Sometimes HDR can be a Little Too Much?

There is only so much detail that a person can take in. Our brains operate on a 'need to know basis', and we have mental filters -- to block out all of the non-essential details that we 'don't need to know'.

These were my thoughts as I looked at today's picture, a flashback to an early fall trip down gravel roads toward some lake photography. I'm not sure if the HDR enhanced it, but there was something in the details of all the leaves that made this picture seem... overwhelming.

As I took this picture over into Corel AfterShot Pro, I began to wonder if some of my issues with the picture had to do with "noise"; I cranked up the "Noise Ninja" and came up with the following:

The edit seemed to help a little. What do you think?