It’s that first afternoon that feels like snow. That westerly breeze that leaves no doubt a new season is about to arrive. Our contributing photographers were there to capture it.

Brent McGuirt
The last light of sunset illuminates a sparkling layer of rime ice on Spy Rock near Montebello on Virginia’s Appalachian Trail.

Mike Koenig
Early snow at Duggers Creek Falls, Newland, North Carolina.

Joshua Moore
Bucky Cooper Park in Church Hill, Tennessee, offers a view of a small farm in an adjacent field. It had snowed a little bit the night before in the higher elevations, which gave a nice contrast to the fall foliage.

Robert Stephens
Fiery red leaves contrast with snow-powdered evergreens on a late autumn day at Mingus Mill, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina.

Bill Lea
Frost-covered trees on Clingmans Dome frame a view of distant fall colors of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina).

Dana Foreman
Hoarfrost covers the trees with both whimsy and drama near the Craggy Mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 350 in North Carolina.

J. Scott Graham
Departing regularly from downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Ober Gatlinburg’s 120-passenger aerial tramway provides breathtaking views of the Great Smoky Mountains along its 2.1-mile journey.
The story above appears in our November/December 2019 issue. For more, subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription. Thank you for your support!