 |
 |
| Episode Five - Fall Colors of 2006 |
This special edition of The Trail Explorer was an idea that was
presented to me from the program director at URTV in Asheville, North Carolina. Paul Snow
approached me one day at the studio during the peak of the fall color season here in Western
North Carolina. He asked me “Why don’t you take a lot of footage of the colors and put it
all in one show along with some pleasant music. I think the people will really enjoy it.”
Well, that is exactly what I did. I had several hikes scheduled during the month of
September and October, and I had reserved a URTV camera for these hikes. As a member of URTV
for only $35 a year, one is able to not only reserve high quality three color chip cameras
and all of the sound and light accessories, but also reserve editing time on computers with
high quality editing programs. There is also a great production studio with sophisticated
cameras, lighting, sound and graphics available to members.
Some of the scenes I used for this episode were editing cuts that I didn’t have space for on
two of my preceding shows, and others were from two separate hikes I took with the Swannanoa
Valley Museum. Although I did produce programming for them, they will not be shown until
next year. Those hikes were to Upper Catawba Falls and to Potato Knob.
My approach to Upper Catawba Falls was through a large tract of private property that is in
a protected preserve. Both the upper and lower approach to falls, although they are
technically in the Pisgah National Forest, have to be accessed through private property,
making the trip a little difficult unless you know how to do it. I was with the Museum and
we had permission for our access.
Some of my footage was taken from another Museum hike to Potato Knob. Again our access was
through private property where we had permission. Potato |
Knob can also be accessed from the Mountain To The Sea Trail near the junction of the
Mount Mitchell road and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a beautiful area containing high
concentrations of both Catawba Rhododendron and Mountain Ash making for a spectacular
display in the early summer and fall seasons.
And finally, a lot of scenery I included in this show was taken right here from my yard and
surrounding property in the North Fork Valley, home to my ancestors for a couple of hundred
years.
We are blessed here in this part state to have one of the highest concentrations of hardwood
species in the world which makes for some splendid color displays in the fall. A lot of
people try to predict the color seasons but it is not an exact science at all. The
predictions are more governed by tourism than anything I believe.
I predicted this season correctly myself. I used the SWAG method, taught to me by my
grandfather and his grandfather before him. It is almost always accurate depending on who is
looking at the data. What is the SWAG method? “Sophisticated Wild Ass Guessing”, of course. |
|
