The Japanese call it kōyō, which means fall foliage. We call it “leaf-peeping,” a phrase coined by a Vermont newspaper in 1965. Keep in mind, people were also using words like “groovy” back then. The term is somewhat cringe in my books, but it’s well-intentioned—it’s the seasonal activity of traveling to view and photograph autumn foliage. And one of the most spectacular places to soak it all in is Western North Carolina, especially along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
