Rocky Ridge Autumn

Has autumn sprung on Dolly Sods? Well as of Saturday past, I would say yes. October 6th saw some pretty peak lookin' leaves to me. In one day of hiking around in the north end of Dolly Sods, we must have chatted with 25 people, many of them backpackers. I think everyone was pretty shocked by the high temperatures. It was about 80 degrees fahrenhiet. We started our excursion around noon and hiked until just after sunset. The afternoon light was doing a wonderful job of illuminating the leaves. There were large puffy clouds that occasionally provided some diffused shady light, but otherwise an ideal day.



We made a big loop with the Raven Ridge trail, Beaver View trail, and Dobbin Grade trail. Getting back to the parking lot at the top of FR80 took us almost ten miles. The first pano (above) was taken along the Rocy Ridge trail. Second one (below) was taken overlooking a meadow near the Beaver View trail. This shot is one of those that I really didn't think would work. Everything I have ever learned says, avoid haze and don't shoot directly into the sun. Well this shot was taken directly into the sun and through an afternoon haze. I like the way the dark Red Spruce trees are fringed with light green with scattterred yellows and reds mixed throughout.