Soft gray clouds linger along the high ridge tops, and the trees bordering the highway are edged with color. The sun plays hide and seek with the clouds as it peeks above the horizon.
Raindrops hang like diamonds on the goldenrod flourishing along the roadside.
As I enter the Highland Scenic Highway above Marlinton, in Pocahontas County, a heavy fog drapes the landscape, and a gentle but persistent mist softens the scene into a pastel work of art. Although the fog limits my visibility, there is no mistaking what's catching my eye up ahead. Just a mile from the Cranberry Mountain Visitor Center I watch a huge black bear lumbering along the side of the road. Sheets of moisture-laden fog drift in and out as the bear disappears like a spirit into the autumn forest, only to reemerge a few seconds later. I watch for nearly a minute as the majestic bruin disappears and reappears from the forest.