Tag Archives: fall

Fall color paints the Piedmont

We rode at Umstead Tuesday morning and noticed nothing different. We rode Thursday morning and couldn’t help but notice the difference.

Fall had finally begun gracing the Piedmont with its festive palette.

Poplars were suddenly popping yellow, sourwoods were flashing crimson, red maples were glowing red. Real color, the first of the season. And who knows how long it will last. read more

90 Second Escape: Fall — A look ahead by looking back


Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb. read more

90 Second Escape: Hiking into Fall (at Falls Lake)

Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb. read more

Hike into fall this Sunday

Fall at Umstead State Park in Raleigh.

A cold front sweeps through the state Saturday afternoon dropping daytime temperatures from the 90s into the upper 70s in the Piedmont and overnight lows into the 40s in the high country.

Translation: Sunday will bring us our first true fall hiking of the season. So get done what you need to get done on Saturday and reserve Sunday for a day in the woods. read more

90 Second Escape: In Search of Fall


Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: In Search of Fall
Come the first week of August, especially after a summer of record-setting heat, we’re generally eager for signs of fall. Sometimes you don’t have to look far: a sourwood leaf going crimson early, a surprisingly cool breeze passing through the woods. Other times, you need to be a bit more observant.
Sunday morning, encouraged by a brilliant blue sky flecked with billowy white clouds — the kind of sky you might expect on an October day — I went in search of an early fall at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. Did I find it? Watch closely and judge for yourself. read more