Fall: Art In The Park, And Something In The Air

Last week I was in the South Carolina mountains and it hit me, not a great idea or a profound revelation, but rather the cool breezes and morning temperatures of fall. It was also a reminder of the unique things that occur during the fall in South Carolina State Parks.  

There are few views in South Carolina, or anywhere else for that matter, that compare to the view at Caesars Head State Park across the Dismal toward the back side of Table Rock Mountain. Regardless of the time of year, the view is spectacular. In spring, with a fresh blanket of green and even winter, where spots of green from the evergreens accent the bare branches of the hardwoods, all beneath a sky that seems to get even brighter blue as the temperatures drop. But it’s fall when the view really puts on a show. It’s the mixture of yellows, reds and greens that define the fall color of the Blue Ridge. 



This time of year the view is also above the trees at Caesars Head. The brilliant blue sky you’re familiar with suddenly changes, like the brewing of a thunderhead before a summer storm. The sky turns dark, not from clouds but from hawks, often hundreds of them. Caesars Head is a hot spot for hawk migration, one of nature’s most spectacular events. Each year thousands of hawks migrate south leaving their summer homes for warmer southern climates.  Caesars Head, located along the Appalachian Flyway, provides a unique viewing platform to witness this annual event. Migration begins in August and continues until early December with peak flights mid to late September. The annual migration takes a tremendous amount of energy and the hawks rely on rising warm air masses, called thermals, to obtain lift and soar with little to no energy.  As a bird enters a thermal, it gains altitude by circling upward on the rising central column of air, glides out and hitches a ride on the next thermal. This process allows migrating hawks to cover great distances using very little of their own energy. Talk about hitching a ride! The seasonal migration occurs like clockwork, and is one of those annual events in nature that you’ve got to experience.