Bishop color spotter Gary Young drove up Bishop Creek Canyon on Saturday morning to find he’d gotten there before the haze had cleared and too early to see much color as far up the South Fork as Weir Pond (9600′). He remarked that even some lower elevations had more color.
That happens because aspen groves are composed of different families of trees, whose color is triggered on their own schedule, as influenced by light, temperature and hydration.
The big grove across from Bishop Creek Lodge was still very green, as temperatures have not yet dropped. Nighttime temperatures are still hovering near 50° F in Bishop which is delaying the change. More color has been reported at Sabrina Lake, which has the highest elevations in the canyon.
- S. Fork Bishop Creek (7,800 – 10,000′) – Just Starting to Patchy (0 – 50%)
