Little River Canyon and Murphy Hill - October 24, 2020

 The forecast included a chance of rain showers and clouds, the type of day most people stay home.  But with a new lens to try out, I wanted to capture fog in the mountains in the early morning light and so it was forecast to be the perfect day for just that.  We set the alarm early with the goal to be in the canyon right around sunrise.

Many may be surprised to know that Alabama is home to its own canyon.  The Appalachian mountains reach into the northern part of this state.  Little River Canyon National Preserve is probably one of the most special places in Alabama that we have visited and a place we keep coming back to.  This was our first visit during the fall.  And although I went looking for fog and did find some, I was taken aback by the beauty of the fall colors.  I was not expecting the colors to be this far along.

Our first stop was Little River Falls Overlook.  Hwy 176 (Little River Canyon Rim Parkway) is an incredibly scenic drive along the top of the canyon with many overlooks to get some incredible views.  Coming from the north, the Little River Falls Overlook is the first you will encounter and gives views of Little River Falls.

We then continued on to Lynn Overlook for more views of the canyon and to hopefully find some fog.

We continued south on Hwy 176 until we reached Mushroom Rock.  We had yet to see any cars travel down this highway all morning so had ample chances to get just the right shots.

Normally we would have continued south to more overlooks and to enjoy more of the canyon but we had plans for another trail near Lake Guntersville and wanted to spend some time at Little River Falls itself before heading that way.  So we backtracked to the Little River Falls parking area off Hwy 35.

We then headed towards Lake Guntersville to hike a 4.4 mile loop at Murphy Hill near Langston, AL.  This was our second visit to this trail.  Last time was during the heat and humidity of the summer and we had made quite a few other stops that day and so that time we didn't make the whole loop and turned around before we got half way done.  This time the weather was in the upper 60s which makes a world of a difference when hiking.  It is a very quiet trail, clearly a well kept secret because it is a great trail that is quite flat and really beautiful with forests, marshes, and even a few views of Lake Guntersville.  In the two visits, we have only seen one other person hiking.  

A great blue heron flying away

A juvenile red-headed woodpecker

The juvenile red-headed woodpecker again - you can see the red of his head just starting to come in.

I wish I had my macro lens to get a better photo of this spider.

Eastern Phoebe

This is where it started to sprinkle and so Paul was anxious to get back under the cover of trees.

We didn't let this down tree stop us from seeing the end of the peninsula with views of Lake Guntersville.

It's mushroom season in Alabama and these little ones were all over the forest floor.

Shortly after the mushrooms, the rain sprinkle became more of a steady rain and so the camera had to be put away.  Fortunately the last 1.5 of the trail is not nearly as scenic so we didn't feel like we were missing much by picking up the pace.  Even despite the rain, it was a hike that was well worth it and overall an amazing morning but it was time to head home.