It is an early NOVEMBER morning in the highlands. 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.

      As I get closer to where the ghost bear has entered the forest, I pull over, hoping to get one more glimpse of it. But no such luck this morning. It has entered the forest for good this time, and that's okay with me. I count this as another magical moment during a most magical season in a most magical place.

      Poet William Brown wrote, "There's no delight such a season can bring, as summer, fall, winter, and the spring." In West Virginia, this especially rings true, since each season in these ancient mountains brings something of the marvelous. Winter is cloaked in a subtle decor of snow and ice, while spring brings a colorful display of woodland flowers. Summer's natural mysteries are framed by sunny warm days and cool breezy nights. But autumn well, let's just say for most of us this is the season when the rugged and beautiful landscapes of the Mountain State make the human spirit soar.

      Surrounded by an extraordinary tapestry of colors, my eyes go into sensory overload. From the golden illumination of the sugar maples to the red blush of staghorn sumac, the cavalcade of color autumn bestows on these mountains matches any fall display found across North America. It's as if this season has captured the highlights of all the others and blended them together, creating a visual celebration of nature's best. Native American legends say the constellation Little Dipper is upside down in autumn to allow the season's motif to pour down from the sky, decorating the trees with blazing reds, sparkling yellows, brilliant golds, and flaming oranges. Now, if that's not pure magic....

      Refreshed by the sweet aroma of autumn leaves, I engage my childlike curiosity when hiking the forest trails at Watoga State Park. While photographing at Dolly Sods with splashes of sunlight floating above me my heart ignites as I watch clouds of monarch butterflies congregate on the milkweeds. I marvel at the abstract patterns of color mirrored on the surface of the Williams River. The cool crisp air and the red maple leaves glimmering against a bluebird sky in Canaan Valley energize me, providing a much needed spark of inspiration for the winter days ahead.

      If you have never experienced autumn in the mountains of West Virginia, I invite you to take time to explore this most glorious season in "Almost Heaven." For those who have already witnessed this special time, you may, if you are like me, find each autumn to be unique, and you may never get enough of what this season offers. Whatever the case, the autumn magic will weave its spell into your heart.

      Jim Clark, a native of War, West Virginia, is the author and photographer of West Virginia: The Allegheny Highlands. You can contact Jim via email at jim.clark4@worldnet.att.net.