Sespe Success Story
The Sespe Wilderness covers a huge area (291,700-acres) in the eastern Topatopa Mountains and southern Sierra Pelona within Los Padres National Forest in Southern California’s Ventura County.
The terrain is mostly chapparal with oak woodland and riparian habitats along Sespe Creek. Predominant fall color plants include landmark Frémont cottonwood, rubber rabbitbrush, willow and other shrubs.
Most importantly, the Sespe Wilderness, established by President George Bush in 1992, expanded wilderness areas needed to protect the California Condor which in 1987 had become extinct in the wild.
Since then, through extensive preservation efforts and the establishment of protective areas like the Sespe Wilderness, California’s condor population has risen to 100 and now numbers 446 worldwide, including 276 in the wild.
In 2015, more condors were born in the wild than died, evidence that the condors are recovering from the threat of extinction, though the specie is still listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Though the condors are on the wing back to recovery, color spotter Lance Pifer didn’t mention seeing any during his weekend hike along Piedras Blanca Trail into the Sespe Wilderness.
He did, however, return with photographs of Near Peak cottonwood and brush along Sespe Creek. The trail is a moderately hiked 2.3 out and back trail, rated as good for all levels. Dogs on leash are permitted.
- Piedras Blanca Trail, Sespe Wilderness (6,000′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Definition: Bear Dump
dump \ transitive verb \’dəmp : to let fall in or as if in a heap or mass // bigleaf maple trees dumped their leaves in the Bear River. — Source: Merriam-Webster
From the headline, you might have thought this article would be about bear scat, but that would require a different definition.
Instead, color spotter Robert Kermen reports that bigleaf maple were dumping yellow and buff-colored leaves along the Sierra Discovery Trail beside the Bear River (Bowman Rd.) this past Friday.
That indicates it’s time to search for ponds, beaver dams and streams between 3,000 and 5,000′ to photograph spent leaves floating upon their dark waters.
Here are some suggestions:
- Fern Spring, Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Bear River (4,400′), CA-20 at Bowman Rd. Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
San Jacinto Sunset
Saturday was special throughout California. It was particularly so for those lucky few camping at Lake Hemet in Southern California’s San Jacinto Mountains.
The Golden Hour seemed to be an all-day affair at Lake Hemet Campgrounds and nearby Idyllwild with the low angle of autumn light warming every scene from sunrise to sunset.
Bald eagles perched and white pelicans preened beside the lake. Anglers searched for fish the birds hadn’t caught. Campers lounged by their campsites enjoying a clement day or walked the autumn woods.
At day’s end, one of California’s most magical sunsets painted the western sky with intense purple, red, orange, pink, turquoise and gold.
Alena Nicholas was there to record it.
Dressed For Halloween
Black oak growing in Plumas County’s Feather River Canyon are dressed for Halloween wearing their brightest orange and black.
Color spotter Crys Black, “saw some of the best, most consistent color of the season,” on a Saturday drive from Marysville by heading east on the Quincy/La Porte Rd up into the Northern Sierra through Strawberry Valley (First Report) where fall color was “amazing.”
“Quincy was still really pretty although seems like it won’t last much longer,” and noted, “We loved how everyone was dressed for the big Halloween party.” It wasn’t just the trees that were dressed for Halloween.
On her return drive to Oroville via CA-70, the Feather River Canyon was at peak with “constant color.”
- Strawberry Valley – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Quincy – Peak to Past Peak, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!
- Spanish Creek – – Peak to Past Peak, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!
- Feather River Canyon – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
June Swoon
Black leaf spot can be lovely, we just discovered.
Jake Puchalski toured the June Lake Loop on Saturday and appreciated, “a really cool mix of greying leaves blended throughout” peaking aspen.
The grey Jake saw was a blend of bare trees whose grey limbs had dropped their leaves and aspen groves still carrying leaves damaged by black leaf spot.
He noted, that because peak has been so durable (Mono County is getting a half-week more peak color this year than last, on average), “there were both vibrant gold aspen tree tops and green, grey, gold, and red leaves scattered all over the forest floor.”
What’s on the forest floor will be the story at June Lake this week, as more wind is predicted by Halloween. Could that be the trick that treats us to a final June Swoon?
- June Lake Loop – Peak to Past Peak, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!
Freeway of Love
There’s something about taking a long, slow weekend drive in a classic Cadillac, especially on a beautiful autumn day.
Roll down the windows and take in the sweet smells of autumn leaves as they tumble about you.
I recall drives like that in my mother’s two-toned mint/forest green ’56 Sedan de Ville with satin brocade seats.
Dad had gotten it for a song after it was returned to a dealership when its sale went bad. Suddenly, everyone thought we were rich and snooty. Neither was true, though mom liked to pretend that we had more than we really had.
To a kid, mom’s Cadillac was magical. The lights would dim automatically when cars approached. In other cars, the driver would stomp on a floorboard button to dim them. The gas cap was hidden under one of the tail lights. You pushed a reflector to open the fin-shaped dome. And, at 214.5 inches long, there was plenty of leg room for a kid, two kids, three kids, a whole Pack of Cub Scouts, and no seat belts.
In the ’60s, Cadillac was the automotive brand most mentioned in songs. I found a couple of dozen songs that mentioned or were about Caddys, before I gave up counting. Cadillac still holds the number three position for most songs ever written about a car, and they’re some of the best songs ever written. Sure, Brian Wilson wrote “Little Honda,” which is a great song, but it’s about a motorbike, not about a Civic.
So, what do my reminiscences about Cadillacs have to do with fall color? Only that Plumas County color spotter Jeff Luke Titcomb is like me. He knows there’s little in life better than listening to old songs as you slow-drive an oldie-but-goodie down a country road past fall color. And, he did it along the backroads and byways of Plumas County in his classic Caddy, this weekend.
Now, let’s roll down the window, let that warm/crisp autumn air blow our cares away and listen as Aretha sings …
“Oh, we got some places to see
I brought all the maps with me
So jump right in, it ain’t no sin
Take a ride in my machine … “— Aretha Franklin, Freeway of Love
- Indian Valley, Plumas County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Round Valley, Plumas County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Special Report: Japan
Japan is renowned for its beautiful autumn colors. So, when color spotter Julie Kirby wrote saying she was traveling to Japan and hoped that the Japanese maple would be peaking, I encouraged her to send pictures.
She was there as fall color was at the upper end of Patchy, so the forests were not full of gold, orange, crimson and auburn. Though, her photographs show the beauty that a Japanese autumn promises.
Among the colorful trees Julie saw was the Japanese Larch, Larix kaempferi. This deciduous conifer was in the process of changing from green to yellow.
No similar deciduous conifers are native to California. Though, the Western Larch, Larix Occidentalis, grows in the northwest (bright yellow); the Subalpine Larch, Lariz lyallii, is a golden yellow native to parts of Canada and the northwest U.S.; and the Tamarack larch, Larix laricina, is native to northern Minnesota and Canada (orange-yellow).
Just as we love Japanese maple, so too the Japanese return the favor with an affection for North American Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia.
Julie saw brightly draped walls of purple, maize and scarlet Virginia Creeper flourishing on Honshu (Japan’s largest island) at Takayama and Lake Ashi.
Curiously, Virginia creeper, growing in North America, are being eaten voraciously by invasive Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica, a specie of scarab beetle. Whereas, in Japan, the beetle is not similarly destructive because they are controlled by native predators.
The Japanese are famous for their artistic gardens. Julie found beautiful trees at the Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa hinting of Autumn’s glory to emerge in coming weeks, Sakura, Prunus serrulata (cherry) trees now drop orange, red and golden leaves that spiral downward to reflecting ponds coursed by colorful koi fish.
Thinking about that image inspires Autumn Haiku:
Autumn winds twirling,
Lifting leaves of gold and red,
How I love the dance!Leaves that spiral down
to still, reflective waters;
Autumn in Japan.— John Poimiroo
- Honshu, Japan – Patchy (10-50%)
Jack-O’-Lanterns
Jack-O’-Lanterns used to be simple: triangle eyes, a crooked smile and candle inside.
No more.
Halloween has become a major holiday, not just a silly night of revelry. And, Jack-O’-Lanterns are a big deal.
Southern California color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi alerted us to what’s happening at King Gillette Ranch In Calabasas.
She was there to see Nights of the Jack, a festival that celebrates the Jack-O’-Lantern.
It features thousands of hand-carved, illuminated pumpkins carved as dinosaurs, sharks, celebrities and things that go bump in the night.
Look carefully. What you see are Jack-O’-Lanterns carved from pumpkins, but in all sorts of fantastic forms … another form of fall color seen only at California’s Nights of the Jack.
For those lacking time or the talent to carve a creative Jack-O’-Lantern, Target sells plastic re-useable pumpkins pre-carved and painted in many shades of designer colors … more fall color.
Of course, you can always carve a pumpkin, light a candle inside it and enjoy the orange glow of a traditional Jack-O’-Lantern, crooked smile and all. Or, just marvel at the orange glow of a rising October moon, as Kathy did.
First Report: Tuolumne Grove
The Western Sierra follows its Eastern Sierra neighbors in peaking, because its most-profuse deciduous foliage grows at lower elevations.
Presently, Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, Frémont cottonwood and black oak are presenting a palette of pink, crimson, yellow, gold and orange colors in Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite Valley’s famous sugar maple peaked in mid October, though dogwood, maple, cottonwood and oak continue to carry bright color.
Favorite areas to shoot fall color in Yosemite’s fall color are: the Yosemite Chapel (mid Oct.), Fern Spring (mid to late Oct.), Bridalveil Fall, El Capitan Meadow, Lower Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Village, Photographer’s Bridge and the Valley’s other eight historic stone bridges (late Oct. to mid Nov.).
Thomas Haraikawa scores a First Report for his visit to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia. This grove is often overlooked by Yosemite photographers who are attracted to the valley, but as Thomas’ photographs show, it has iridescent and irresistible fall color.
Located near the intersection of the Big Oak Flat and Tioga Road (CA-120), the Tuolumne Grove is now a riot of hot pink, red, orange, yellow and lime colors.
Late October to mid November is when the Valley’s black oaks are best. Yosemite Valley likely has the most impressive stands of black oak in California, due to their juxtaposition to such impressive granite monoliths as Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, El Capitan) and Yosemite’s many towering waterfalls which get replenished by autumn rains.
We call black oak the Halloween tree, both because it peaks near Halloween and because its black trunks and branches contrast so boldly with the tree’s fully peaked orange leaves.
Yosemite’s fall color is truly a treat to the eye.
- Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia, Yosemite National Park (6,200′)- Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Special Report: Odessa
Southern California color spotter Alena Nicholas sends these images from Odessa a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea.
Odessa is the third-most populous city in the Ukraine and one of the most visited in Eastern Europe.
Alena’s images show a bit of the fall color that fills its parks, the city center and Black Sea area. The city’s innocence, playfulness and old-fashioned character is evident in her photos.
Odessa has been at the crossroads of conflicts throughout its existence. Originally a Greek city, it then became Tartar, then Ottoman, then Russian and Soviet, before being a self-governing nation and friend of the United States.
Several California cities have sister city or agreement relationships with Ukrainian cities: Sebastopol with Chyhyryn, Sonoma and Santa Rosa with Cherkassy, Davis with Uman and Santa Barbara with Yalta.
Often occupied and desired for its warm-water seaport, Odessa is called the “Pearl of the Black Sea.”
Odessa’s architecture reflects its diverse governance, though was heavily influenced by French and Italian neo-classical, art nouveau and renaissance styles during the Czarist period. That’s evident in Alena’s pictures of the city park and street scenes.
In autumn, Ukraine is beautiful to behold, as 52 percent of its trees are deciduous, including birch, aspen, maple, elm, acacia and ash. As evidenced above, Odessa loves trees and culture, with landmark plane trees shading violinists and downtown shoppers.
Odessa is the first European city to be featured by a Special Report on CaliforniaFallColor.com. When you travel to colorful fall destinations, send photos and we’ll report what you’ve seen.