Tech Boom
Palo Alto and Mountain View on the San Francisco Peninsula are experiencing another boom … the fall color kind.
Landmark gingko biloba and Liquidambar are carpeting Mountain View neighborhoods with yellow and pink leaves and Palo Alto is aglow at dusk with orange.
- San Francisco Peninsula (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sherwood Forest Peaks
Peak color is being seen at Sherwood Forest, surrounding Lake Sherwood near Westlake Village, not Nottingham, England.
Nonetheless, this is truly where Robin Hood and his merry men once lived. Wayne Gretzky also lived there. Lake Sherwood was so named because two films starring Errol Flynn were partly filmed there in 1922 and 1938. A community eventually formed around the lake.
Southern California color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi was among Audubon Society birders who were invited to visit the exclusive neighborhood to observe over 60 species of wintering birds there. Click to enlarge.
Ringing Lake Sherwood, she found Western sycamore, cottonwood and valley oak, not the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men.
- Lake Sherwood, Westlake Village (879′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Because this is a private community, you can’t actually go now. The closest similar fall color would likely be seen surrounding Malibu Lake.
Leaf Sunday
Everyone ought to have a leaf Sunday.
It’s a Sunday drive just to see peaking leaves. Mine was spent on a route I’ve taken many times with stops in El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Fair Oaks and Sacramento.
El Dorado Hills has trees yet to turn, but more than half have dropped leaves, so it’s between peak and past peak. Fremont cottonwood and Toyon are nearing the end of their peak at Folsom Lake SRA; and landmark Fremont cottonwood at Mormon Island Wetlands are at peak and crowed with bright yellow.
Fair Oaks Park is nearing the end of peak. The approaching storm is likely to remove whatever color is still hanging, and the village’s chickens seemed to know a storm is approaching, as they were crowing anxiously.
The University Arboretum was mostly past peak, though lovers didn’t mind. They sat on benches in quiet corners of the arboretum, ignoring arguments between squirrels, as they whispered to one another and kissed.
Along the Fabulous Forties in east Sacramento (avenues numbered in the 40s), large dumps of leaves from towering London plane trees planted near the curbs have littered the avenues. Owners of these stately homes are out each weekend, blowing, raking and sweeping the detritus into piles to be hauled away by city workers.
I happened upon Holly and her daughter who were rushing to blow a week’s fall of folioles, so that party guests would have room to park along the curb that night.
There was autumn in the air in downtown Sacramento. Couples dressed in sweatshirts and light sweaters, even though temps were in the low 70s.
The constant fall of leaves from the city’s canopy of color (see “Rollin’ Thru SacTown” posted earlier today), makes Sacramento seem like it should be colder than it is. Perhaps that will change this week, as snow in the Sierra is predicted.
Leaf-dressed picnics, touch football, golf and Sunday strolls were happening at William Land Park, and I closed my Leaf Sunday Drive stopping at the Freeport Bakery to purchase a couple of … what else? Leaf Cookies.
- El Dorado Hills (768′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Mormon Island Wetlands Reserve (372′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Folsom (220′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Fair Oaks (174′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- CSU Arboretum – Sacramento (30′) – Past Peak, YOU MISSED IT.
- Fabulous Forties – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Downtown – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- William Land Park – Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Peak in Lodi Again
John Fogerty said he never actually visited Lodi when he wrote the classic line, “Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again.”
Had he, Fogerty would have learned that Lodi has 85+ wineries covering 100,000+ acres (most in California), nearby wildlife refuges full of Sandhill Cranes, egrets and heron, an annual Fall Color Paddle on the Mokelumne River (Sat., Nov. 23), and loads of fall color.
So, if you’re “lookin’ for a pot of gold,” as Fogerty was, there are few places in the state where autumn gold is more easily found right now, than in Lodi … again.
Photos courtesy VisitLodi.
- Lodi (35′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Rollin’ Thru SacTown
Here’s how Niven Le rolls.
- Video: GoPro
- Music: Avicil – The Days; Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
- Sacramento (30′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Dunsmuir Denouement
It’s done in Dunsmuir, though Philip Reedy still managed to find some color at 1,800′ along the Upper Sacramento River.
A few Indian rhubarb and black oak are holding yellow and orange leaves, though most have fallen.
- Dunsmuir (2,290′) – Past Peak, YOU MISSED IT.
Fullerton Honey
Mark Hanning-Lee scores a first report for visiting the Fullerton Arboretum at Cal State Fullerton where he found ripe orange persimmons and Honey Locust dripping with golden color.
Mark was disappointed at the abundance of evergreens in the arboretum, though a scan through its Interactive Map, shows that there are a few deciduous varieties (e.g., Asian maple, Black alder). You just have to know what they are and when they’re peaking.
He found muted color on Wonderful Pomegranate and on two Green Ash and estimates the arboretum’s experimental apple orchard may peak later this month.
Remember, this is Orange County where peak occurs late in autumn.
- Fullerton Arboretum (164′) – Near Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Beaver Moon Lights Lassen
On the night before this year’s Beaver Moon (the November full moon), Shanda Ochs photographed it silhouetting trees at Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Shanda reports this extended autumn has produced a number of surprises in the national park, including the beaver moon and an abundance of fall color at Cliff Lake (7,300′).
Normally, Manzanita Lake (5,900′) is the last area in Lassen Volcanic to carry fall color. Shanda opines that the late show may be due to that Cliff Lake sits in a basin, at the foot of Reading Peak, that is relatively protected from wind.
All the foliage there was at peak color and is likely to last due to the mild conditions (no wind, warm days and cool nights).
Jepson Willow, is likely to be the variety seen in her photographs, as it is the highest elevation willow native to Lassen Volcanic. Also common is Lemmons willow.
Presently, the national park’s grasses are displaying beautiful warm color.
- Cliff Lake (7,300′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
The November full moon has been called a Beaver Moon by native people for centuries. It indicates the time of year when beaver have retreated to their lodges, having stored food for winter.
Trappers quickly recognized the Beaver Moon as an ideal time to harvest beaver, as they would be lethargic in their lodges and wearing heavy winter pelts.
Native people identified full moons by harvest, catch, hunt, climate or cultural ceremony. Anglo-Saxons named some to mark religious periods (Paschal, Yule). A few overlap months, though the first citation is the most-used description (e.g., Wolf moon in Jan, though it’s also used in December). Source: timeanddate.com
- January – Wolf moon (alt: Moon After Yule, Ice moon, Snow moon)
- February – Snow moon (Hunger moon, Chaste moon)
- March – Worm moon (Crow moon, Crust moon, Sap moon, Chaste moon, Lenten moon)
- April – Pink moon (Sprouting grass moon, Fish moon, Hare moon, Egg moon, Paschal moon)
- May – Flower moon (Corn planting moon, Milk moon)
- June – Strawberry moon (Hot moon, Mead moon, Rose moon)
- July – Buck moon (Thunder moon, Wort moon, Hay moon)
- August – Sturgeon moon (Green corn moon, Barley moon, Fruit moon, Grain moon)
- September/October – Harvest moon (full moon closest to autumnal equinox)
- September – Corn moon (Full corn moon, Barley moon)
- October – Hunter’s moon (Dying grass moon, Blood or Sanguine moon – not to be confused with the Blood moon marking a total lunar eclipse)
- November – Beaver moon (Frosty moon, Oak moon, Mourning moon)
- December – Cold moon (Oak moon, Moon Before Yule, Wolf moon)
In The Middle of it All
Angel Island is in the middle of it all.
The largest island in San Francisco Bay, Angel island isn’t thought of as having much fall color, though it is loaded with native plants, many of which are winter deciduous.
Frémont cottonwood, western sycamore, black and blue elderberry, bigleaf maple, box elder, valley oak, red and white alder, creek dogwood, Garry’s oak, bitter cherry, western chokecherry, Oregon ash, and several type of willow grow on the island. Though, grasslands are what give Angel Island its autumn glow.
For time immemorial, the island’s north and east-facing slopes were covered with oak woodland, while native grasses and north coast scrub were predominant on west and south-facing slopes. Indian use of fire, California State Parks explains, extended the island’s grassland environment, restricting forest and brush to the northeast side of the island.
Then, in the 19th century Angel Island’s flora changed when native grasses (mostly perennials) were overwhelmed by aggressive European grasses whose seeds were brought in with hay. Then, most of the first-growth oak woodland was cut down for firewood.
Today, the native trees and shrubs have recovered, though they compete with exotics brought in by 19th century settlers and the military (Angel Island was an important part of the U.S. Army’s coastal defense installations and served as the Ellis Island of the West).
Most visitors to Angel Island marvel at its impressive views of the Golden Gate, San Francisco Skyline and Marin County, though turn around and you’ll see the island itself is a colorful treasure in the middle of it all.
- Angel Island, San Francisco Bay (0′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Always on Time
A good railroad always arrives and departs on time.
The same can be said of fall color at the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad in Felton (Santa Cruz Mountains), where bigleaf maple, western sycamore and black oak dress its historical train depot with yellow, chartreuse, lime and orange each November.
This past Saturday, Melani Clark, superintendent of the railroad, took this image of steam rising and autumn color falling as the Dixiana stood ready for its run through the redwoods to Bear Mountain.
Autumn weather has been kind to the Santa Cruz mountains where warm, clear days have created ideal conditions to enjoy a walk through a redwood forest and train rides to the summit of Bear Mountain and down to Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay.
- Roaring Camp Railroads (285′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!