#monongahela national forest

County Route 29 along Gandy Creek in the Monongahela National Forest.  The fall foliage here is reliably stunning in any year.

Above is a sampling of the fall colors from this past weekend at Blackwater Canyon. Due to the extreme elevation change from the top to the bottom of the canyon, the leaf color is quite variable depending on location. The leaves at the higher elevations may be at peak color, while those in the lower section of the canyon may have barely changed at all (note the differences in the first two photos).

This brave dude (not me) got a front-row seat to the breathtaking view from Lindy Point into Blackwater Canyon on Sunday. A cold, stiff wind blew relentlessly up the canyon yesterday - I was buffeted so hard I was barely able to take this photo with my camera perched on a heavy, metal tripod. 

In their final acts of October sacrifice, hay-scented and interrupted ferns burn away under a beautifully-lit forest. The intoxicating odor of their self-immolation is still in my head.