East Bay color spotter Darrell Sano didn’t expect to see much autumn color on a Labor Day weekend drive over Sonora Pass (CA 108).
He was out to explore hot springs and other volcanic terrain (of which there are plenty in the Eastern Sierra), when he began to notice patches of aspen turning bright yellow at 8,000′ in elevation on the pass.
He reported, “It was strange that the cluster of trees on the left side of the road already looked peaked and had lost leaves on one side, while across the road there were more, but appeared undamaged by wind. Could this be a small micro-climate area?”
Darrell said, the majority of the aspens were green, “but even so, when backlit by brilliant sunshine, the many graduated values of emerald green mixed with gold was all I needed to stir excitement and anticipation. Bring fall on!”
In the Bridgeport Valley along Twin Lakes Road, he passed this classic Western scene of horses grazing on meadow grasses that were warming from yellow to ochre. 
Just Starting (0-10%) – Sonora Pass
Nice to see fall coming in already in Eastern Sierra. Hopefully it will peak by end of September?
The date on the photo says 9/31/18. I am sure it was meant to be 8/31/18.
Thanks for the catch… fast fingers here… too fast. Yes, there will be some peak at high elevations by the third to fourth week of Sept. in the Eastern Sierra, though peak will continue for nearly a month longer there, at lower elevations.