Early Colours at Long Johns Bridge

Long Johns Bridge is at the western end of the Glencoe Road where it, the Upper Southwest Mabou Road, and the Rear Intervale (Judique Intervale) Road all come together. It is a beautiful spot that draws me to stop there as often as I can. It was one of the first spots I visited on my trip this year.

Photo #1 looks downstream from the west end of the bridge at a very, very dry Southwest Mabou River, as dry as I’ve ever seen it here. Except for the channel along the eastern shore, one could easily cross it with dry feet! The fall colours here, this Sunday before the start of Celtic Colours, are indeed a-changing and a few trees are already pretty well along, while others are unchanged or only starting to change.

Photo #2 is a close-up looking at the most changed trees on the eastern bank of the Southwest Mabou River. The pretty tree in the centre, with its orange blush is only partially changed; the reds on either side are at their peak.

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Photo #3 looks downstream as far as one can see, where the river curves to the left. The rocky scene makes one hope that any fish have taken refuge in one of the deeper pools, such as those found just below the northern edge of the bridge; there sure isn’t much place here for them to swim and breathe! The reds continue to be seen in the centre and near the top of the hillside left of centre, so those nearer the bridge are not aberrations. It’s very early for this amount of change!

Photo #4 shows a lovely small maple standing on the western shore of the river near the bridge. If is half changed, with bright yellow leaves intermixed with unchanged green ones. The birches towering above it are changing too, though still a much darker mixture of green and green trending towards yellow/orange/brown.

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Photo #5 looks upstream where the trees are also showing signs of colour. The upper portion of the tree at the far left is a vivid red; the leaves below and towards the centre are an orangey-red. Hints of developing colour can be seen further upstream along the western shore, but are definitely well behind those close to the bridge.

Photo #6 looks at the trees on the western shore closer to the bridge where, as directly across on the eastern shore, vivid reds and oranges are present. The very dark red hues seen in the tree right of centre result from an abundance of barely changed chlorophyll mixed with red pigment; as time progresses, this green will fade out, leaving the bright red hues dominant in the leaves.

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Photo #7 is a close-up of the trees just upstream of Long Johns Bridge, from a slightly different vantage point that better brings out their colours, from bright reds through red oranges, yellows, and greens. These are, of course, several trees, but each shows considerable variation in its colours; the reds at the right are still considerably intermixed with unchanged greens.

Photo #8 is a close-up of a nearly completely turned lovely red tree on the western bank of the river from the western end of the bridge; the Rear Intervale Road can be seen at the right of the photo. I don’t know whether the still-changing reds in the lower part of the photo might have developed from the seeds of the larger tree behind, but those that have lost the green (many haven’t yet) are the same red hue as that of the larger tree.