Archive for month: October, 2014

Yosemite National Park public information staffer Ashley Mayer reports that the famed exotic sugar maple beside the Yosemite Chapel has shed most of its ruby leaves and sections of the Tioga Road are now past peak.  Isolated stands of yellow aspen can be seen from the Tioga Road down Tenaya Canyon.

The color is descending toward Yosemite Valley.  There, black oak, dogwood and bigleaf maple have not yet begun to show much color, though the area surrounding Fern Spring at the west entrance to the valley is the first to brighten. Fern spring is a popular location for still life photography of mottled yellow, orange and burnt umber bigleaf maple leaves sprinkled across the black clear water of the spring.

In the heart of Yosemite Valley, the black oak are still green, though they approach peak at Halloween and their black branches are typically dressed in bold orange leaves by the first of November.

Color spotters Sharon Tan, and Darryl and Sharon Chew sent photos of their visit to Yosemite, yesterday.

Tioga Road, Yosemite National Park (Peak to Past Peak) – Aspen at the highest elevations have lost color, though those near 7.000′ still show yellow.  Willows and shrubs are showing gold and crimson.

Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (Patchy – 10 – 50%) – Orange black oak, rose-colored dogwood, golden black cottonwoods and cadmium yellow bigleaf maple are only beginning to show their coming beauty.  Look for Yosemite Valley to be lovely the last week of October and first two weeks of November (weather permitting).  The sugar maple near the Yosemite Chapel peaks in early October, and like its New England brethren bursts forth in a very short color display.  It peaks so quickly that even residents of Yosemite Valley will miss seeing the color, if they don’t pass the chapel within a few days of peak.  Our recommendation: plan a trip to Yosemite the first week of November.

Lake Tahoe (Peak – 75 – 100%) – Color spotter Kimberly Kofala reports Lake Tahoe is glittering with gold. GO NOW!

“Two days of wind was all it took to strip the vast majority of aspen in the higher reaches of Bishop Creek Canyon,” color spotter Jared Smith writes on his last report of autumn.  Parchers Resort closes for the season on Sunday (Oct. 19) and with its shuttering, Jared’s reports come to a close.  He’s always the most diligent of the contributors to this blog, with accurate and thorough reports that have guided photographers, leaf peepers and travelers to the Eastern Sierra.  It has become a tradition here to thank him for his beautiful photographs and helpful commentary.  Here’s what he had to write, today:

Overall Conditions – Above 8,500′ Elevation – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Overall, the weather this past month has been exceptional, so Jared wrote he wouldn’t complain for the sudden end of the show up Bishop Creek Canyon.  This year, there was ample time for folks to see the color and get some beautiful shots.  With Sabrina, North Lake, Sabrina Camp, Parchers Resort and Willow Camp almost completely stripped of leaves, there’s not much left to be seen in the higher reaches of the canyon.

Overall Conditions – Between 7,500 and 8,500′ Elevation – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
While a few areas still have some beautiful color, most notably Intake II, Aspendell and the Four Jeffries area, much of the color on either side of the canyon is past peak and/or stripped because of the last two days of wind.

Parcher’s Resort (9,260′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Just a few small pockets of color persist in and around the resort.

Stiny Loop above Mt. Glen Camp (8,600′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Still some decent color in this area but we’re definitely past the peak color.

Mist Falls and the Groves above Bishop Creek Lodge (8,350′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
The wind was especially harsh in this area and what was at peak color over the weekend is now mostly gone.  Only a fraction of the grove is showing brilliant color but it’s still worth a look.

Aspendell (8,400′) – Peak Color (75 – 100%) GO NOW!
The trees in this neighborhood seem to have withstood the wind storm quite well and there is a ton of color along Hwy 168 both before and after the small community. The area leading up to Cardinal Village is also looking brilliant.

Groves above Cardinal Village (8,550′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Just a few pockets of color is left above Cardinal.

Four Jeffries (8,000) – Peak Color (75 – 100%) GO NOW!
Some of the smaller scrub aspen have already peaked and dropped but the larger trees are just now showing peak color. There is actually a fair amount of green still holding strong so it’s feasible that we may get another full week of color out of this area if the weather cooperates.

Intake II (8,000) – Peak Color (75 – 100%) GO NOW!
This area is just on the verge of passing the peak color mark but there is certainly enough beautiful orange and yellow to garner a peak color rating. Especially beautiful is the grove above the lake in the campground.

Willow Campground (9,000′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Very little color survived the wind.

Big Trees Campground (7,800′) – Patchy – (10 – 50%) 
We’re really not seeing much color develop here, just some lime green. The trees here don’t look particularly healthy with some of the foliage turning from light green to brown without any yellow – perhaps the drought was just too much for the trees down there.

Table Mountain Camp (8,900′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Some patchy color is still hanging around near the back of the campground but most of the color along the road is gone.

Surveyors Meadow (8,975′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
Just a few tiny patches of yellow are left.

Lake Sabrina (9,150′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
The fall color show is over up at Lake Sabrina with just a few select trees here and there showing any color.

North Lake (9,255′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
The wind didn’t leave much color unfortunately.

Weir Pond (9,650) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
No color is left at Weir.

Sabrina Campground (9,000′) – (Past Peak) YOU MISSED IT!
All of the color was stripped by the wind unfortunately.

With Jared’s final report, conditions up Bishop Creek Canyon will no longer be reported.  They, too, are now gone with the wind.  However, reports move up to June Lake and the Shasta Cascade and down Southern California.