Shark,
The fall is probably our favorite season to TC. Cool nights for sleeping but the days are not yet so short. School is back in session. No crowds. Less traffic on the inter city byways. Usually not muddy or much freezing temperature to deal with.
We heat our home with wood so a campfire has less appeal than when we were city slickers trying to escape town and needed that 'wood smoke' cue to remind us that we were, indeed, actually camping and not in the city. Just layers and an earlier retire to the boudoir for a few quick games of backgammon and eventual climb to the bed and the best night's sleep we ever get.
jefe
Late September boon docking with my brother John in the Sierra Nevada High Country: