Backpacker

05.110.008## the## play## listThis month’s toptrips and picksSorry, summer, the best hiking season is now, during fall’sprime-time foliage. But don’t sleep through the alarm—the color is fl eeting. Here, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, thehardwoods go off between the fi rst and second weeksof October, but the true leaf-peeping connoisseur knowsthere’s more to it than that. Because you want to go whenground shrubs like sumac turn fi ery red (second week ofOctober) and when the sun is setting (6:45 p.m. or so). Ifyou can luck into low-hanging fog (roll of the dice), thenit’s just about perfect. The show will be especially goodon a thru-hike of the 1,200-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail,but if you only have a day, try the 4-mile loop that circlesRough Butt Bald. From Bear Pen Gap (milepost 427.6 onthe Parkway), near where this photo was snapped, followa user trail to the MST, which descends into the BlueRidge’s valleys along fall’s red carpet. That deserves apermanent place on your calendar. Contact nps.gov/blri``````Dial in your color settings.BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, NORTH CAROLINA