Posted by Nye Simmons on October 10, 2006 at 6:40 PM
this is a long post specific to the Smokies from a short trip yesterday and today - there seems to be a lot of shared angst about the timing and quality of this year's display - so far this is the most promising season in a long time - several years at least and may rival the fabled 1990 - sounds almost like vintage wine doesnt it ??
Smokies update October 10, 2006
Townsend – green with faint hint that fall is coming
Little River Y to Sugarlands – spotty color a bit ratty looking – not unusual streambed appearance in a dry year – you would think they would look the best but often not – looks OK just beginning to turn with few spots of more advanced color – 20 vertical feet off the river its green green green looking ahead at the mountain coming in to Sugarlands – that’s green – ridges on other side of fighting creek gap – ditto
LeConte – green almost to the top with a little blush there
Chimneys – green to the top with a little blush on a couple of ridges
Chimney tops trailhead – streambed color gets good (as viewed from the road on a drive by)
From there up it gets better particularly above Alum Cave Bluffs parking area – lots of beech turning – still a green component but looks great
Newfound Gap – good color not quite full peak
Oconaluftee Valley Overlook – great color when backlit will try to post soon it’s about 50% - 60% turned looks like less when front lit
Clingmans road – yellow – mostly beech still a green component – NOT A LEAF ON THE GROUND – barring enviro hits it should hang for several days
Dome itself – great ash but many have dropped leaves – best in years
Shot Beech Ridge – just starting to show spotty color not even 10% - probably 2 weeks away
Overall its “a little early” don’t try to pin down by how many days – less than a week maybe just a couple of days – that varies from place to place and with the light – ie backlit looks more advanced
Hope this helps
Nye
for those who missed it, here is arecent post concerning the Blue Rdige Prkway
Fall color outing October 6th and 7th - NC high country – this is a long one
I was not able to cover all the ground I wanted but here is my view on things – Jerry saw almost all of this and might have a little different view but I think we are fairly close on things
I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO REVIEW MY NOTES FROM PRIOR YEARS YET
I –40 and 81 corridor showing roadside color and patches of advance color change with large areas of green – suspect this is localized because of local drought stress or other microclimate issues
Pigeon Gorge hillsides looked green green green as high up as I cold see – couldn’t get a view of Max Patch from the road because of cloud cover
Mountain Ash are the best I have ever seen loaded with red berries on Grandfather Beacon Heights Craggy Gardens – ditto for the blueberries
Rough Ridge was at absolute peak of perfection – best that I have ever found it
The high ridges coming off Grandfather and Mitchell have advanced color due to high concentration of Maples
Rough Ridge seems a few days early but less than a week – ditto the viaduct which was killer – those areas go off early – I usually plan on being there around the 7th or 8th and timing was spot on this year – that leads me to believe we aren’t all that early
Fall color has come late for so many years now that I think we have lost sight of “normal”
Linville parking lot had great color but lots more green yet to turn – didn’t have time to hike to the falls – there was a patch of back lit trees on the spur road to the parking lot that looked at peak that was very alarming driving in but it was not a blanket peak situation at all
We stopped and photographed occasionally where patches looked good and had the urge to make images but had long “green” stretches – often just around the bend from good color.
Coming down off Craggy around 2700 ft elevation up to probably 4000 or so was green
Time didn’t allow getting to Graveyard or the Smokies – Hamley is out today and hopefully will have news to add.
Luck to all – I personally felt a bit panicked as here in K town the color seems forward and many maples are at peak and or dropping their leaves and the interstate corridors and the approach to Grandfather from the north seemed likewise advanced but getting on location eased my anxiety a bit. Overall I think it’s a little early relative to what we are accustomed to but not a giant problem – there will be areas that peak before any certain person’s schedule allows them to be there but I don’t think we are headed for a total premature fall off unless we get hosed by a bad storm
I will check my prior year’s notes to try to get a better correlation and add to this thread
Sweet light to you all
Nye
Posted by Thomas Biggs on October 11, 2006 at 11:16 AM
Thanks for the update Nye!!
Posted by Lori Kincaid on October 12, 2006 at 2:59 PM
Discussion
2 repliesSmokies update October 10, 2006
Townsend – green with faint hint that fall is coming
Little River Y to Sugarlands – spotty color a bit ratty looking – not unusual streambed appearance in a dry year – you would think they would look the best but often not – looks OK just beginning to turn with few spots of more advanced color – 20 vertical feet off the river its green green green looking ahead at the mountain coming in to Sugarlands – that’s green – ridges on other side of fighting creek gap – ditto
LeConte – green almost to the top with a little blush there
Chimneys – green to the top with a little blush on a couple of ridges
Chimney tops trailhead – streambed color gets good (as viewed from the road on a drive by)
From there up it gets better particularly above Alum Cave Bluffs parking area – lots of beech turning – still a green component but looks great
Newfound Gap – good color not quite full peak
Oconaluftee Valley Overlook – great color when backlit will try to post soon it’s about 50% - 60% turned looks like less when front lit
Clingmans road – yellow – mostly beech still a green component – NOT A LEAF ON THE GROUND – barring enviro hits it should hang for several days
Dome itself – great ash but many have dropped leaves – best in years
Shot Beech Ridge – just starting to show spotty color not even 10% - probably 2 weeks away
Overall its “a little early” don’t try to pin down by how many days – less than a week maybe just a couple of days – that varies from place to place and with the light – ie backlit looks more advanced
Hope this helps
Nye
for those who missed it, here is arecent post concerning the Blue Rdige Prkway
Fall color outing October 6th and 7th - NC high country – this is a long one
I was not able to cover all the ground I wanted but here is my view on things – Jerry saw almost all of this and might have a little different view but I think we are fairly close on things
I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO REVIEW MY NOTES FROM PRIOR YEARS YET
I –40 and 81 corridor showing roadside color and patches of advance color change with large areas of green – suspect this is localized because of local drought stress or other microclimate issues
Pigeon Gorge hillsides looked green green green as high up as I cold see – couldn’t get a view of Max Patch from the road because of cloud cover
Mountain Ash are the best I have ever seen loaded with red berries on Grandfather Beacon Heights Craggy Gardens – ditto for the blueberries
Rough Ridge was at absolute peak of perfection – best that I have ever found it
The high ridges coming off Grandfather and Mitchell have advanced color due to high concentration of Maples
Rough Ridge seems a few days early but less than a week – ditto the viaduct which was killer – those areas go off early – I usually plan on being there around the 7th or 8th and timing was spot on this year – that leads me to believe we aren’t all that early
Fall color has come late for so many years now that I think we have lost sight of “normal”
Linville parking lot had great color but lots more green yet to turn – didn’t have time to hike to the falls – there was a patch of back lit trees on the spur road to the parking lot that looked at peak that was very alarming driving in but it was not a blanket peak situation at all
We stopped and photographed occasionally where patches looked good and had the urge to make images but had long “green” stretches – often just around the bend from good color.
Coming down off Craggy around 2700 ft elevation up to probably 4000 or so was green
Time didn’t allow getting to Graveyard or the Smokies – Hamley is out today and hopefully will have news to add.
Luck to all – I personally felt a bit panicked as here in K town the color seems forward and many maples are at peak and or dropping their leaves and the interstate corridors and the approach to Grandfather from the north seemed likewise advanced but getting on location eased my anxiety a bit. Overall I think it’s a little early relative to what we are accustomed to but not a giant problem – there will be areas that peak before any certain person’s schedule allows them to be there but I don’t think we are headed for a total premature fall off unless we get hosed by a bad storm
I will check my prior year’s notes to try to get a better correlation and add to this thread
Sweet light to you all
Nye
Lori