of gold as fall peaked.

We chose to go Vermont to chase the foliage, and I'm glad we did. Vermont is no doubt, one of the prettiest places I've been to in the States. At its peak, the state was covered in shades of yellow, red, orange and gold, while made it look too much like a painting.

One of my favourite activities within Vermont was to go on the Burlington Bike Trail. It leads you along Lake Champlain (which is gorgeous!) and into parts of the forest. You can also choose to follow the trail all around Vermont. I've known of people who have done a 6 hour ride, travelling up and down parts of the state.

You can rent bikes from Local Motion, highly advisable since it's located right next to the bike trail. However, since it was closed that day, we had no choice but to rent from somewhere else.

Lake Champlain

Park along Lake Champlain

Moving away from Lake Champlain, nearer to a little forest (:

Forest area along the bike trail, where fall was still at its peak

Same as above

As you can see, the bike trail is very nicely paved. The ride was smooth and the view was simply breathtaking. Personally, I think the photos don't quite do the place justice.

If you are intending to chase foliage in Vermont, here are just some tools I used to help me plan when to go.

• Vermont Fall Foliage Report
• Personally, I liked the foliage map they have, which is updated weekly during the fall season (I think). It helps you to target the town/city to go to to catch the peak.
• Vermont Fall Foliage Facebook Page
• The Facebook page offers a real time update on the foliage scenes within the state. During the peak, pictures were uploaded almost hourly. This can help you to target the exact landmark to visit, highways to drive along etc.

morning ride to punggol waterfront

Two mornings in a row, the boy and i decided to go explore Punggol Waterfront/ Waterway. 

Getting there

To get there, you can either cycle about 30 odd minutes along the Serangoon Park Connector, before reaching the Punggol Promenade. Otherwise, you can hop onto the NEL and stop at Punggol MRT station and then take the LRT to Riveria LRT station. You will alight very near the Punggol Promenade (:  The first time we went there, we kind of got lost and walked aimlessly for almost an hour before nearing the waterway. Do check out how to get there before going, don't make the same mistake as us!

Arriving there

There are several activity centres at Punggol Promenade, including seafood restaurants and an indoor soccer court (i think!). From Punggol Promenade, there is a long board walk where you can cycle, jog or stroll along to enjoy the scenery. I wouldn't exactly say that its very scenic (afterall, there are really nicer views overseas), but i guess this is pretty enough for Singapore, given our extremely rapid urbanization rate.

 there are toilets along the way, so fret not if you have to answer nature's calls (: or, you can do it army style (highly not advisable)!

after walking a short distance (maybe 300m?) from Punggol Promenade, you will see this red bridge, leading to the Lorong Halus Wetlands. If you are an avid bird watcher/ nature lover, do check this out. We happened to see a couple of bird photographers with their extremely large Canon L lenses! heh. 

Lorong Halus Wetlands

We decided to explore the Wetlands, as well as shoot some pictures. So here goes...

view of Punggol waterway from Lorong Halus Wetlands

view of Punggol from Lorong Halus Wetlands

gravel track within the Wetlands, leading to even wetter grounds, which we didn't manage to explore

 water lilly pond inside the wetlands

gravel tracks and tall grass, very suitable for wedding photoshoots (:

Back on track- Punggol Waterways

Generally, we didn't manage to explore much within the Wetlands as most tracks are made of gravel (not tar) and its pretty bicycle unfriendly /: We went back on to the waterways before heading home. Just a couple more shots!

oh yeah, there are seats along the way for you, so fret not if you feel tired yeah. but its a pity that there isn't much shade along the way.

This marks the end of my trip to Punggol Waterways. My parents have traveled the entire stretch and told us that there were still many places we have not covered! Can't wait to go on another exercising-cum-shooting session (:

On a side note, HAPPY LAST DAY OF 2011 (: Enjoy your countdown later (: