Look Outside
Sometimes all it takes to see great fall color is to look outside. Jeff Luke Titcomb found it outside the Hideaway Motel in Greenville, his home base.
He writes that along CA-89 from Greenville to Lake Almanor “the black oak are changing all along the roadways. Some are red leaves, orange and golden yellow, but all the oaks are changing quickly.”
As for yellow bigleaf maple and pink dogwood across Indian Creek, they’re done.
CA-89, Plumas County (10/24/20) Vishal Mishra 
Thompson Ranch, La Porte Rd (10/24520) Vishal Mishra
- Greenville (3,586′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Overlooked Chester
Chester, at the northernmost end of the Sierra Nevada, rarely gets submitted to CaliforniaFallColor.com. Perhaps it’s overlooked because it’s seen as too utilitarian a place.
After all, Chester means business. It has long been a logging town with utilitarian markets and stores that serve loggers and their families.
Running straight as an arrow through town is State Route 36, built broad for logging trucks. Rogers Field, the local airport, has a 5,000′ runway which is why it was chosen by the USDA Forest Service as an Air Attack Base for aerial firefighting aircraft. Yet, Chester is a welcoming destination.
Each Independence Day, Chester hosts one of the best traditional Fourth of July parades in California along Hwy 36, with decorated logging trucks, fire trucks, homespun floats, custom cars, marching bands, pancake feeds, clown cars, beauty queens and lots of innocent fun.
Look hungry and friendly enough as you walk past Chester’s mid-1900s loggers’ cottages, along side streets, and the locals who host front-yard, Fourth of July buffets for their neighbors will invite you beyond their picket fences to sample something they’re especially proud to have made. It’s that kind of place, genuine, down to earth and approachable.
Despite being near a national park, beautiful Plumas County and Lake Almanor – a great fishing and water sports lake – Chester has struggled to attract tourism, odd considering that it’s near Lassen Volcanic National Park, a stone’s throw from the Bizz Johnson recreation trail and surrounded by countless miles of trails for off-roading, hiking, biking and riding and streams for fly fishing.
Chester is just under four hours from San Francisco, slightly more than to Tahoe City but far less when I-80 is busy. So, why has it taken so long for Chester and Lake Almanor to be discovered?
Some years back, nearby Dyer Mountain was proposed as California’s newest ski resort. The ski runs through privately logged forest would have had the fifth-longest vertical drop in California and, at its base, a mountain community designed for remote work. But then, the dot-com boom collapsed, along with the resort’s funding and backing.
So, when Vishal Mishra’s photographs of Chester arrived, recollections of Chester and Lake Almanor flooded back. Such as: ordering pies before they’d sold out at Carol’s Cafe along the lake’s west shore, watching eagles swoop down with outstretched talons to snag fish in the lake, sipping a milkshake at an old-fashioned soda fountain in the Lassen Gift Shop, playing golf on one of three courses and hiking the Lake Almanor Recreational Trail through a forest of peaking aspen.
Perhaps it’s time utilitarian Chester stopped being overlooked.
- Chester (4,534′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Sunrise / Sunset
Latest word from the Hope Valley is that the aspen have dropped a lot of leaves, though vibrance can still be found. Here’s what Ardash Dattani captured, including a fascinating sunrise/sunset comparison at Red Lake Creek Cabin.
Water Tank, Hope Valley (10/24/20) Ardash Dattani 
Hope Valley (10/25/20) Ardash Dattani 
Twilight, Hope Valley (10/25/20) Ardash Dattani 
Sunset, Hope Valley (10/25/20) Ardash Dattani 
Red Lake, Hope Valley (10/25/20) Ardash Dattani 
Hope Valley (10/24/20) Ardash Dattani
- Hope Valley (7,300′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
Steppin’ Out in Quincy
This week’s Hike of the Week doesn’t involve a long walk; it’s an urban hike. Vishal Mishra did it this past weekend, when he and his lady put their Keds to the pavement in Quincy.
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Quincy (10/25/20) Vishal Mishra 
Take CA-89 to Quincy, county seat of Plumas County. Park behind the Plumas County Courthouse on Jackson St. and begin your walk by circling the courthouse (Court St., Main St, Bradley St.), enjoying the trees as you go.
When you get back to Jackson, turn west (right). There’s an inn and homes along Jackson with great color. Turn left at Lee. At the intersection of Lee and High is Judge Theilor’s sugar maple. Continue uphill to Monte Vista, then walk east (left) to Coburn. Continue down to Jackson, then right to Fillmore.
Community United Methodist Church is at the intersection of Jackson and Filmore. From the middle of Fillmore or along the north side of Jackson, nice photographs of the church can be taken with fall color surrounding it.
Continuing north on Fillmore, you reach Main St. Quincy’s downtown has one of the prettiest Main Streets in California with charming stores, restaurants, pubs and lots of fall color.
That completes the walk, though if you’d like additional places to explore in the area, drive east on CA-89 to La Porte Rd to photograph a landmark sugar maple at a bend near the Thompson Ranch. Or, drive west from Quincy on 89, then north on CA-70 to the Old Highway Rd. which leads to a trail to lush fall color along Spanish Creek.
- Quincy (3,342′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Memories
Fall color was glorious, simply glorious along the Lobdell Lake Rd. in northern Mono County, this past month.
Ryan Boyd’s photographs taken on Saturday illustrate that all that’s left of the glory are gilded memories.
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd 
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd 
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd 
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd 
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd 
Lobdell Lake Rd., Mono County (10/24/20) Ryan Boyd
For the best of autumn’s show in Mono County, visit Conway Summit. As seen below, peak color is still being seen.
Conway Summit, Mono County (10/25/20) Ryan Boyd 
Conway Summit, Mono County (10/25/20) Ryan Boyd
- Lobdell Lake Rd. (8,600′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
- Conway Summit (8,143′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
On Golden Ponds
If there’s a benefit to the haze that has smothered the Eastern Sierra this autumn, it is that it has transformed Bishop’s Buckley Ponds to golden ponds, as seen in Gary Young’s photographs.
Patchy color is transitioning to Near Peak there, as cottonwood, rabbitbrush, cattails and willows are similarly gilded.
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young
Water fowl and raptors offer entertaining distractions to a Buckley Ponds visit. Location of Buckley Ponds is found on the California Fall Color Map (at right).
Coots, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Coots, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Red-tailed Hawk, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young
Two days earlier, Wally Tran found the following glimpses of final color along South Lake Road in Bishop Creek Canyon. The color has definitely dropped out of the canyon to lower elevations, though the images remain beautiful, as seen in Mark Harding’s images taken today.
S. Fork Bishop Creek, Inyo County (10/23/20) Wally Tran 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/23/20) Wally Tran 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding
- Buckley Ponds, Bishop (4,150′) – Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) – Go Now.
- Bishop Creek Canyon (below 8,000′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
Tahoe Taylor Trek
Steve Arita followed Clayton’s and my lead by heading to Lake Tahoe and exploring the area near Emerald Bay and Taylor Creek, as the sun was rising.
He found the Tallac Historical Site to be closed, yet its grounds “freely accessible to the public,” with “a lot of fall color in and around the grounds and along the shoreline.”
Travel writer Janet Fullwood visited on Friday to find the color at peak along Fallen Leaf Lake, which feeds Taylor Creek.
The Kokanee are still lingering in Taylor Creek, waiting for the collective signal to swim upstream. Another spotter said she stood on the Pope Baldwin Bike Path bridge over Taylor Creek at just the moment when a black bear came down to feast on the lethargic salmon. She didn’t send photos, though. Ah, well.
Pope Baldwin Bike Path, Lake Tahoe (10/25/20) Steve Arita 
Pope Baldwin Bike Path, Lake Tahoe (10/25/20) Steve Arita 
Tallac Historical Area, Lake Tahoe (10/25/20) Steve Arita 
Tallac Historical Area, Lake Tahoe (10/25/20) Steve Arita 
Fallen Leaf Lake, Lake Tahoe (10/24/20) Janet Fullwood
Predicted winds picked up in the afternoon, but Steve didn’t recount their effect. If the winds are strong enough and persistent, they will strip fully turned leaves from the aspen, but not completely. A few that were in the process of turning (as seen center, above) will remain hanging from their limbs.
Hopefully, we’ll get some post-wind pictures, perhaps even one of a bear feasting on salmon.
- Tallac Historical Area, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe (6,225′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
- Pope Baldwin Bike Path, Lake Tahoe (6,225′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
Fowl Play
This year, we don’t have any bird teams in the World Series. No Cardinals, Blue Jays or Orioles. Just Rays and Trolley Dodgers.
Though their play has been entertaining, Robert Kermen set out in search of fowl play, and he found pretty much the same.
No Snow Geese or Black Necked Stilts. No American White Pelicans or American Bittern. Not even a Sand Hill Crane.
That’s because the rice farmers near Nelson, where Bob lives, are just now flooding their fields and these birds are feasting elsewhere in the Sacramento Valley. They will appear eventually, however.
Yellow-billed Magpie, Nelson (10/23/20) Robert Kermen 
Dogwood berries, Nelson (10/23/20) Robert Kermen 
Red-tailed Hawk, Nelson (10/23/20) Robert Kermen 
California grey squirrel, Nelson (10/23/20) Robert Kermen
So, Bob shot locally finding avian interest in his own backyard, be it a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), yellow-billed magpie (Pica nutalli), a black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) and even a California grey squirrel (Sciurus griseus) to entertain him.
The lesson learned is that when the game isn’t going your way, start the next inning with a fresh perspective.
Leavitt Creek Revisited
Leavitt Creek continues to shine. We first visited it nine days ago when Philip Reedy introduced us to its cascade.
In Todd Backman’s iPhone XR capture (above) the aspen to its right carry more peak color.
Todd writes for those who want to find the creek, it’s on the eastern side of Sonora Pass (CA-108), just above the 8,000′ sign on the south side of the road. While this location was full of peak color at 11 this morning, Backman writes the rest of the area is Past Peak.
Still, he passed “some really nice groves further east, along the West Walker River north of the 108/395 junction.
As for Monitor Pass, stick a fork in it. It’s done.
Backman continued his 108, 395, 89 loop by returning by way of Ebbet’s Pass (CA-4) which has pretty views of lush color on both sides of the East Carson River.
He bemoaned with sad-faced emojis, something I’ve often bemoaned. We color spotters have a tendency to pass the first peak we see, thinking it’s gonna get better a little further down the road.
Not so. What dazzles you is good because the light is perfect at that moment. And, it’s probably not going to get better.
When on a quest to find fall color, I’ve learned to stop as soon as there’s a safe turnout. This means traveling slightly below the speed limit and pulling over to let others pass. Then, I stop whenever I see something beautiful. Otherwise, it’s a nice, pretty drive with nothing to show.
- Leavitt Creek, Sonora Pass (8,000′) – Peak to Past Peak – GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
June, June, June
Poor June Lake. It’s such a spectacular fall color location … one of the most dramatic in California. Last year it never got off. This year, though the color has been good, smoke has suffocated the views and generated photographs smothered with pathos.
Now, it appears June Lake has peaked before the air has cleared.
Lee Vining Canyon (10/23/20) Bruce Wendler 
June Lake Loop (10/23/20) Bruce Wendler 
Lee Vining Creek (10/23/20) Bruce Wendler 
Rush Creek (10/18/20) Adarsh Dattani 
Rush Creek (10/23/10) Bruce Wendler
The comparison between when Adarsh Dattani was there a week ago and Bruce Wendler’s iPhone XR snaps taken yesterday show the frustrating persistence of the Creek Fire’s haze and a gradual fall of leaves.
Bruce wrote that along the June Lake Loop, “leaves were dropping fast, making the creeks spinning with leaves.”
Lundy Canyon (10/19/20) Bruce Wendler 
Lundy Canyon (10/19/20) Bruce Wendler 
Lundy Canyon (10/19/20) Bruce Wendler
In contrast, the air is clear up Lundy Canyon and though the trees are dropping color, a lot remains to enjoy on the hike along Mill Creek.
Convict Lake (10/18/20) Adarsh Dattani 
Convict Lake (10/18/20) Adarsh Dattani
Heading down US 395, Convict Lake is at peak, but also streaked with smoke.
Bishop (10/23/20) Bruce Wendler 
Bishop (10/23/20) Bruce Wendler
And, as a sign of changing fortunes, cottonwood surrounding Bishop are now from high Patchy to Near Peak, in some places their color complements a soiled sky.
- Lundy Canyon (7,858′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- June Lake Loop (7,654′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Convict Lake (7,850′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Bishop (4,150′) – Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) Go Now.