Here we are, in the second week of October, and the foliage is either at peak or just past peak, depending on where you are looking and whether you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half empty kind of person.

Everyone who lives around here has a favorite strategy for viewing fall foliage — favorite places, favorite views, favorite hikes, favorite car rides.

As soon as the autumn weather starts turning the leaves to orange and yellow and red, another familiar sight pops up on roads and villages around Vermont — long and metal with tinted windows.

Route 100 is one of the most popular routes taken by leaf-peepers every fall.

Even as the leaves above turn red, orange and yellow, you might want to cast your eyes downward to find the real wonderment of the fall forest.

As the days grow shorter and the nights grow cooler, countless people will flock to Vermont’s mountains and scenic byways for foliage season.

The woods of Bolton and Richmond will be the setting this weekend for all things climbing at CRAG-VT’s first Vermont Climbing Festival, featuring demos, clinics and competitions, music, camping and food.

When the idea of a feature story on water skiing was pitched, my first inclination was to keep my head down and avoid eye contact with the editor because it sounded like one of those “learn by doing it” stories.

Learning to water ski recreationally is one thing, but competitive water skiing is something else entirely; it almost appears to be a different sport.

A kid’s first hunt can mark the beginning of a lifelong passion for the outdoors and a commitment to wildlife conservation. There is no finer time to begin this journey than during Vermont’s upcoming youth waterfowl hunting weekend on Sept. 28-29.