View of the Blue Ridge Mountains at dawn from Waterrock Knob Overlook, at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cherokee in far western North Carolina.  The elevation here is nearly 6,000 feet.  This was the first stop of a two-week fall foliage trip from the Blue Ridge Parkway through New England during mid-October 2002.

Ridgeline after ridgeline in the Blue Ridge Mountains, from the Cowee Mountain Overlook, south of Waynesville in western North Carolina.

The three days spent traveling the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway were foggy and rainy due to a tropical storm moving through, so most of the color was actually indoors!  This is a quilt on display at the Folk Art Center along the Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina.

More quilt artistry.  These were all made by local artists, and not for sale; with even average quilts costing $2,000 these days, goodness knows what the price of these would have been.

Close-up of trees in another quilt.  About a dozen quilts were on display, many of them quite stunning.

A quilt of wonderful fabrics sewn in a more traditional style.

Another quilt at the Folk Art Center, a wonderful place for a stop while traveling the Parkway.

These bright mountain ash berries could be seen many places along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

A foggy day at Brinegar Cabin, along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina.  Families lived in these as recently as sixty years ago.

Close-up of the rockwork and woodwork on the cabin, some of it original, some renovated.

Mabry Mill, along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Floyd, Virginia, one of my favorite places to visit in the Autumn - to get the apple butter made on Saturdays during the autumn by the local ladies.  The trees were amazingly green for the second week of October.

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro, Virginia.  The color came out unusually late this year, but at least the sumac was beginning to turn.

Virginia creeper covers this entire tree trunk, along the Skyline Drive near Waynesboro, Virginia.

Trees in the clouds, along the southern Skyline Drive in Virginia.  An amazing number of deer - groups of them at a time - could be seen jumping across the road on this afternoon’s drive.

On Skyline Drive, Virginia.  Three days into the trip, the color was finally beginning to appear in northern Virginia.

A little more color along Skyline Drive, south of Front Royal, Virginia.