Nevada City Peaks In Time For Victorian Fall Colors Tour
On Saturday (Oct. 26), Nevada City will host its annual Victorian Fall Colors Tour. The tour includes stops at 15 locations where peak fall color promises to be seen.
Robert Kemen and Ravi Ranganathan visited Nevada City this past week and captured some of what’s in store.
- Nevada City (2,477′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
California’s Second-largest River
The Klamath River in UpState California is impressive.
It’s the state’s second-largest river, flowing 257 miles through Oregon and California. At peak flows, the river moves 557,000 cubic feet of water per second toward the Pacific Ocean.
National Geographic described it as the upside down river, because it begins in the high deserts of eastern Oregon and flows toward the mountains.
The Klamath was inhabited as early as 7,000 years ago, with good reason. Salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout had adapted to its unusually high water temperatures and flourish in its waters.
An interesting variety of deciduous trees grow near the Klamath River, including: Garry’s oak, black oak, Fremont and black cottonwood, numerous alder, ash and dogwood, bigleaf maple, even California walnuts and Klamath plums.
Because of its remoteness, we get few photographs of fall color along the Klamath. Though, when we do, they’re spectacular like Mel Fechter’s shot of the wild river with no sign of structures, roads or mankind … only orange and yellow oaks.
- Klamath River Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Genessee Valley Sojurn
Color spotter Jeff Luke Titcomb looks back at his trip along the byways of northern Plumas County and sees nothing but peaking orange black oak.
He drove Arlington Road between Crescent Mills and Taylorsville, in the shadow of Arlington Heights and Mt. Hough, then explored Grizzly and Indian Creeks and finished his tour in the Genessee Valley where a string band was playing at the Genessee Store.
Full peak was happening this past weekend, though there is enough color in his photographs that, absent a big blow, enough color could hang in there through another weekend.
- Northern Plumas County (1,412′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sierra Discovery Trail
A number of trails travel through fall color in the Tahoe National Forest, between Yuba Gap and Nevada City along CA-20.
One of the nicest is the Sierra Discovery Trail. It travels an easy .9-mile loop that is full of fall color. Also, an interesting trail is the Independence Trail, which winds along boardwalks through a forest of bigleaf maple and black oak.
Ravi Ranganathan hiked both trails this past weekend and recommends hiking the Sierra Discovery Trail clockwise, as you will pass Bear River Falls soon after crossing the Bear River Bridge.
- Sierra Discovery Trail (5,190′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Quincy, A Family Affair
On Saturday, Michael Beatley and I met for a whirlwind tour of fall color in and around Quincy.
I’d intended to post these photos on Sunday, but so many great photos arrived from contributors, that I held off posting this gallery. Then, the website crashed and couldn’t get them up, until now.
Plumas County is gorgeous in mid October. More than beautiful, it is charming with authentic small towns and genuine people.
There’s a sign as you drive into Quincy on CA-80, noting that 5,000 souls live there. The 2010 census had 4,900 people inhabiting it, down 2% in the first decade of this century. It seems even smaller than that.
Michael explained, “Everyone waves here. They even wave to the cops.” A moment later, someone drove past while waving at my car, perhaps because Michael was riding with me.
On Saturday at “Community Appreciation Day,” the Quincy Natural Foods Co-op hosted an event where families could bring apples they’d harvested and press them into apple juice.
No one knew me, but I soon felt a part of the gathering as I watched moms instruct their sons on how to crank the press, little girls get their faces painted with unicorns and rainbows, a vendor selling local honey, a fiddler playing beneath a tree, neighbors chatting and Lucinda Wood chopping and pressing her apples into sweet nectar.
Overcast muted fall colors as we walked the Cascade Trail beside Spanish Creek, though as Michael’s photos in the previous post show, it was clear on Sunday. That’s a common hazard. You plan a day to visit a place, then work with what weather is given to you. A day later, it brightened for Diane Keller, as contrasted here.
After photographing Spanish Creek, we met members of the Ghandi (Rocklin), Velusami (Roseville) and Govindasamy (Folsom) families who’d been drawn to that spot by a previous report on this site. Later, we passed color spotters Son and Ann Nguyen who’d drive up from San Jose taking our advice to GO NOW!
Quincy and Plumas county were at Peak when I visited. Though Peak reports have continued to arrive from Quincy, it won’t be this good much longer, so GO NOW!
We drove the backroads, taking photographs of rusting farm equipment draped with fading fall color or found trees named after whomever planted it … the Thompson sugar maple, Judge Theilor tree, even Spanish Creek itself was named for the two Mexicans who bred horses beside it in 1850.
Returning to the Sacramento Valley by way of Bucks Lake Rd. the drive to Bucks Lake Summit from Meadow Valley was full of mixed color (dogwood, bigleaf maple, black oak). The summit and lake were past peak, but on the descent to Oroville, hot yellow flashes of maple and pink dogwood again jumped out, occasionally, between the pines. A final area of fall color appeared at Madrone Lake where cattails and maple edged it.
My thoughts returned to Quincy, as I drove. I concluded that Quincy is a friendly, family affair. It only took a day there to feel welcomed to Plumas County like a long-lost cousin.
- Quincy, Plumas County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Above Quincy
On Oct. 16, we posted aerial photos of Quincy. This past Sunday, Michael Beatley returned to Quincy, but climbed above it to the north and with a 400 mm lens from a mile away, captured these beauties.
50/50 Tree Update
A week earlier than the above photograph was taken, we posted a photograph taken by Robert Kermen of the side-by-side Mountain Maples, one peaking, the other still green.
Here’s what the trees look like as of Oct. 20.
Back in the Saddle Again
This is the second time in three years that CaliforniaFallColor.com has crashed due to a web attack.
Malware from another country took root on Sunday night, despite our best efforts to protect against attacks.
The last time, it put the site down for 36 frustrating hours. CaliforniaFallColor.com went down at about midnight on Sunday. We went live again at 9 p.m. on Wed. – about the same gap as in 2017.
That’s right pardners, darn frustratin’.
Now, time was lost, but not the reports. All reports received from spotters since Sunday night will be up following this post.
Time to start singing about fall color once more, buckaroos.
The Gift of Nature
Few gifts last a lifetime. Nature is one of them.
However, with each generation, fewer Americans are passing this gift to their children.
Well documented concerns about youth detachment from outdoor activities, lack of physical exercise, and increased obesity and health risks, have alarmed many who believe American children are being hurt by the erosion of our country’s cultural connection to nature and outdoor recreation.
Numerous studies have shown that children who participate in outdoor recreational activities are healthier, do better in school, have better social skills and self image, and lead more fulfilled lives.
In response, California became the first state to establish a Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. It states that every child should, before their 15th birthday, have had the opportunity to:
- Discover California’s past
- Splash in the water
- Play in a safe place
- Camp under the stars
- Explore nature
- Learn to swim
- Play on a team
- Follow a trail
- Catch a fish, and
- Celebrate their heritage.
It’s a pretty simple, flexible and achievable list of outdoor rights. Fundamentally, they embody the right to experience the outdoors, outdoor play and outdoor learning. The idea is that family and guardians provide these experiences to children more than once, though many children never get the chance to do all of them, or perhaps even any of them.
Considering the mesmerizing enticements of digital distractions (e.g., video games, TV, social media), if parents, grandparents, guardians and family members don’t introduce children to nature and outdoor activities, this generation will be entirely disassociated from the outdoors.
Color spotters Dan and Connie Varvais checked off several of the above rights for their grandson when they took to Lundy Canyon in the Eastern Sierra for his first fall color day … one they’ve allowed us to share.
Donner Pass Summits Out
Donner Pass has summited out for peak fall color.
Robert Kermen traveled the route from east to west on Friday. I did the same from west to east, Saturday morning.
Robert found peak color from the Coldstream Valley to Donner Lake. Aspen beside railroad snow sheds are brightly yellow, as well as cottonwood near China Cove on Donner Lake.
Beyond that, you drive in and out of pockets of color in areas where the South Yuba River is near the highway, such as Cisco Grove. Peaking groves are mostly of black cottonwood, as the aspen are Peak to Past Peak in most areas. Below 5,000′ bright glimpses of yellow bigleaf maple peek through the evergreens.
Take a break from highway driving and you’ll find beautiful scenes, such as the one Robert photographed of black cottonwood at Cisco Grove.
Kermen was dazzled by the color along CA-20 from I-80 to Nevada City. Presently, the most vibrant peak is being seen below 4,000′ and is descending rapidly, as noted by our previous report about Nevada City (2,477′).
The most prominent color he found was along the “dogwood belt,” near Lake Spaulding where hundreds of dogwood are peaking. This part of Hwy 20 is spectacular now and in May when the dogwood are bright green with new leaves and decorated with their white bracts (flowers).
- Donner Pass (7,057′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.
- Lake Spaulding (5,014′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!