DIXFIELD – The intersection of Routes 2 and 17 in East Dixfield was the crossroads of the world early Friday afternoon.
A pair of international leaf peepers and their guide stopped near the Franklin County intersection to photograph a small, brilliant red cluster of maple leaves.
“Red here is the most intense we’ve seen so far,” said Provash Ganguli of India while snapping photos from his camera mounted atop a tripod.
He said that he and his wife, Margaret Ganguli, of the country of Poland, had hired Joe Santos to take them on a fall foliage trip in New England. Santos is from the Philippines and is now based in Minnesota.
The Gangulis are living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
“We’re spending money in the U.S.A.! It’s our first time here!” Provash Ganguli said.
Ganguli said he and his wife and their guide had stayed in Rumford on Thursday after driving over from Vermont. Friday’s weather was perfect for a drive across Maine to see foliage, he said.
“We don’t have the reds in Europe. There are no maple trees there or where we live in Canada,” he said.
A couple in a car with Massachusetts license plates also stopped to photograph the foliage. They were from Germany.
After spending about 25 minutes taking photographs, Santos and the Gangulis headed off to Wilton and Farmington, in search of a restaurant.
Then, Provash Ganguli said, they planned to visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, and return in two weeks, hoping to catch peak color.
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