Indian Creek, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb
Antelope Lake is a remote place of autumn perfection and solitude. Located in eastern Plumas County, 30 miles NE of Taylorsville, the lake is a favorite stopping point for migratory birds in autumn.
Though you are unlikely to see antelope at the lake, on a recent visit Jeff Luke Titcomb captured a doe quenching her thirst in Indian Creek and saw few people. The campgrounds will close by mid October, yet Antelope Lake has already become a place you can call yours alone.
Aspen, riparian shrubs and grasses are at peak with red, orange and gold tones warming the scene. Jeff says the aspen dominate the scene with large clusters of brightly colored trees.
Antelope Lake (5,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Indian Creek, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb
Beneath the forest’s skirts I rest, Whose branching pines rise dark and high, And hear the breezes of the West Among the threaded foliage sigh.
— William Cullen Bryant
Such scenes are happening in California this week, as Peak color is blown by west winds of up to 20 mph.
Aspen Grove, Sand to Snow Nat’l Monument (9/29/18) Alena Nicholas
Aspen Grove, Sand to Snow Nat’l Monument (9/29/18) Alena Nicholas
Southern California color spotter Alena Nicholas hiked up to the Aspen Grove in the San Gorgonio Wilderness this past Saturday, returning with photographs of Near Peak color that show Patchy and Near Peak aspen pushing up within a forest of blackened trunks incinerated in the 2015 fire.
The grove is now part of the new Snow to Sand National Monument in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of the San Bernardino National Forest. A larger story on this aspen grove and its recovery is planned in a future article.
Alena called this morning to lament that strong winds from the edges of Tropical Storm Rosa may strip turned color which photos indicated might peak by the coming weekend.
However, there’s lots of green in the forest, so the peak will last another week or two. If you’d like to visit it, the Aspen Grove is accessible only by hiking there (about 1.5 mi.) along Aspen Forest Road 1N05.
Considering this week’s winds, you might want to consider to … GO NOW!
Hope Valley (9/30/18) Dan Varvais
Hope Valley (9/30/18) Dan Varvais
Hope Valley (9/30/18) Connie Varvais
Hope Valley (9/30/18) Connie Varvais
At Hope Valley, Dan and Connie Varvais photographed aspen and lamented that “It’s a mixed bag, right now … (and) It’s windy, GO NOW!”
Aspen Grove, San Gorgonio Wilderness, Sand to Snow National Monument – Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) GO NOW!
Coldstream Valley, Truckee (9/30/18) Robert Kermen
Steps from Donner Memorial Park in Truckee is the trailhead to Coldstream Valley.
The hike is mellow after a short climb up the glacial moraine of the glacier that once filled the valley. In spring, the valley is decorated with wildflowers and in autumn, scattered fall color. The entire loop is 6 mi.
Robert Kermen was exploring Truckee and the Martis Valley when he scored a first report for Coldstream Valley. He found spots of bright yellow along Cold Creek and near the valley’s ponds.
Robert continued east on I-80 into the Martis Valley, exiting at Hirschdale road to find anglers surrounded by yellow reflections in the Truckee River.
Coldstream Valley, Truckee (5,817′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2018-09-30 21:53:292018-10-02 23:38:27Coldstream Valley A First
Everywhere you look on a drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park (northeast California), there’s molten color to be seen, Shanda Ochs suggests.
The Lassen Peak Highway (CA-89) is Lassen Volcanic’s main park road. It travels past several of the park’s prime attractions, from the Southwest Entrance Station at Mineral, northwest to CA-44 near Shingletown.
Once snow falls, the road remains closed for winter, often not reopening until late May. Though, for now, it’s open with splashes of fall color along it.
Ochs says fall color now appearing in all the national park’s meadows are impressive though, “Kings Creek Meadow from its upper vantage point is spectacular!”
Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic NP (9/29/18) Shanda Ochs
Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic NP (9/29/18) Shanda Ochs
Continuing north, stands of Near Peak quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) are found near the Devasated Area beside the road. A good place to park is the Devastated area, as turnouts are limited along the park road.
At Manzanita Lake (northwest entrance), foliage varies in degree change, but overall it’s at Peak. An easy trail winds around the lake with thinleaf alder (Alnus tenuifolia), Pacific (Salix lasinandra) and Lemmons (Salix lemmonii) willow and black cottonwood (Populus trihocarpa) inhabit the shoreline and scatter gold, yellow and orange leaves upon the lake.
One of the finest reflection shots in any national park can be taken from the west end of the Manzanita Lake trail, with Lassen Peak perfectly reflected on its mirror surface – best near sunset.
Kings Meadow, Lassen Volcanic National Park (7,500′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Devastated Area, Lassen Volcanic National Park (7,000′) – Near Peak(50-75%) GO NOW!
Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park (5,900′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Willow, Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic NP (9/29/18) Shanda Ochs
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American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) illuminated by warm autumn light provided beautiful landmarks on a walk through the Oakland Hills, yesterday.
East Bay color spotter Darrell Sano appreciated the trees along his walk, as others walked their dogs, had conversations or jogged.
He noted that some of the trees (mostly exotics), “such as gingko and Japanese Maple, are barely beginning to turn, while some of the maples are beautiful now. Even without color, a magnolia with a single blossom about to open, was a beautiful architectural display with the sky as backdrop. And of course, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of a palm tree among fall color, after all it’s California!”
Dunderberg Rd., Mono County (9/29/18) Bruce Wendler
Sagehen Summit, Mono County (9/29/18) Bruce Wendler
Virginia Lakes, Mono County (9/29/18) Bruce Wendler
Do gentlemen prefer blonds or redheads?
When it comes to deciding between red or yellow autumn leaves, it’s a toss-up.
Bruce Wendler visited Sagehen Summit, the Virginia Lakes and Dunderberg Road, finding beautiful blonds, redheads and even trendy orange-frosted trees.
Though, he cautions, Sagehen is now almost Past Peak, the same at Virginia Lakes. Though still peaking, go immediately or you’ll miss it.
North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon (9/29/18) Douglas Van Kirk
North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon (9/29/18) Douglas Van Kirk
Douglas Van Kirk found the “fiery” redheads climbing the slope beyond North Lake to be “Absolutely beautiful.” While, their blond relations at lake level were “just starting.”
North Lake appears to be about what it did last year, getting hot upstairs while still warming downstairs.
On his return (Sunday), Bruce found Tioga Pass still open (it often remains open until November) with more red to be seen along the west shore of Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park.
Dunderberg Rd (7,500′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sagehen Summit (8,139′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Virginia Lakes (9,770′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park (8,150′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Shrubs and ground covers are at peak.
North Lake (9/28/18) Larry Salmi
North Lake (9/30/18) Bruce Wendler
Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park (9/30/18) Bruce Wendler
Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley (9/28/18) Todd Backman
Pinot Noir is one of those “cool” grapes … not just because it’s a popular wine right now, but because it prefers cooler growing areas.
That’s why it does so well in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and California’s Anderson Valley, near the coast.
Todd Backman stopped at Handley Cellars in Philo (Anderson Valley) yesterday and found pinot noir vines carrying heavy clusters of dark grapes soon to be pressed to make Handley’s “flagship” wine.
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Oberg Mountain Loop, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Oberg Mountain Loop, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Oberg Mountain Loop, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Oberg Mountain Loop, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Oberg Mountain Loop, Minnesota (9/26/18) Nick King
Minnesota follows Alaska as the second northernmost state. It is so far north, that it’s motto is Star of the North, though most people think of it as the land of 10,000 lakes.
When Fresno color spotter Nick King, a reporter at Fox 26 KMPH, wrote saying he’d been hiking in Minnesota last week, I just had to ask, “Did you get any photographs of fall color?”
Nick’s photos establish that the land of 10,000 lakes does not disappoint when it comes to autumn color. A mix of deciduous maple (sugar, red), red twig dogwood, witch hazel, birch, poplar and smoke tree grow among coniferous pine and spruce in the state’s two main forests, the Laurentian mixed forest and Eastern broadleaf forest.
This color now carpets the undulating hills of the Sawtooth Mountains (north shore of Lake Superior) and Misquah Hills (northeast Minnesota), with a Peak blend of evergreens with red, orange, yellow and russet.
Nick wrote that he found the Oberg Mountain Loop trail to be truly spectacular. True to his training as a TV newsman, he wished he’d had a drone with him. Oberg Mountain was an easy three-mile hike on the north shore of Lake Superior, with about 500 feet of elevation gain.
This past week, he described, the treetops “started to look like lollipops, and the further inland from Lake Superior, the better. Another hiker told us that she was there just two days earlier, on Monday, and everything was basically green.”
At Gooseberry Falls State Park, also along the north shore, only a few trees were showing any color change. And, at Shovel Point at Tettegouche State Park, “the color really hadn’t made it’s way to the lake yet, but there was some signs of yellow.” He noted that as a first time visitor to Minnesota, he was impressed at how much the cliff side of the lake looked like the Northern California or Oregon coast.
Minnesota’s mountains only reach elevations of 2,266′. So, though hiking there is not likely to make you breathless, the autumn color certainly will.
Minnesota (2,266′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Note: CaliforniaFallColor.com does not make it a practice to report on areas outside California, though we have occasionally published reports from New York, Idaho, Arizona, China, and – now – Minnesota. If in your travels, you capture beautiful scenes as Nick King did, here, please send them to editor@californiafallcolor.com. As, we enjoy seeing autumn beauty everywhere.
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Red Lake Creek Cabin, Hope Valley (9/28/18) Phillip Reedy
Red Lake Creek Cabin, Hope Valley (9/28/18) Phillip Reedy
Pasture East of Blue Lakes Rd., Hope Valley (9/28/18) Phillip Reedy
The Hope Valley (CA-88) has arrived, with autumn color painting its aspen in lovely tones of vermillion, rose, orange, saffron, yellow and lime.
Phillip Reedy visited yesterday to find the area peaking overall, “especially along Red Lake Creek and near Sorensen’s Resort. There are still groves above the West Carson and along 89 to Tahoe that are completely green.”
He estimates peak color will last through next weekend, though beyond that, no promises. Hope Valley color spotter Debbie Waldear agreed, stating that next weekend (Oct. 6-7) is a likely peak for the Hope Valley.
Though, our experience has been that the Hope Valley – due to its range of elevations – has two weeks of peak color with it lingering around Sorensen’s Resort and in Woodford’s Canyon, well after it has peaked at Red Lake Creek.
Debbie reported that the Alpine Aspen Festival will not occur this year, with local hopes that it returns next year. Despite disappointing news about the festival, she was upbeat about this being the prime week to cross Carson Pass and visit Hope Valley.
A possible mediating factor will be weather. Hurricane Rosa is on track to reach Baja California on Tuesday as a tropical depression, bringing rain to Southern California. Some of that will reach the High Sierra though is not expected to be severe.
The best days to visit Hope Valley in the coming week appear to be Sunday (tomorrow), Monday, Friday and Saturday (Oct. 6), with rain and snow Tues. through Thurs.
Should snow dust the High Sierra, photographs of the Hope Valley and Eastern Sierra could be mind-bogglingly beautiful.
Sonora Pass (CA -08) is the second-highest pass in the Sierra Nevada (9,624′). Only Tioga Pass surpasses it.
Like the Tioga Road (CA-120E), fall color along the Sonora Pass is often removed from the highway, though there are places where it gets up close and personal.
Color spotter Dave Butler found it at elevations 8,000′, 9,000′ and at Leavitt Meadow Vista.
His images show green, lime, yellow and orange-red quaking aspen that are at the high end of being Patchy, with Near Peak color just around the bend.
