What I've heard most about Mount Mitchell is the abundance of dead evergreens - mostly Fraser Firs I think. The Balsam woolly adelgid killed a lot of trees as did acid rain and fog. There are a lot of tree skeletons, but what caught my eye more was the abundance of young and what appeared to be healthy evergreens. Their dark greens will be a nice mix with the changing colors of the hardwoods.

This is looking back towards Clingman's Peak, the Parkway and beyond.