Reading a Vermont River — a stop on Vermont Route 100.
The Mad River is beside us now, and it earned that name honestly — but there's a lot to read in a river like this if you know what to look for.
Notice first how much bare stone and gravel there is along the banks, and how wide the rocky floodplain is compared to the amount of water actually flowing. That's the river telling you what it does in spring: this channel was cut by a flow many times bigger than today's.
Look for the swimming holes. Vermont has a serious culture of them — deep pools scoured out below a ledge or a bend, often with a rock to jump from, usually with a pull-off and a footpath worn into the bank. Warren Falls, just south of Warren village, is one of the most famous in the state. They're unsupervised and the water is cold and the rocks are slick, so use sense, but on a hot August day there is nothing better.
And look at the bridges. Nearly every one you cross on this drive is newer than it looks, or has a newer abutment under an older deck, because these rivers keep taking them out.
In autumn the river is at its prettiest — low, clear, running over bright stone with gold leaves coming down it. In April it's a brown freight train.