How Sweet It Is

Long before the native trees of Yosemite Valley turn color, an exotic sugar maple, planted by Yosemite pioneers as a remembrance of their northeast U.S. home areas, sugars up.

The Yosemite Pioneer Sugar Maple is found opposite the Yosemite Chapel along South Side Drive. Julie Kirby wrote, “It was the only color I saw in the valley.  It had every fall color splashed throughout the tree, each branch had different colors like pompons. But, a breeze was blowing and leaves were wafting down.”

Julie estimates the Valley at still Just Starting, “with some lime greens.” Now, if you drive up the Tioga Road toward Tuolumne Meadows, there are hot spots of “glorious colors at 100%.” Though, Julie said she “did not stop because my car labors on the incline, so I like to keep the momentum going.”

She certainly did by sending these shots of the sugar maple. Go quickly, if you want to capture it, because it has a very short peak.