Fall Colors Quickly Changing

A beautiful autumn morning on Big Snowbird Creek in North
Carolina's Graham County.

Having spent most of last week in the mountains of western North Carolina, I was struck by how much the colors changed in the short time that I was there.

Nathaniel and I fished on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and Friday's photos are noticably more colorful than the others. We were admittedly in a different stream, a little farther up the mountain. Still, the entire landscape change from green with hints of yellow and red to one with more warm colors than cool ones.

The change was even more notable at Fontana Village, where we stayed, because we looked at the same mountainsides every day and could see the color creeping down the mountain and filling the forest a little more each day, and the drive home was so much more colorful than the drive there.

Of course the fuller color didn't quite follow us home. Gray skies, a fair number of leaves on the ground and hints of color do create an autumn-like appearance when I look out the window, but we're still two or three weeks from the nicest fall color in North Georgia.

October

A good thing happened while I was sleeping last night.

October arrived.

I guess there's nothing really that different about Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, but somehow it just feels different because I know it's now October, which is my single favorite month of the year. I'm an all-season angler, and there are things I like a lot about every month of the year. October tops my list, though.

Maybe it's the normal delightful October weather. Maybe it's the changing of colors (although in Georgia, our prettiest color really comes in early November). Maybe it's autumn fishing. Maybe it's the fact that my wife and I (and two of our six children) have October birthdays, so I get to eat a lot of cake this month. Maybe it's the opening of North Carolina's delayed harvest season, the abundance of fall festivals, pumpkin flavored hot drinks...

In trout, I suppose some combination of all those factors, and more, makes October my favorite month.

I'm looking forward to enjoying a few of those things -- the beginning of the DH season, the wonderful weather, and the first decent hints of changing colors -- next week when I fish the Nantahala River and then spend a few days at a conference at Fontana Village, which looks is right across Fontana Lake from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I'll likely also do some fishing in the park, in the DH section of Big Snowbird Creek and/or in the little lakes just downstream of Fontana while I'm up there. Those plans aren't settled quite yet.

I might actually have to sneak out to the pond today. I have some photos I'd like to shoot. More importantly, I just want to do a little October fishing!

Fall in the North Georgia Air?

Fall showing its splendors along the West Fork
 of the Chattooga River late last October.

Seven of 10 days with highs in the 70s in our local long-range forecast seen to suggest that fall is trying to creep into North Georgia. Of course, that's sort of hard to gauge because the forecast has looked strangely similar to that all summer. We rarely got above the mid 80s even during July and August afternoons. Not quite normal, but I'm sure not complaining.

We're not seeing significant fall color here yet, and in truth our brightest fall colors normally come pretty close to the end of October and even extending into November. We are getting quite a few leaves on roofs and driveways, and late-summer wildflowers like Joe Pye Weed and Goldenrod, which tend to suggest fall is coming soon, are mostly past the peak of their brilliance.

If the air feels like fall and the fish are biting well, which they sure were on my most recent outing, I guess it doesn't really matter if the leaves have changed colors or the calendar says it should be fall. Of course, that recent day on the water was in West Virginia, not Georgia. I probably need to visit a local pond or creek soon so I can decide for myself whether fall fishing has started.

Actually, my next casts are likely to be made in Oklahoma and maybe Arkansas, because I leave town early Tuesday morning, and I don't think I'll get the chance to fish locally between now and then. That gives autumn a little more time to make it's presence extra obvious in North Georgia. Whenever fall fishing arrives, I know I'll enjoy it.

Fall's Forgotten Final Days

October must be better than November at public relations campaigns. Most North Georgia travelers seemingly think that fall begins Oct. 1 and ends Oct. 31. Many people visit the mountains in early October and are disappointed to find minimal color. In early November, when our hillsides are blazing, few folks come to visit. The first week or so of November is actually my favorite time to hike waterfall trails and otherwise explore around here because the landscapes are spectacular and I can pretty much have a trail to myself.

By now, more leaves have fallen than remain on the trees. I'll acknowledge that. Those that remain attached have almost all changed colors, though, and some of the deepest reds and oranges seem to come late. The ground is also covered with leaves -- some bright and some brown. Landscape vistas offer beautiful blends of Crayola-bight colors and muted bronze tones.

In another couple of weeks, virtually all the leaves will have fallen from our deciduous trees, and those still clinging to branches will be brown. That creates an openness and a rugged, stark beauty, but by then it no longer looks like fall. Right now it still does, but most folk will miss it because they believe autumn ended with the turning of the calendar page.

Color Peak Myth?

As Nathaniel and I crossed the Smokies on I-40 this morning I noticed a few oranges and yellows but mostly green hues on the mountains. That got me thinking about the "color peak" which I believe is somewhat of a myth in our part of the country.
When folks go "leaf peeping" in Southern Appalachia, no matter how much they enjoy the colors and the vistas, I believe most people end up with a perception that they were either early or late. Instead, I'd contend that the peak they think they missed never truly existed.
I see two main reasons for that. First, Southern Appalachian forests are exceptionally diverse, with many varieties of deciduous trees that all change at different times. In addition, it's not uncommon around here to change elevation by a few thousand feet as you drive along a road and to look up mountainsides that rise a couple thousand more feet. Because of those factors, some leaves are changing from late September through some time in November, and I'm not convinced that we have much of a peak. 
My personal favorite time is November, when all the leaves have changed but a lot have fallen. The mountains look scarlet from a distance and the landscapes are striking, but most people would consider the best time as having passed.
When do you like fall best?