The following originally ran in November 2012. We rerun it today, with some tweaks, because its message is timeless come November. Here’s why.
Come November, we’re usually in fighting’ shape. A lot of folks start hiking again, in earnest, come September; by early November we’re hiking farther, we’re spending more time on the trail. Then come the holidays.
The salad days of fall continue this weekend, days so perfect with sun, dry skies and 70-degree temperatures that we can’t help but suggest, lettuce be outdoors. To that end, some thoughts.
Fall Wonder Hike, Saturday, 10 a.m., Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle. Fall color is the focus of this 1-hour hike on the 0.8-mile Mountain Loop Trail at the Scenic Vista, Morrow’s window to the Uwharrie Mountains and Piedmont below. Catch the beginning of the fall Piedmont leaf-peep show. Learn more here.
According to the forecast, fall looks like it finally arrives late Saturday, with a wet cold front. Come Sunday, though, you’ll need the fleece: the temperature should be in the low 40s, rising only into the low 60s. Just what we’ve been waiting for.
Now’s the time our thoughts begin to turn toward catching some color on the trail, even in the Piedmont.
Though conditions haven’t been ideal for spotting early fall color — warm, sunny, dry days followed by cool nights — we are beginning to see some change. Last weekend, we saw sourwoods and dogwoods aflame at South Mountains State Park (a popular and close destination for Charlotte hikers), and even this week we’ve seen those first responders of fall start to light up the woods along the Eno River in Durham and Orange counties. With fall color in mind, we offer our thoughts on the weekend.
Editor’s note: This is a piece we run annually around this time. It has been tweaked, updated and massaged.
When it comes to fall color, outdoors types take the changing of the leaves pretty seriously.
How seriously?
Virginia has a fall foliage hotline — 800.424.5683 — that you can call for the latest breaking fall color news. Operators standing by; in our book, that’s quite serious. And, curiously, quite practical.
