Rock Creek Rd., Mono County (10/21/18) Tor Lacy
Big Meadow Campground, Rock Creek Rd., Mono County (10/21/18) Tor Lacy
Numerous color spotters took our advice and headed to the Eastern Sierra this past weekend.
Tor Lacy and his wife got “out of Long Beach” to camp at Big Meadow along Rock Creek Rd. surrounded by quaking aspen full of Peak color. 
Aspen Grove Trail, San Bernardino NF (10/21/18) John Dinsmore
The San Bernardino Mountains have another week of peak at most elevations, reports John Dinsmore who visited Green Valley Lake, Barton Flats, Aspen Grove Trail, Running Springs and Oak Glen this past weekend.
Aspen have fallen the most, while black oak and bigleaf maple and exotics continue to show strong color.
Best bet for the coming week are Lake Gregory and Oak Glen.
Green Valley Lake, San Bernardino Mountains (10/19/18) John Dinsmore
Green Valley Lake, San Bernardino Mountains (10/19/18) John Dinsmore
Running Springs San Bernardino Mountains (10/19/18) John Dinsmore
Truckee River, Painted Rock (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
Truckee River, Farad (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
Donner Lake (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
S. Yuba River, Big Bend, I-80 (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
Dogwood belt, CA-20 (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
St. Canice Church, Nevada City (10/21/18) Robert Kermen
To someone crossing the Sierra Nevada for the first time, Interstate-80 is a thrilling experience.
After all, it’s a route of legends: Notorious Donner Pass. The Pony Express. The trans-continental railroad. The Lincoln Highway.
However, for those who drive it frequently, it’s a dreary source of anxious sameness.
You are always attentive to its steep, winding descent and the trying nature of eighteen-wheelers and impatient motorists competing for space on the all-too-narrow and constantly-being-repaired interstate.
So, there’s little time or incentive to be distracted.
Robert Kermen drives it regularly to Nevada and breaks up the tension of doing so by searching for scenic detours, escaping from the tension of driving I-80 and seeing the route anew along the Truckee River, at Donner Lake, Big Bend and on CA-20 through Nevada City and Grass Valley.
What he has found is anything but dreary.
Leaving Nevada, he is always “impressed with the bright, intense, and saturated colors of the cottonwoods that provide a stark contrast to the neutral colors of the high desert.”
Pulling off at Farad, he lingers to watch fly fishermen working riffles on the Truckee before it drops into Nevada and golden cottonwoods reflected in the bluer-than-blue river between painted Rock and Wadsworth in Nevada.
At Big Bend, along the South Yuba River, he finds hikers and bikers mixing with long-haul truck drivers and motorists beneath a canopy of golden yellow.
Just after exiting onto CA-20, there is what Kermen calls the “Dogwood belt” with both sides of the highway lined with peaking pink Pacific dogwood, positively prepossessing.
Grass Valley provides a “bright and colorful” welcome back to the Sierra foothills, “especially near the St. Canice church.”
I-80, dreary?
Lundy Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Conway Summit, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Lundy Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Lundy Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Lundy Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
June Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
June Lake, Mono County (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Lower Yosemite Fall, Yosemite National Park (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
Merced River, Yosemite National Park (10/21/18) Clayton Peoples
There are two types of color spotters: one Stays at a location and works it, the other Drives to many locations, seeing fall color across a broad area.
There’s something to be said for both approaches.
The Stay approach allows time for hiking, relaxing, taking in the color and being at a select spot longer providing for better opportunities to see and photograph it at its best.
The Drive approach provides the experience of enjoying driving along boulevards of fall color, of seeing many places, of appreciating the variety of color to be seen and exploring the forests and towns where fall color is best.
This past weekend, color spotter Clayton Peoples drove a large Sierra loop to the Eastern Sierra and back to the Western Sierra, demonstrating the advantages of the Drive approach.
He reports, “Conway Summit is still just patchy. There’s lots of green among the aspen groves, but there are some stands that are turning. A good zoom lens is best at the moment, which allows one to focus in on groves that are turning and/or mixed.
“Lundy Canyon is at peak. The groves around Lundy Lake are in full color, as are the groves along the dirt road to the trailhead and beside the Lundy Canyon Trail. It is mostly brilliant yellow with a bit of light orange mixed in. Definitely worth a trip!
“The June Lake Loop has reached peak color. Aspen along the Loop and surrounding its pristine lakes have all turned and range from vivid golden yellow to orange. Good color will likely last here another week or so … I recommend that folks “GO NOW” before the best is in the past.
“Yosemite National Park is patchy. The few aspen groves at higher elevations are at full peak, but trees at lower elevations are just beginning to turn. That said, some of the black oak along the Merced River are already sporting bright yellow leaves, and brush ranges from green to yellow to red, so progress toward “near peak” status is not far away,” Clayton reported.
Star Harbor, Tahoe City (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Rose hips, Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Rose hips, Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe (10/22/18) John Poimiroo
What an amazing autumn in the High Sierra. Just terrific.
Cold nights and warm days, with little wind, rain or snow has generated ideal conditions for the development of terrific color at Tahoe. Additionally, because early winter storms have been few and mild, the color at Lake Tahoe, which typically is a late peak, has survived and is spectacular.
I arrived last evening. Though it was dusk as we descended the Mt. Rose Highway to the lake, high meadows and forests along the highway and below along the shore of North Lake Tahoe were exploding with color in places I’ve not seen in a lifetime of living, working and playing there.
Color spotter Crys Black returned from the East Side on Sunday, reporting matter-of-factly about the Peak color she’d witnessed in Walker Canyon and the Antelope Valley. “Coleville was in full color as was 88 along Slinkard Valley.
“Monitor Pass is still beautiful but it won’t last much longer so get there fast. The Eagle Gulch area at 88 and 89 is bare now but keep going up 89 towards Hope Valley there was still a lot of color to be had, especially around Markleeville.
“Turning west towards, Hope Valley, where I had expected it to have faded from last weekend, I found that it held on through this weekend, colorful, if past peak,” she wrote.
As Crys climbed out of the Hope Valley and over Luther Pass, she was surprised to find what is usually a late and disappointing show to be extremely rewarding.
“Highway 89 continued to deliver right into Lake Tahoe,” she wrote, “Driving 89 along the western rim of Lake Tahoe saw brilliant color everywhere up to Tahoe City and then continue around the loop on 28 where it got even better from Kings Beach through Incline Village – just dazzling.
“Taking Nevada Route 431 (Mt. Rose Highway) towards Reno kept the show going all the way into Reno, which, while not in CA, also had brilliant color that I hadn’t thought possible for Reno,” Crys described.
I was similarly impressed. On Sunday, as I descended into Reno while heading south along US 395 from Susanville, Reno was lit in neon reds, oranges, golds and yellow. Not unusual at night when casino marquees are illuminated, but unexpected in late October.
Today, we explored Carnelian Bay and drove the North Shore. The aspen and cottonwood were best when backlit by sunlight along North Shore Blvd (CA-28). Every meadow is aglow with golden willows, grasses, Fremont cottonwood and yellow quaking aspen. Rose hips shine like rubies within the sunlit scene.
Just terrific.
Monitor Pass (10/21/18) Crys Black
Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Plumas County Veterans Memorial, Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Plumas County Superior Court, Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Yesterday was one fine day in Quincy.
I got there about noon, and it was beautiful. I could see, however, that it would get better later that day. Regretably, I had a schedule to keep that didn’t involve lingering to see it.
Michael Beatley didn’t have the same restriction and got there in the late afternoon, to capture Quincy at its best.
Plumas County’s fall color is everywhere you drive, right now. It rolls over ridges and down hillsides in avalanches of muted orange, auburn and yellow.
Along highways that wind through Plumas National Forest, sparkling splashes of lemony yellow and deep gold appear at every turn.
Black oak are an emerging blend of evolving green, yellow and orange leaves.
Country villages like Greenville virtually glow from towering, iridescent-yellow Fremont cottonwood and pop with spots of hot red.
As for Quincy, I was lucky to be there on one fine day (my photos will appear in a separate post).
Sky-scraping crimson, orange, electric yellow and lime foliage crowned the town’s skyline on approach. Once in Quincy, the color was everywhere. Though, the Thieler Tree, Quincy’s famous sugar maple, had just passed Peak. Its red and orange leaves had curled and were sprinkled like confetti at the corner of Lee Way and West High St.
Peak color will continue to be seen through this week, but will weaken slowly throughout town as more leaves fall.
Plumas County, on the other hand, has two more weeks of peak, conditions permitting.
Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Plumas County Superior Court, Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Plumas County Superior Court, Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Courthouse Park, Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Quincy (10/21/18) Michael Beatley
Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Feather River Hot Springs (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Plumas County Superior Court Annex, Quincy (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Cascade Trail (10/21/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Cascade Trail (10/21/18) Ravi Ranganathan
In summer, Plumas County’s Cascade Trail is a short hike to swimming holes. In autumn, it’s a favorite hike to fall color reflected in Spanish Creek.
Ravi Ranganathan hiked this popular trail on Friday and found it “filled with beautiful colors. I hiked ‘til the point where I could find a couple of wooden bridges. Looking down, the view of the stream was amazing with the fall colors reflected with gold.”
Five small falls comprise the cascade along the trail, which is easy and a mile in length. Take CA-70 west 5.1 miles from Quincy; turn right at Old Highway and follow a paved road .7 mi. past several homes, turn left onto a dirt road and travel .4 mi to a rocky parking area.
The trail is mostly wide and level though narrows at points and can be slippery. It was built originally to transport water for hydraulic mining and was later used as a supply road for the Western Pacific RR.
Cascade Trail is this week’s Hike of the Week.
Cascade Trail (10/21/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Cascade Trail (10/21/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Cascade Trail (10/21/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Sycamore, Napa Valley (10/21/18) Darrell Sano
Napa Valley (10/21/18) Darrell Sano
Napa Valley (10/21/18) Darrell Sano
Napa Valley (10/21/18) Darrell Sano
Napa Valley (10/21/18) Darrell Sano
Anderson Valley (10/22/18) Darrell Sano
Some believe that what makes California wines so good is that they are so frequently kissed by fog and sun.
The cool Pacific and hot inland California combine to create a fog bank that hugs the coast, creeping into some valleys and never making it into others, resulting in multitudinous microclimates which explain why the same grape variety can make such different tasting wines a few miles apart.
Darrell Sano saw this on a Sunday morning road trip from Oakland to wine country.
He began in the Napa Valley (20’), gliding along the Silverado Trail. “It was crisp and cool at 45 degrees, but not clear, as the valley was shrouded in fog. The fog provided visual drama with diffused light to focus on outlines and shapes, and even so, the color was evident.”
Side roads perpendicular to Silverado Trail and CA-29, allowed him “to avoid any traffic and enjoy the peaceful morning breaking in complete silence.”
Fall color is just beginning in wine country, but there are patches of vines displaying brilliant red and yellows, but they are generally a minority. He spoke with vineyard workers who said “it’s just beginning now.”
Driving out of the microclimate that is the lower Napa Valley, near Calistoga Darrell emerged into the sun, but as he continued north, the fog returned.
From Napa, he continued on route 128 through Sonoma County’s Anderson Valley. Very little fall color has yet emerged there. Its rolling hills, scribed with vines, were muted “green, red, and yellow from the morning fog which softened contrast and revealed the structure of the terrain. Tree-lined driveways were particularly beautiful, along a boulevard of sycamore to their vanishing point. I started to wish that the sun wouldn’t burn off the fog, it was beautiful and so serene.”
In contrast to Darrell’s journey, a Saturday road trip took me to Amador County’s Shenandoah Valley (1,083’+) where fog rarely kisses its vines, though the sun gives it a big smooch. It is the area’s elevation, not fog, that cools the vines. So, unlike coastal vineyards Pinot Noir doesn’t grow well in the Sierra Foothills, though Zinfandel flourishes.
Similar to the Napa and Anderson Valleys, fall color in the Shenandoah Valley is Patchy. Some vineyards are Past Peak, though most are Just Starting to Patchy.
Fuller Park, Napa (10/21/18) Justice Faustina
Zinfandel, Wilderotter Vineyard, Plymouth (10/21/18) John Poimiroo
Community United Methodist Church, Quincy (10/20/18) Michael Beatley
Quincy (10/19/18)Ravi Ranganathan
Plumas County is absolutely beatific.
Peak fall color is brightening all its byways and Quincy, the county seat, has never looked better.
Michael Beatley, Phillip Reedy and Ravi Ranganathan have been working the byways, backroads and city streets of Quincy to show Plumas and its environs at plumose perfection.
Beatley describes Quincy as “gorgeous right now. Beautiful peak with blue skies, daytime temps low 70s, nights 25-32 degrees. The wonderful thing about Quincy, is that all its downtown power lines were buried years ago. No telephone poles. The whole town is full of beautiful foliage.”
To get this fabulous light, he was up at dawn to shoot historic Plumas Superior Courthouse and Community United Methodist Church bathed in color so angelic, it makes me want to genuflect.
Ravi began his photo safari in Quincy, but then traveled to Oakland Camp where “the rhubarbs were mirrored gloriously along Spanish Creek.”
Oakland Camp, Feather River (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
The highlight of Ravi’s Plumas County fall color excursion was a hike along the Cascades Trail “with beautiful colors all along. I hiked ’til I came upon a couple of wooden bridges. Looking down, the view of the stream was amazing with the fall colors reflected with gold.” (First Report)
Ravi’s fall color expedition included stops at Thompson Lake, Bucks Lake and Big Creek Road, all “filled with aspen, oak and maple. He had used CaliforniaFallColor.com to research the places he wanted to photograph and gave a nod of thanks to Michael Beatley and Jeff Luke Titcomb for additional guidance and inspiration.
What Ravi accomplished in capturing in a short amount of time was nothing short of astonishing, hitting a number of Plumas highlights.
Plumas County Superior Courthouse, Quincy (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Plumas County Superior Courthouse, Quincy (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Similar to Ranganathan’s photo tour, Reedy began in Quincy, then toured through the Lakes Basin and down Hwy 49 to Downieville along the north fork of the Yuba.
Phil said “Quincy looks lovely, although the maples at the courthouse still have a bit to go to reach full color. Perhaps another week will do it.” That’s good news for anyone reading this, as there’s a week to get there and still see it at peak, though as Ravi’s photographs show, aspen at Thompson Lake are dropping color.
One of the reasons Plumas County is such a great fall color destination is that a variety of trees show at one elevation in successive displays over about three weeks: first pink dogwood, then yellow aspen, then golden bigleaf maple, then multicolored exotics, and finally orange black oak.
Reedy said CA-70 from Quincy to Graeagle is showing “a lot of oaks at Peak color right now and very pretty. There are some aspens in the Lakes Basin area, but nothing too exciting when compared to areas like Hope Valley.”
Yuba River, Sierra City (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Salmon Creek, Sierra City (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Yuba River, Downieville (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Black oak, Quincy to Graeagle (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Black oak, Quincy to Graeagle (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
Sardine Lake (10/19/18) Phillip Reedy
He continued, between 5,000 and 6,000′ along CA-49 east of Sierra City, “the aspens are definitely at peak or a bit beyond. Downstream between Sierra City and Downieville there are nice colors from big leaf maples, but I would guess another week will be needed to fully develop the colors.”
Big Creek Rd., Plumas County (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Big Creek Rd., Plumas County (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Big Creek Rd., Plumas County (10/20/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Road to Buck’s Lake (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Thompson Lake, Plumas County (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Bucks Meadow, Plumas County (10/20/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Oakland Camp, Feather River (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Oakland Camp, Feather River (10/19/18) Ravi Ranganathan
Quincy (10/19/18)Ravi Ranganathan
Quincy (10/19/18)Ravi Ranganathan
Keddie Wye, (10/19/18) Plumas County Ravi Ranganathan
Sugar maple, (10/19/18) Thompson Ranch, Ravi Ranganathan
Plumas County Superior Courthouse, Quincy (10/20/18) Michael Beatley
Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, Shasta View Dr., Redding (10/18/18) Laura Jean
Redding saw a lot more red in late August than its residents wanted to see. The red was from the Carr Fire which burned 229,651 acres to the west and northeast of Redding, before it was contained. The fire devastated neighborhoods in the city’s northest corner and was the sixth-most destructive in California history.
So, it’s reassuring to see that a more welcomed type of red returning to Redding … fall color.
Redding is a central location from which to explore the Shasta Cascade (the northeast corner of UpStateCA). From Redding, roads spoke out to prime fall color viewing at Lassen Volcanic National Park, Plumas County, McArthur-Burney Falls State Park and Hat Creek, Coffee Creek and Scott Valley, Mt Shasta, Chester, Lake Almanor and Susanville, Weaverville, Red Bluff and Chico. Much of these areas are either now peaking or approaching peak.
Within its city limits, Redding is bisected by the Sacramento River which has beautiful riparian forests and wetlands. Across the length of California’s northernmost metropolis, Frémont cottonwood, black oak, Oregon ash California buckeye and blue oak grow beside the Sacramento River.
One of the best places to begin a Redding Fall Color adventure is at Sundial Bridge, Santiago Calatrava’s architectural masterpiece that spans the mighty Sacramento River, connecting Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens.
Many of Redding’s neighborhoods are forested with colorful exotic trees and several have breathtaking views of Mt. Shasta and the Sacramento River. Redding color spotter Laura Jean sends these pictures of the welcomed color that has reddened Redding’s boulevards.
More about Redding and its nine fall color driving tours is found at VisitRedding.com
Chinese pistache, Shasta View Dr., Redding (10/18/18) Laura Jean