The hills are alive...

Fall is in the air. My favorite time of the year - football season, gorgeous sunsets seen from my office window, leaves changing color, maple macchiato at starbucks - mmm mmm good. Everything seems to be slowing down, days are getting shorter and the holiday season is right around the corner! The highlight of the season for me though are the weeks in October when the trees put on a dazzling display of resplendent reds, bright yellows, fiery orange leaves that make for a picture perfect drive.

Since I missed the entire fall season last year, I made sure to do atleast one fall trip this season and I was not disappointed. We started in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in the North Carolina area and the trend for the rest of the trip - a sea of bright colors anywhere we drove. It was a truly amazing sight to see colors bursting on the nearby hills while the faraway ones were shrouded in blue mist (hence the name for the mountains). Vibrant colors on the maple and oak trees, along with a hundred other species of plants put on a gorgeous show - truly a feast for the eyes. It was a treat indeed to see the huge maple trees, branches bent with yellowing leaves or the red maples highlighted by the sunshine pouring down the thick woods.

What made it even better was the river that kept us constant company all through the drive up the mountains, meandering its way sometimes to the right and at other times to the left. Waterfalls welcomed us as we got further inside the park and we could just park to the side of the road and walk up to them. Newfound gap had some great colors but Clingman's Dome which is the highest point in the mountains was covered with fog and it was like winter up there. Icicles had already formed on the fir trees and it was beautiful in its own way although, I wish it werent that windy. But at 6600 ft, it was not totally unexpected. There were so many times we just pulled to the side of the road and stayed there admiring the beauty all around us. The lush colors and the gushing river nearby made for a joyous picture and a feeling of peace and tranquility stole over me as the day went by.

Blue Ridge parkway was another gorgeous drive with winding roads and at almost every curve of the road, we saw trees bursting with color at the lower elevations. We made our way upto Asheville and saw even prettier colors on the maple trees that dotted the entire downtown area. Asheville is quite artsy and walking around three or four streets gave me an insight into the town's history and the people who display their art in the galleries. Beautiful pictures of the mountains, handmade pottery, jewellery were on display almost everywhere.

On the way back, Sumter and Chattahoochee national forests, also brimming with ruby reds and golden yellows totally made the return journey back to the city go by very quickly. I was sad to get back into town but then I saw that the colors had just started to turn in the trees in town as well. Wish it could last for a few more weeks but I guess all good things must come to an end. If I do get bogged down by the mundane stuff, all I need to do is remember the roar of the water rushing past the boulders or the stretch of road covered with pretty maple trees and everything will be right in my world again =)

This is a beautiful poem that succinctly and eloquently describes what I was trying so ineptly to write about -

I want to tell you what hills are like in October
When colors gush down mountainsides
And little streams are freighted with a caravan of leaves,
I want to tell you how they blush and turn in fiery shame and joy,
How their love burns with flames consuming and terrible
Until we wake one morning and woods are like a smoldering plain--
A glowing caldron full of jewelled fire;
The emerald earth a dragon's eye
The poplars drenched with yellow light
And dogwoods blazing bloody red.
Travelling southward earth changes from gray rock to green velvet.

- Margaret Walker, October Journey

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. --John Muir