We had an absolutely beautiful fall day with crisp, cool weather. Big fluffy clouds and bright blue skies are perfect for hiking and photography. The clouds added to the images, but never threatened any precipitation. Despite the clouds, it was one of the better long-range view days in months.

The last of the blooms are beginning to fade in the higher elevations, though the valleys below are still quite green.

The first two pictures are taken from the top of Frying Pan Mountain. Frying Pan is an easy hike because of an access road to the peak. The mountain is used for cell phone and relay towers.

The mountain is also home to one of many fire observation towers that have been long abandoned in favor of helicopters.

Next door to Frying Pan Mountain is the more famous Mt. Pisgah, home to a TV transmission tower. Frying Pan also has a hiking trail to the top, but it is often crowded with other hikers. So many other trails in the area are much less used (including a trail from Frying Pan to Mt. Pisgah) and have equal or superior views.

In that period when the flowers have stopped blooming and the leaves have not yet started changing, one of the brightest colors is the brilliant red of berries. The color is particularly stark against the blue sky.