There aren’t many places in Western North Carolina better for Autumn leaf peeping than the Blue Ridge Parkway. On Monday, October 17, 2016 I set out to demonstrate that by taking a little tour between mileposts 410 and 420. But first I had to get there. I went up the Pisgah Ridge on Scenic Hwy 276, passing the Cradle of Forestry along the way.
I arrived at the Cold Mountain Overlook once on the Parkway, then headed to Pounding Mill Overlook to take care of one of my volunteer jobs. I pick up trash at this overlook on a regular basis. With the Parkway crowded in recent days with other folks out looking for fall color just like me, the litter was more prevalent than normal. Of all things, I even found a baseball among the discarded items at the overlook.
Once done, it was time for some fun. I made stops at Big East Fork, Graveyard Fields, Black Balsam, Fryingpan, Mt. Pisgah and Buck Spring. The maple and oak, sourwood and hickory, poplar and birch, and many, many others were displaying their finest at around 5,000 feet elevation. It was a grand few hours. See what you think of the gallery below. Please feel free to leave your comments below the pictures.
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https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/450254ab4bc86f5ae5bab0aa32522e4a6b142ffe1644c7b19a6106bfbe074eea.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2ea604786c30a5d9c8df02dbf19d4a6e77942112a4939949b0ecaeb3a1ff606.jpg Wonderful, Jeff. Loved the Sourwood shots… I’ll give those mountains another few days to peak. Everything seems to be happening fast this year. Check out my post on the Linn Cove Viaduct area from a week ago. http://www.blueridgeimpressions.org Here are some pics from around my house from yesterday. I live north of Lake Lure in the northwest Rutherford Mountains.
Great photos, Jeff. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and it looked nothing like that!