Autumn Stream, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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It's early autumn along the Little River in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Fall colors come early to the high country but late at the lower elevations. Not many leaves have fallen here and the forest is still predominantly green, but the signs of autumn are unmistakable. In a few weeks the colors will be a memory and the forest will sink into the cold clutches of winter. The same scene photographed in early spring can be found here