By Jesse Wood
Oct. 7, 2014. This time of year, especially, the High Country is photogenic. Wildflowers still illuminate the hillsides, and fall color is showcased along the treetops and forest ranges.
The Blue Ridge Parkway and Grandfather Mountain, in particular, are hotspots to set up your camera equipment and capture the scenery. Below are photos from the past few days courtesy of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation and Todd Bush, a professional photographer based in Banner Elk.
During the fall, photographers with Grandfather Mountain capture photos of the color changes and posts them on its Facebook page, and on Monday, Bush hiked along Rough Ridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway and captured some marvelous sunrise photos of the “backside of Grandfather Mountain.” See all of those below.
ASU Biology Professor Howard Neufeld, also known as the “Fall Color Guy” for his fall color reports, noted that the color “springing out” above the 3,500-foot range.
“Forests are mostly still green below 3,500 feet. From this elevation upwards, colors are springing out, although it depends on the slope and aspect. The main trees showing color at intermediate elevations are sourwoods, dogwoods, Virginia creeper vines, and red maples (all peaking now and all deep red in color),” Neufeld wrote in his latest report dated Oct. 5. “Sugar maples are starting to turn orange/yellow and beginning to stand out against the landscape. Birches, tulip poplars and Fraser magnolias (all yellow) are all coming along. At the highest elevations, like at Craggy Gardens, the mountain ash have dropped their leaves, the beeches (yellow) are peaking and in the understory the viburnums are at their peak orange/yellow color.”
For a variety of sources to find more info on leaf coloring in your region, Neufeld has compiled a list of links and sites to see “great fall foliage” in the High Country and the rest of Western North Carolina.
For all of his fall color reports and updates and other pertinent leaf color information, follow the “Fall Color Guy” on Facebook.
Also check out Grandfather Mountain’s Facebook page for daily fall color photos.
TODD BUSH PHOTOS









PHOTOS FROM GRANDFATHER STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION

Fall color seeps from the upper reaches of Grandfather Mountain to areas below to create a picturesque scene in Linville. Photo by Jim Morton

The sun rises above the varied yellows, oranges and greens of Rough Ridge, off the BRP. Photo by Skip Sickler
Brisk winds this weekend shook off just enough leaves in the High Country to create a satisfying crunch beneath hikers’ feet, but not enough to diminish the colorful hues at the higher elevations. The weekend’s cold snap should trigger to the many remaining green trees that the time has come to turn.

A hiker gazes at the beauty from Rough Ridge, looking south toward the Linn Cove Viaduct and the peaks of Grandfather Mountain. Photo by Skip Sickler

Morning fog lifts to reveal shades of autumn color on the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Price Park Picnic Area at milepost 296.5. Photo by Skip Sickler
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