Rough Ridge--actually a spur of Grandfather Mountain--annually provides some of the most brilliant autumn color in the northwest North Carolina high country. The ridge and its sister Grandfather slopes also usually experience their autumn color peak earlier than much of the remainder of the Blue Ridge. Autumn 2008 was no exception. A week or so before mid-October, I made the short hike up the Tanawha Trail to a saddle midway up the ridge. Storms had arrived the night before, and the clouds that accompanied them lingered into early morning. This image illustrates the varied fall colors, the muted blues of the distant ridges, and the somber overhang of the persistent cloud cover.