Mountain bluebird, Hope Valley (10/18/16) Clayton Peoples
Hope Valley (10/18/16) Clayton Peoples
Fall color remains so striking in Alpine County’s Hope Valley that even bluebirds are staying around to do some leaf peepin.
Color spotter Clayton Peoples reported, “with delight,” that color still abounds despite the recent storm.
He drove along Carson Pass (CA-88) and found all kinds of color left on aspen in the Hope Valley, seeing lime, yellow, orange and red, with orange being the predominant color.
He wrote, “There are places at the higher elevations of the pass where the leaves were stripped by the wind, but overall it is still “Peak.”
Hope Valley (10/18/16) Clayton Peoples
He says it’s certainly not ‘Past Peak,’ yet.”
Hope Valley is Clayton’s pick as “Peak of the Week” given the added beauty provided by the dusting of snow on surrounding peaks, but then a lot of the same can be seen in other peaking areas of the Eastern Sierra, including June Lake.
To all those photographers, color spotters and leaf peepers who were concerned about how this past weekend’s strong winds, rain and snow affected the High Sierra, rest easy and GO NOW!
Mono County color spotter Jeff Simpson reports that the storm and major wind event that occurred over the weekend has past, leaving the mountain peaks shining with snow, and providing for spectacular fall photo opportunities.
Conway Summit (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Summers Meadow (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Ideal conditions for fall color are now to be found on the east side, with warm days and cold nights. These conditions are predicted to persist until next week.
All areas above 8,500′ in the Eastern Sierra are now mostly past peak, though there’s way, way lots of color left to be enjoyed along the June Lake Loop, Walker Canyon, Twin Lakes and Lundy Lake. So, “GO NOW,” Jeff exclaims.
Photo tip: Fallen leaves that wash up beside creeks and on rocks accent the scene. So, even though many leaves have fallen, good photographs remain to be taken. Shoot big waterfalls with a fast shutter speed, small waterfalls with a slow shutter speed and with camera mounted on a tripod.
These areas were affected by the storm, but still have groves of fantastic color: Conway Summit, Convict Lake, Summers Meadow, McGee Creek and Rock Creek.
As of posting this report, Tioga Pass, Sonora Pass and Monitor Pass were closed. However, road conditions change. CLICK HERE for the latest in California road road conditions and pass openings/closures. Simpson reports:
Twin Lakes, Bridgeport (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
WALKER / COLEVILLE / TOPAZ
Monitor Pass – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Lobdell Lake – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Walker Canyon – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – The banks of the West Walker River are lined with gold! Plan your viewing for mid-day as the shadows will be out early in the morning and late afternoon.
Towns of Walker & Coleville – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! Lots of great color in Antelope Valley. The cottonwood around Topaz Lane should be spectacular this weekend.
Sonora Pass – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
BRIDGEPORT / VIRGINIA LAKES
Twin Lakes – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Still plenty of excellent color around both lakes and through Robinson Creek. Make sure to take the dirt round around Lower Twin Lakes for the best fall color experience.
Virginia Lakes – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Summers Meadow (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Conway Summit – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – A lot of leaves were blown off during the storm but around 35% of the leaves still remain. It’s a fantastic photo opp with the snowy mountains in the background.
Green Creek – Past Peak
Summers Meadow – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Still a few groves handing on with brilliant color with some sections being past peak.
LEE VINING
Tioga Pass & Lee Vining Canyon – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Lee Vining Canyon has amazing color in all the campground down to US 395. Anything above Lee Vining Canyon is past peak with Tioga Pass currently closed.
Twin Lakes, Bridgeport (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Twin Lakes, Bridgeport (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Twin Lakes, Bridgeport (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Mule deer, Twin Lakes, Bridgeport (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
West Walker River (10/18/16) Jeff Simpson
Lundy Lake & Canyon – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Brilliant oranges and reds along the campground and in the creek down to US 395. Anything Lundy Lake and into Lundy Canyon is past peak.
OLD BENTON
Sagehen Meadows – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
JUNE LAKE LOOP
June Lake Loop/Hwy 158 – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Groves of brilliant yellow, gold and red in some locations while others are past peak. Fantastic color around Gull Lake and in between Grant and Silver Lake.
Parker Lake -Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Little Walker Lake -Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
MAMMOTH LAKES
Devil’s Postpile National Monument – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Mammoth Lakes Basin – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Mammoth Creek Rd. – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Snowcreek Golf Course – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
CONVICT LAKE / LAUREL CANYON / ROCK CREEK / McGEE CREEK
Laurel Canyon – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Convict Lake – Past Peak YOU MISSED IT!
Rock Creek – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Pockets of bright color can still be found.
McGee Creek – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Pockets of bright color can still be found.
CROWLEY / TOM’S PLACE
Crowley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Tom’s Place – – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Bold yellow aspen surround the community, though much has fallen.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-10-18 19:08:102016-10-18 21:43:50Fall Color Survives in Mono County - GO NOW!
From Bridgeport north to Coleville along US 395 and the eastern border of California, this autumn’s show of fall color is coming to a close, as the last of that area’s colorful show will last but another week, reports Tim Fesko of Meadowcliff Resort.
Stands of golden cottonwood and occasional aspen, can be seen huddling together along the edges of the highway, beside the Walker River and in northern California’s Antelope Valley.
US 395, Bridgeport to Coleville – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-10-18 09:07:202016-10-18 09:07:20Bridgeport to Coleville Show Nears End
… and Amador and San Joaquin counties, too, because Lake Camanche sits astride all three counties.
South of Ione and east of Lodi, Lake Camanche – managed by East Bay Municipal Utilities District – is famous for fishing (record largemouth bass inhabit its waters), camping, boating, horseback riding and picnicking. Though in autumn, it earns kudos for its native and exotic trees that cast their reflections in its still waters.
Lake Camanche color spotter Terry Willard sent these photos of color emerging there, today. Surrounding Lake Camanche is California’s vast Central Valley. It is one of last large areas in the state to peak.
To Lake Camanche’s south is Stockton (University of the Pacific) and Modesto (American Graffiti); to its east is Lodi and its many vineyards and tasting rooms; to its west is the Gold Country with autumn color filling more vineyards and historic 1850s towns; and to its north are Sacramento with its urban forest of towering chartreuse-colored London Plane trees (sycamore) and miles upon miles of walnut orchards along CA-99.
The color at Lake Camanche should peak in two to three weeks, in time with peaks in these other locations, making Lake Camanche a central and inexpensive place to base when exploring autumn scenes throughout the region.
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (10/16/16) Jim Van Matre
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (10/16/16) Jim Van Matre
Color spotter Jim Van Matre posts a First Report from Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in San Diego County, where black oak and shrubs are a mix of chartreuse and red.
With high winds predicted this week, he’s concerned that the color won’t survive for long.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-10-17 11:32:222016-10-19 21:33:03First Report: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
The New York Times correspondent Mike McPhate – a third-generation Californian who lives in Davis – repeated the oft-stated refrain, “California has no seasons,” in California Today, last Friday, then debunked it.
As I begin to type this post, the wind is whistling past my office in El Dorado Hills. Dramatic clouds float overhead and I look out across the rolling contours of the Sierra Nevada foothills, brightened with spots of color.
Reports so far have been that the color is holding firm on most trees, despite gusting winds. So, we’re hopeful that, come Monday, there’ll still be lots of peak color to enjoy in the Eastern and Northern Sierra and Shasta Cascade.
Regardless, CaliforniaFallColor.com expresses thanks to those color spotters who contributed photos taken before and after this past week’s storm.
Wednesday…
Devil’s Postpile NM (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Devil’s Postpile Rd (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Long Valley Rd (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Lower Rainbow Falls (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Lower Rainbow Falls (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
McGee Creek (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Reds Meadow (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Sotcher Lake (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Tioga Pass (10/12/16) Darrell Sano
Darrell Sano reported that he’d spent a wonderful day beginning with sunrise at Minaret Vista, then he drove to Devil’s Postpile National Monument. On the one-lane road, “there were vistas of color, full trees at peak.
He found Devil’s Postpile to be other worldly “in the chill of fall morning (31 F). The hexagonal columnar basalt was verdant with lichen.
Sotcher Lake was serene. Symmetric reflections on the water were so transfixing, that he “could have stayed for hours.”
A Reds Meadow, he found beautiful horses in a nearby field, then hiked to lower Rainbow Falls for more exhilaration where water splashed upon the rocks, nurturing color on the banks.
Thursday…
Hope Valley (10/13/16) Sharon Peterson
Hope Valley (10/13/16) Sharon Peterson
Hope Valley (10/13/16) Sharon Peterson
Sharon and Bill Peterson followed our advice to find lovely color filling the Hope Valley.
Lake Tahoe (10/14/16) Janet Fullwood
Carson Valley, Nevada (10/13/16) Janet Fullwood
Rainbows teased travel writer Janet Fulwood all the way home, as she drove from the Carson Valley through Lake Tahoe on her way back to Sacramento. At moments, “it was too windy to even open the door.”
Nancy Wright spent two and a half days in the Mammoth Area, concluding that Friday’s heavy winds and rain “really started stripping the aspen of their leaves.”
Inlet II, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/12/16) Nancy Wright
Groves at Cardinal Village (10/12/16) Nancy Wright
Rock Creek Rd (10/12/16) Nancy Wright
McGee Creek (10/12/16) Nancy Wright
Conway Summit (10/13/16) Nancy Wright
Silver Lake, June Lake Loop (10/13/16) Nancy Wright
Old Mammoth Rd. Mammoth Lakes (10/13/16) Nancy Wright
Convict Lake (10/13/16) Nancy Wright
Friday…
Tom’s Place (10/15/16) Carol Novacek
Convict Lake (10/15/16) Carol Novacek
Convict Lake (10/15/16) Carol Novacek
Carol Novacek was driving south from June Lake on US 395 on Friday, writing she’d expected to see a lot less color, since it had been so windy and rainy the previous day, but was impressed by the beauty still seen from the highway, now accented with peaks dusted with snow. At Convict Lake, the stands were “glorious at full peak” and as she sped past Tom’s Place, Carol captured caught a blurred image of golden aspen still surrounding the community.
Saturday…
Mono County color spotter Jeff Simpson writes that “despite intense wind, we still have plenty of color to be seen.” He visited June Lake and Lundy Canyon, yesterday, returning with these images. And as his photo of Conway Summit attests (top of post), even trees that have lost leaves can provide a beautiful picture.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2016-10-16 22:36:522016-10-17 11:08:53Before and After: Color During The Storm
Double Rainbow, Conway Summit (10/14/16) Jeff Simpson
Conway Summit (10/14/16) Jeff Simpson
Jeff Simpson drove throughout Mono County yesterday and found the colors to be “unbelievable” before the storm. This morning, he returned across the same route and was pleased to see that despite last night’s rain and wind the color, “was still there,” and he was “very surprised to see a good majority of leaves still on the trees,” despite severe wind the previous night.
Earlier this autumn, we wrote about the abcission layer which develops in autumn, preventing the leaf from being nourished. “Eventually, like scissors, the abscission cells close the connection between leaf and branch and the leaf falls,” we reported.
Conway Summit (10/14/16) Jeff Simpson
Wind is the biggest nemesis to autumn leaves, but if the leaves are still being nourished by the tree and the abcission layer isn’t yet fully closed, they may stay attached to branches, even though colorful and near ready to fall. That is likely what happened in this case.
The joy Jeff felt about fall still continuing in Mono County, regardless of the storm, was doubled when he spied a double rainbow arcing over Conway Summit.
Conway Summit, Mono County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Drive around your town, as Gigi deJong did this morning in Bishop, and you’ll find trees full of color poking out from above rooftops and gathering in front yards, like neighbors catching up on the latest gossip.
“Did you hear a storm is coming?” “No! Really?”
“Yup. It’s supposed to last through the weekend.”
Then, Gigi drove slowly along West Line St. – the route you take to get to Bishop Creek Canyon – and found an assortment of fall colors. “Just beautiful,” she wrote.
“Izaak Walton Park is lovely any time of day,” she commented, “and the ‘mini’ forest on the corner at Reata Road has a wonderful radiance.”
Gigi turned toward the Eastern Sierra to see a dark sky descending over the snow-capped range. It added drama to her morning well-spent discovering fall color in Bishop.
