Autumn in Appalachia

These are images I snapped from a day trip last weekend to the summit of Spruce Knob, the highest point in the state of West Virginia, about 190 miles west of Washington, D.C.

Though there’s still little evidence of autumnal color in the city, a bit higher up to the west is the beginnings of a dazzling display of nature’s consummation.

Autumn: The consummation of life’s beauty

For early October, it was a near-perfect day to be out there. Sunny skies, warm temperatures in the mid-80s (too warm for me, but hey, climate change), and a delightful piney scent in the air. Nice.

There’s a tremendous degree of death, despair, division, and ugliness in the world. But beauty has always been. Sometimes, you just need to seek it out. Whenever you do, you will always find it.