The view from the Burlington airport—Mount Mansfield and Camel’s Hump—is nearly always glorious. As we landed yesterday the Fall colors were some of the best I can remember seeing in the 35 years we’ve lived here. Here in Central Vermont we are definitely “post-peak,” a not unpleasant scene but not the spectacle of peak.
Today Rob and I headed south and west with clouds and sun and mist and finally rain, all the way going in and out of all variations of foliage, from post-peak to a leaves still a week or more from peak. Much of the area around Middlebury was absolutely stunning. We hope to explore more tomorrow, perhaps south and east this time.
The bit of sunshine we saw today was lovely.
Low clouds followed us through the mountains at this particular point adding to the beauty we saw.
It is the “walls” of color on the side of a mountain that still blow my mind about living here. The “post-peak” we saw in places, like this hill just north of Roxbury, has a special beauty that loses nothing in comparison to the earlier peak color.
More clouds, still lovely, eventually turned to heavy rain and the light disappeared.
Still Learning To See 
Glad you’re home safe–and the soft greys of these photos just enhance the tones of the reds and yellows remaining.
Agree with your comments about peak vs post-peak. Nothing beats New England peak. Yet, just back from 2 weeks in Michigan, I have to say my dad and I really enjoyed the just -past-peak color in the hills of Pennsylvania and the past-peak of northern MI (visiting my sis in Petoskey). Just drove back yesterday and today. Nearly barren, the trees still looked glorious – the variety of bark color and branch shapes was wonderful, and the few remaining leaves added small bits and pops of muted color.