(looking north from Table Rock to the head of Linville Gorge)OK, setting aside the fact that everybody and their brother, sister, cat, and dog were up in the mountains leaf-peeping this past weekend, the leaves were in quite wonderful color.
(wind-shaped vegetation atop Table Rock)Friday's winds did take many of them down from the highest elevations, yet there was still plenty of color even as high as 4,000 feet. One of my favorite places to venture to is Linville Gorge just northwest of Morganton; and one of my favorite places to go is along the eastern rim to Table Rock.
(Rhododendron peering over cliff and myriad colors splashed below)Easily seen even from I-40 because of its flattened table-like appearance, Table Rock is approached by graveled Forest Service roads off of Highway 181, and sits between the two other excellent hiking destinations, Shortoff and Hawksbill Mountains.
(southern flank of Hawksbill, just to the north)In fact, the North Carolina Outward Bound School is located on the flanks of the ridge below. They do a lot of technical climbing on the plentious rock faces from time to time, as well. FYI, to enter the Gorge for overnight trips, a permit system is in place as this is an official Wilderness Area.
I did avoid even greater masses and did not drive around to the Falls section on the north end; but even with the mass of humanity all around, the views combined with perfect weather were worth the hike! And, might I add, my 12x zoom was used extensively to remove said masses! In closing, I thought it appropriate to show you one of the flowers still blooming along the trails, there, Closed Gentian.
(Closed Gentian, or Closed Bottle Gentian, or just pretty purple flowers that don't open up...)More color coming this week...!
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