Archive for category: North Coast

Vineyard, south of Ukiah (11/16/15) Walter Gabler

Russian River near Ukiah (11/16/15) Walter Gabler

Vineyard, south of Ukiah (11/16/15) Walter Gabler

Agricultural fields, south of Ukiah (11/16/15) Walter Gabler

Mendocino County color spotter Walter Gabler reports that vineyards between Hopland and Ukiah along U.S. 101 have developed into a blend of green, yellow, orange and burgundy.

He writes, “The cold snap we had last week really put us into fall.  The colors are now popping between Ukiah and Hopland.”

Heading south from Ukiah on U.S. 101, Simaine Cellars, Rivino Winery, Nelson Family Vineyards, Jaxon Keys Winery & Distillery, Saracina Vineyards and Campovida Winery are developing color by grape variety. Some vines are bright yellow, others are deep red and still others have yet to change.

Nearby, fields and forests along the Russian River are being gilded with fall color.

Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Redwood Highway (Hopland north to Ukiah)

Crab Park, Eel River, Loleta (9/28/15) Crys Black

Three days ago, Mendocino County color spotter Crys Black had decided to report fall color as Just Starting north of Willits on U.S. 101, but when she drove The Redwood Highway this morning, “the color was beautiful and I have to bump it up to 10-50% with the best location just north of Willits.”

Oriole in Yarrow, Crab Park, Eel River, Loleta (9/28/15) Crys Black

Crys says Mendocino County received two inches of rain recently, nourishing beautiful orange, yellow, “even some purple… wildflowers.”

The fall color along 101 is Patchy, with a lot of yellow and some oranges and reds. Most of the yellow comes from bigleaf maple, the orange from alder, chartreuse from climbing wild cucumber and splashes of red from poison oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum.

There is no poison in poison oak. What creates its irritating, painful rash is contact with urushiol oil, a potent allergen found on the plant’s leaves. Unfortunately for those affected, poison oak is California’s most prevalent woody shrub. That prevalence, for those of us who appreciate red fall color, has the positive aspect of brightening woodlands with crimson in autumn.

U.S. 101 North of Willits (9/28/15) Crys Black

U.S. 101 North of Willits (9/28/15) Crys Black

Crys says the vines are showing pretty color around Asti and Geyserville, though it’s Just Starting.  Crush arrived early this year, though fall color will develop as in previous years.

Donna Hufford a color spotter at Elk Meadow Cabins in Orick reports that alder and bigleaf maple beside U.S. 101, north of Orick, are now coloring Redwood National and State Parks with bright patches of orange and yellow.  Roosevelt Elk bulls, the largest in North America, are in full rut as they trumpet and fight one another for mating rights to harems of elk cows.

Just Starting (0-10%) – North Coast Vineyards

Patchy (10-50%) – U.S. 101 – Willits to Klamath 

Just Starting (0-10%) – U.S. 101 – Klamath to Crescent City

The Redwood Highway between Willits and Laytonville (10/26/14) Walter Gabler

Color spotter Walter Gabler traveled the Redwood Highway between Ukiah and Fortuna in search of fall color.

The Redwood Highway between Willits and Laytonville (10/26/14) Walter Gabler

Wild Cucumber, Redwood Highway (10/26/14) Walter Gabler

Walt reported the color was beautiful, though spotty along US 101.  He said the best color is seen between Willits and Ukiah, near the highway, but it is patchy.  Brilliant yellow, chartreuse, orange and lime are seen in the bigleaf maple, black oak and wild cucumber.

The Redwood Highway – US 101 (Patchy – 10 – 50%) – Color is spotty along the highway with the best color showing between Ukiah and Willits.

Red alder, Redwood National Park (11/7/13) Grant Roden

GO NOW! 75 – 100%  – Redwood National & State Parks – Color spotter Grant Roden says that if you don’t get to Redwood National & State Parks in Humboldt County this weekend, you’ll miss the last of its fall display.  And, with rain predicted next week, it’ will surely be gone by next weekend.  A few bigleaf maple and red alders are still carrying color, but losing leaves each day, as seen above.  Though, he notes that once the leaves have fallen, the forest views open up, making it easier to see the coastal redwoods and wildlife within the forest.  He recommends Miners Ridge and James Irvine Loop at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park as having the best remaining display of fall color.

GO NOW! 75 – 100% – Oregon Oaks – The Oregon Oak is most spectacular when, according to Oaks of California (Pavlik, Muick, Johnson and Popper, Cachuma Press), “days become shorter and cold northern air masses return to the Pacific Coast.” The book continues, “rust-colored canopies of Oregon oak appear dappled against evergreen hillsides of the inner North Coast and Klamath Ranges.”

The Oregon Oak is one of five deciduous species of oak trees in California.  It, along with the low-growing, spreading Engelmann Oak (found near Santa Barbara in a few remnant groves of ancient trees that grew prolifically across the southwest, millennia ago) is viewed only if you make the effort to travel out of the way to see it.

The three most common deciduous oaks in California are the massive Valley Oak which populates the central valley,  magnificent Black Oak in the mountains (Yosemite) and prolific Blue Oak which populate the foothills and lower elevations.

California’s evergreen species are the Coast Live Oak, Interior Live Oak, Canyon Oak and Island Oak (found only at Channel Islands National Park).

While driving along US 101, the Redwood Highway, the green forest beside the road will often light up suddenly in yellow or crimson.  Color spotter Sandy Steinman reports he took the route this past weekend, from Arcata to the Bay Area and experienced just that.  He writes, “The trees in northern California have turned quite a bit in the last several days. The Maples and other deciduous trees around the Avenue of the Giants to Willits are mostly showing their fall yellows. I would guess they are now about 80 percent turned.  There is also still lots of red from poison oak growing on the redwoods.  There are also planted trees in towns and private property showing other fall colors as well. Just remember this area is mostly conifers and patches of fall color are usually not large or widespread.”

As Sandy drove south of  Willits, he found “the best fall color was the vineyards. Some are in full color  showing a lot of yellow and red while others are still mostly green.”  That’s the thing about the vineyards.  One will be deep red, another unturned and the next a mix of yellow, orange, red and lime.

GO NOW! – 75 – 100% – U.S. 101, The Redwood Highway – Spots of yellow bigleaf maple and crimson poison oak decorate the otherwise evergreen redwood forest from Willits north to Arcata.

GO NOW! – 50 – 75% – Mendocino and Sonoma County Vineyards – A mix of fully peaked vines of various bright colors (deep red, orange, yellow, lime) can be near one that hasn’t even considered turning color.  That’s October in the vineyards.  Still, we issue a Go Now alert for wine country as spots will be good throughout the remainder of October and early November.