It's all about the light. 30 minutes later and this scene is pretty blah photographically.
Up to Skyline Drive to check on the arrival of spring. At 4000 feet the trees still are almost in their winter state. At 1000 feet, they're in full leaf. As you drive from 4000 to 1000 (milepost 41 to milepost 0) you can see spring arrive in fast forward. Most notable for marking the change are the redbuds - not yet in bloom at the higher elevations and almost spent at the lower (and all stages in between, in between). If you miss something in bloom (photographically) just go a little higher and you get a 2nd & 3rd chance.
Here we're at about 3000 feet looking east across lower elevations where spring has arrived. Redbud are entering peak bloom here; not at all 1000' higher.