It had been some time since we’d taken a Sunday Drive. So, today we drove U.S. 50 through Placerville to Pleasant Valley to pick up a long-ignored wine club order. That allowed us to get close to fall color in the Sierra foothills.
Peak fall color is now down to sea level. Though, I can’t recall when it has endured this long, despite recent rain and snow in the Sierra. On this Sunday Drive, peak fall color was seen up to 3,000′.
Foothill vineyards vary from Patchy to Past Peak by grape variety. Chardonnay vines were carrying chartreuse to tawny leaves. Counoise were splotched with crimson, titian and amber
The foothills were rusted in places with orange and philamont-toned Black oak woodlands. Their muted color seemed to be assailed by invading evergreens.
As we returned by way of Snows Road through Camino, we passed a chestnut, orange and scarlet-banded field of blueberry bushes at Camino Ridge, a U-Pick farm along the Apple Hill Farm Trail. The bushes were picked clean of their berries, a sign that harvest had ended.
Indeed, this was the last “harvest” weekend at Apple Hill. Though the bins were still full of every type of apple imaginable, the pumpkin patch was gone and cars were being loaded with freshly cut Christmas trees for the Sunday Drive home.
- Sierra Foothills (2,000′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
