Weird Year

This is a weird year for fall color. It’s been late in the Eastern Sierra, early in the Northern Sierra and too early to tell, elsewhere.

The trees are generally lush and full, and yet a few stands (Sorensen’s, Martis Creek) have been damaged by aspen blight or cold. We receive both beautiful photos of healthy stands and others showing distressed groves.

This is one of those years that no matter what we report, we’re gonna be both spot on and ridiculed.

Today, Lee Foster – a travel writer with whom I’ve traveled to see fall color – reported that he’d visited Bishop Creek and found disappointing color.

He spoke with Jared Smith at Parchers who agreed that some stands were affected by recent snow and cold, but Jared was optimistic that it would turn around once green leaves (of which there are many) begin changing. He predicted a much better show in coming days.

Case in point. Last week we posted a beautiful shot of Lundy Canyon. Today, we get the above two from Kim Suzanne Kovacs who reports “not tons of color” at Lundy Mine, but nice colors in the canyon “all the way to the trailhead.”

Yet, Mick Schaper’s shots from Bishop Creek show vibrant color beside lots of green yet to turn. He writes, “Trees are lush with all phases of color change. No wind, so very few fallen leaves and no bare trees.”

He urges going now and estimates that next week, “some small areas will be past peak, but in general, the color should be more widespread and peak conditions will be even better than now.”

I guess this autumn’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some see color, others see brown leaves.

Though I do worry that – because change in the Eastern Sierra is so late – once the green trees give up making chlorophyl, it will happen rapidly and if you’re not there exactly when it shifts, you’ll miss peak color at that location. So, no matter what, GO NOW!