If you get the urge to check out fall color in the next couple of weekends, a bit of advice:
Don’t go where the leaf peeping experts say to go.
Their advice gravitates to the easily accessible go-to color hotspots, mostly along the easily accessed Blue Ridge Parkway: Graveyard Fields, Rough Ridge, Price Lake … . Sure, photos taken within the past few days scream chamber-of-commerce-certified color, but they’re screaming it to the tens of thousands of others looking for a quick autumn fix. A fix that can be had without venturing too far from the car. With a classic fall forecast for this weekend, expect those hotspots to be just that in more ways than one.read more
Not only are we setting up for a colorful fall, we’re getting it early. After several years of mostly mediocre fall color, the stars — actually, the temperature and the sun — have aligned for what already looks like a great fall color show.
Good fall color depends on several factors,the key ones occurring in September and including:read more
This morning I went out for an early hike. The air was crisp and clear, not a cloud in the sky. The trees were just beginning to show color. And it was brisk: I could have used a long-sleeve shirt.
After a moment of blissful basking, I remembered a map I’d seen the day before showing the extent of the smoke from the western wildfires that so far have burned more than 3.7 million acres. The haze from the fires extended from coast-to-coast, blanketing most of the West and following the jet stream into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Much of the country is affected by these fires (there are 26 major wildfires burning in California alone). Fortunately, we are not.read more
I’ve spent the day hiking with a group, especially on a gorgeous fall day, only to have the hike draw to a close and at least one hiker bemoan the fact they had to abandon the woods and head home.
No you don’t, I’d say. Camp and stay the night!
Inevitably, a series of weak excuses would follow. I don’t want to carry all that gear. I don’t like sleeping on the ground and being uncomfortable. I don’t even have the gear.read more
When I stepped out the front door early Sunday morning I was immediately struck by an odd thought: Do I need a coat?
That thought hadn’t crossed my mind in nearly four months.
We look forward to Labor Day because, psychologically at least, it marks the transition from summer to fall. More often than not, this transition is in theory. The holiday weekend usually is better-served for one last fling at the pool than it is for a six-mile hike in the Piedmont. Not this year.read more
