Autumn Is the Best Season to Play Outdoors
By Nancy Prichard
For the leisure class at both ends of the social spectrum, autumn is the best season for outdoor fun. Everyone else is back to work after summer vacation. School has started, to-do lists are a mile long, e-mail messages have piled up, and there's a stack of work to rival the Rock of Gibraltar. The next big holiday is Christmas, or a long Thanksgiving weekend--with a bit of luck. But just because you are caught between summer and winter is no reason to hang up your hiking boots and hunker down until the snows fall. The working cognoscenti take advantage of the balmy Indian Summer as it creeps into fall with its lack of crowds and off-season rates.
Whether you're biking, hiking, paddling or climbing, consider joining the outdoor sophisticates who head to the mountains and lakes after Labor Day weekend. If you plan carefully, you can take advantage of those special spots where summer's grasp clings on to the very last moment--with warm sunny days fighting off the encroaching winter chill.
Or, if you're weary of the heat and ready for snow, look for places where winter arrives as an early guest, unable to wait until December to serve up its icy dish. Fall truly offers the best of both worlds for the avid outdoor adventurer. This low-traffic season is ideal for trying new sports- most likely you'll have the trails, crags and waterways to yourself. This is a slow period for many guides as well; chances are you can get good rates on first-class instruction. And in some places, you can have the best of both worlds: summer sports one day, and winter fun the next.
As the calendar counts down to the winter solstice, temperatures sink and days grow shorter. But with the right destination, as well as early starts and plenty of warm layers, you can get in full days of fun. Plan a day trip or a weeklong, multi-sport orgy. If you are kayaking through Alabama's Little River Canyon (go ahead and skip the first 2.5 miles aptly called Suicide Run) or mountain biking the 145-mile Kokopelli Trail from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah, you'll notice one thing. Solitude. Chances are even if you are visiting one of the mega-popular tourist destinations, you'll have the place to yourself.
Michael Feinstein, spokesman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco reports, "Summer season is the most crowded season for national parks because that is when most Americans take their family on vacation. Both national and state parks see a dramatic drop in visitation after Labor Day." Feinstein agrees that most parks experience a 40 to 60 percent drop in visitation in the fall months. September through November is the best time to visit tourist meccas like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier and the Grand Canyon. No people and no bugs. While campsites are at a premium during summer months, and are often inaccessible after the first snow, fall travelers are likely to have their choice of the best spots.
During the summer months at Rocky Mountain National Park, the fortunate few who get last-minute campsites are lucky if they have a view of the latrines. But after Labor Day, you usually don't need reservations, even for sites with spectacular vistas of Longs Peak and the Indian Peaks to the south. For a true wilderness experience, try some of the off-the-beaten-path parks and destinations like the southern Oregon coast, western Kentucky and the Dakotas.
