In grade three my class did a unit on The United States of America in social studies. That was the first I'd ever heard of the Appalachian mountains—an ancient range of mountains half the size of "ours" and covered from head to toe in deciduous trees. At the time I was living in British Columbia, with the ocean to the west and the Rockies to the east. The conifer-heavy temperate rainforest I was living in seemed always green—those evergreens—and I remember pouring over those pictures of autumn in Appalachia, imagining what it would be like to walk through a forest surrounded by colour like that. It seemed so foreign.
Our western autumns are colourful enough, but there was just something magical about those Appalachians. I don't think I'm alone in this. Here in the east people engage in something called "leaf peeping," which is essentially just a trip into nature to enjoy the dazzling display of the forests shedding their foliage for the winter (confession: the first time I heard that term was when we were watching The West Wing last year). It seems, actually, that it's mostly a New England phrase. I don't know why that term isn't used throughout more of the world because I know that leaf peepers are everywhere. It's not uncommon to take a drive up Provo Canyon in the fall simply to look at the leaves...but there is no term for that strange autumnal behavior in Utah. And I'm sure people in other places do the same thing. I think we should expand the use of the term leaf peeping, so all you westerners reading this, here's your challenge: start using the phrase "leaf peeping" today!
Our little weekend excursion of extreme leaf peeping (ie. camping in the fall) was like bringing a twenty-year-old dream to life. We arrived when things were still green, but turning yellow, with a few ambitious trees bordering on yellow, and by the time we left the mountains were brilliant hues of scarlet and amber and gold. It was magical!
One of the benefits of camping in the fall, rather than in the summer, is that you don't wake up in a stifling hot tent at six in the morning. Or perhaps that's simply a benefit of camping in the woods rather than in the middle of the desert. Either way, we all managed to sleep until the sun was filtering through the trees.
Our western autumns are colourful enough, but there was just something magical about those Appalachians. I don't think I'm alone in this. Here in the east people engage in something called "leaf peeping," which is essentially just a trip into nature to enjoy the dazzling display of the forests shedding their foliage for the winter (confession: the first time I heard that term was when we were watching The West Wing last year). It seems, actually, that it's mostly a New England phrase. I don't know why that term isn't used throughout more of the world because I know that leaf peepers are everywhere. It's not uncommon to take a drive up Provo Canyon in the fall simply to look at the leaves...but there is no term for that strange autumnal behavior in Utah. And I'm sure people in other places do the same thing. I think we should expand the use of the term leaf peeping, so all you westerners reading this, here's your challenge: start using the phrase "leaf peeping" today!
Our little weekend excursion of extreme leaf peeping (ie. camping in the fall) was like bringing a twenty-year-old dream to life. We arrived when things were still green, but turning yellow, with a few ambitious trees bordering on yellow, and by the time we left the mountains were brilliant hues of scarlet and amber and gold. It was magical!
One of the benefits of camping in the fall, rather than in the summer, is that you don't wake up in a stifling hot tent at six in the morning. Or perhaps that's simply a benefit of camping in the woods rather than in the middle of the desert. Either way, we all managed to sleep until the sun was filtering through the trees.
