Falling for foliage

With autumn fast approaching, many area residents are gearing up to feast on the warm hues of fall foliage.

"Fall is such a beautiful time to visit the Altoona Area and the Alleghenies," Kellie Goodman, marketing director for the Alle-gheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. "Every year, we have visitors calling our office and stopping by the welcome center for information about local attractions and opportunities where they can enjoy the colorful landscapes of our region."

Goodman said the bureau will be offering a self-guided fall foliage mystery tour in addition to its Rails, Trails & Tunnels Mystery Tour on Oct. 17 and 18.

"Our October First Common-wealth Mystery Tour is traditionally the most popular, thanks to the changing leaves and the beautiful backdrop," she said, adding some of the scenic mystery tours will be available through November.

And despite an unseasonably cold summer, area agriculture experts are saying the reds, yellows and oranges of fall will shine in all their flamboyant glory.

"I think we're in good shape for a nice fall color display this year because there were no major stressors on the trees," Marc Abrams, professor of forest ecology and physiology at Penn State University Park, said. "But some (tree) species may be a bit early due to the cold weather."

He said for the best color, the area needs cold, dry weather for the next two weeks.

Fall colors are a response to shorter days and cooler temperatures, Abrams said. Trees stop producing chlorophyll, the pigment which keeps the leaves green. While this ulitimately leads to the death of the leaves, it's a boon for leaf peepers.

The Bedford County Visitors Bureau also is preparing for the 45th Annual Fall Foliage Festival Oct. 3, 4, 10 and 11. The festival offers an iPod-generated, mapped-out guide to fall foliage spots.

"We've been getting calls really heavily for the past month," Mar-keting Director Stacy Bollman said. "I think we'll be getting one of our biggest crowds ever. We're also in such close proximity to bigger cities likes Washington (D.C.), Baltimore and Pittsburgh - you can consider it a one-tank-of-gas trip."

Richard Claycomb, who runs a motorcoach sightseeing tours business called Step-on Guide Services of Central Pa based out of Oster-burg, said this area is one of the best-known regions on the eastern seaboard to view autumn colors.

"We have a great diversity of vegetation," he said. "We're in the northernmost perimeter of the southern species of trees. ... The Allegheny Mountains are the highest in the Appalachian chain. The Allegheny plateau affords a view that extends from Somerset County all the way up to State College. You can see three states and seven counties from that plateau.

"Plus the fall foliage in this area is extremely long. It starts with the sassafras, fades into the sugar maples, then goes into the oaks. Then there's the festivals - we may not have the biggest in the world, but their quality is unparalleled."

Claycomb of Osterburg said he's in awe of autumn splendor.

"It's the very fact that nature is putting on her very best display - going from leaves of green to the wonderful golds, reds and purples. If you get up in the morning and see the sun shining through those leaves and aren't completely marveled, it would be amazing," he said.