Last Call: Parchers Resort
Of all the years that CaliforniaFallColor.com has reported fall color from the Bishop Creek Canyon, 2019 sets a record for lasting to mid October with NO Past Peak areas.
Today’s is the fifth weekly report of autumn from Jared Smith of Parchers Resort. It is his last for this season. However, that does not mean color is past peak in Bishop Creek Canyon. It isn’t.
We estimate a week to two more of peak fall color up Bishop Creek, conditions permitting.
CaliforniaFallColor.com will continue to post reports and photographs from Bishop Creek, as received. We encourage all color spotters who visit the canyon to send reports and photos to [email protected]
To this master hospitalitarian and fall color expert, we extend best wishes to Jared for a winter on a beach somewhere, with a cold one in hand and a beautiful sunset lighting the horizon.
Here are Jared’s last words on this durable autumn, “What a wonderful stroke of luck we’ve had with the weather this year! The early cold snap at the end of September and the wind that came with it, only dulled the earliest of the fall color and the last couple windy days haven’t done much damage leaving the majority of the aspen and willow leaves to sit in glowing splendor about as long as one could hope.
Lake Sabrina, M Fork Bishop Creek (10/13/19) Pete Axcell 
Bishop Creek (10/13/19) Pete Axcell 
Bishop Creek (10/13/19) Pete Axcell
“Rarely are we taking pictures of vistas with this much fall color this late into October. Many areas have groves which have already peaked and are losing leaves but wherever the early color fades, more yellow and occasional orange or red seems to fill our views to take it’s place.
“It is still absolutely spectacular out there right now and we’re in the zone where both the upper and mid elevations of the canyon are bursting with color.
For those who can get up to Parchers before it closes this coming weekend, there are still three cabins and two RV sites unsold (2-night minimum). Call 760-873-4177 to book a cabin.
Bishop Creek Canyon Summaries
- Above 8,500′ – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Bishop Creek Canyon is still extremely impressive in the higher reaches of the canyon. Table Mountain Camp and Surveyor’s Meadow were at their best last week, but there is still so much color along the road and canyon walls that the canyon can still be considered very much at Peak. Some high points are the road between Parchers & South Lake, the east facing canyon walls near Willow camp, Sabrina and the North Lake Road.
- Below 8,500′ – Patchy (10-50%) – Pretty much the whole drive up from the South Lake turnoff up South Lake Road or Hwy 168 towards Sabrina is at Peak. Some areas are still too green to be peak, but enough peak color dominates in the 8,000′ to 8,500′ elevation that now is about as good as it gets for this zone. The falls, Mt. Glen campground, Cardinal Village & pond and Bishop Park group campground just below Aspendell are looking exquisite.
Bishop Park, S Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith 
South Lake Rd, S Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith 
Table Mountain, S Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith
South Fork Bishop Creek
- Weir Pond (9,650′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – The canyon wall to the west is mostly naked, but the foliage surrounding the pond is a show stopper, especially in the morning hours or mid day.
- Parchers Resort (9,260′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – The hillsides all around the resort are epic. Rosy orange hues and plenty of yellow.
- Willow Campground (9,000′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Some of the aspen lining the road are past peak, but the canyon walls beyond the campground and the large trees lining the So. Fork of Bishop Creek are amazing. Some really nice orange hues can be seen from here.
- Surveyors Meadow (8,975′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Another area that was probably better last week, but there is a lot of peak color to see.
- Table Mountain Camp (8,900′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Some of the aspen are now naked here, but there’s enough color to make it worth a stop.
- Mist Falls and the groves above Bishop Creek Lodge (8,350′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – The aspen surrounding the waterfall are at the pinnacle of their fall color brilliance.
- Four Jeffries (8,000′) –– Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Lots of color variance here…gold, yellow, orange, red, green and brown.
- Big Trees Campground and Forks Campground (7,800′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Lots of trees turning here but the color is a little bronzey for my taste. It will be interesting to see if we get any intense yellow from here this year.
Sabrina Lake, M Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith 
Cardinal Village, M Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith
Middle Fork Bishop Creek
- Lake Sabrina (9,150′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – The color is really lasting at Sabrina this year. Simply stunning.
- Sabrina Campground to Sabrina Dam (9,000′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – Brilliant gold and yellow all the way from the North Lake turnoff to Sabrina. The area by the entrance of Sabrina campground was earlier to peak and first to fade, but everywhere else is loaded with color.
- Groves above Cardinal Village (8,550′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – The scrub aspen are mostly toast, but the more mature aspen along the middle fork of Bishop Creek are amazing right now.
- Aspendell (8,400′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – This was tough to grade because the aspen in the neighborhood along hwy 168 aren’t all that special, but the groves just below at Bishop Park Group Camp are amazing, as is the color at the south end of Aspendell near Cardinal Village Resort
North Lake Rd, N Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith 
North Lake Rd, N Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith 
Angler, North Lake, N Fork Bishop Creek (10/16/19) Jared Smith
North Fork Bishop Creek
- North Lake (9,255′) – Peak (75%-100%) GO NOW! – One shoreline is pretty devoid of color, but the more popular views looking up canyon from the outlet are still in the peak zone. The quaint dirt road, one of my favorite spots in the canyon because the light is basically dummy proof, is peaking and provides the post card photo op everyone wants to get.
Above Quincy
Robert Cameron’s series of “Above” coffee table books fascinate me. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty from above is mesmerizing.
So, when these photographs taken by Michael Beatley arrived, the bright colors of autumn trees and colored roofs reminded me of why Robert Cameron’s work is so endlessly fascinating.
It was surely sensational to the public when James Wallace Black ascended in a balloon to take the first aerial photograph 159 years ago this month, as reported in MassMoments.
Quincy and the American Valley (10/14/19) Michael Beatley 
Quincy (10/14/19) Michael Beatley
Today, we don’t have to go up in a balloon or aircraft to take aerial photographs. They can be taken by drones, or as Michael Beatley did, by climbing a hill. However they’re taken, aerial photographs still stir the imagination just as they did in 1860, particularly those with fall color.
Plumas National Forest (10/14/19) Michael Beatley 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas National Forest (10/14/19) Michael Beatley 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas National Forest (10/14/19) Michael Beatley
The Plumas National Forest, surrounding Quincy, has many roads, OHV routes, and hiking trails. Michael reports that the forest is full of peak rosy Pacific dogwood, yellow big leaf and gamboge mountain maple, deep-red mountain ash and orange black oak, amidst pine and fir.
Pick up a map at the USFS ranger station on CA-70 just east of Quincy to explore the forest. Four wheel drive is not needed to drive many of the roads.
- Plumas National Forest – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Quincy (3,342′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- American Valley (3,342′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Returning to Lundy Canyon
Looking at things from a different perspective allows you to move to the side, behind, between, above or below your subject.
A thousand people have taken pictures of Lundy Falls straight on, from afar. Elliot McGucken got wet beside it and presents a new, angled perspective of fall color up Lundy Canyon.
Lundy Falls, Lundy Canyon (10/14/19) Elliot McGucken 
Lundy Canyon (10/14/19) Elliot McGucken 
Beaver Ponds, Lundy Canyon (10/14/19) Elliot McGucken 
Lundy Canyon (10/14/19) Elliot McGucken
Nikon Asks, “Who’s Tops?”
Nikon USA is holding its fifth “Top Spots for Fall Foliage Competition.”
The competition is a nationwide crowdsourced campaign on Nikon USA’s social media channels to determine which state has the best fall color.
Michigan has won it for the past three years. The winner is based on the number of fall color photos posted to social media with the hashtag, #NikonFallCA. That’s California’s hashtag.
In a month, Nikon will tally the photos from each state and announce the winning state, during the week of November 18.
So, where is the top spot for fall foliage? It’s California, of course … #NikonFallCA.
Cold Means Hot
In the topsy-turvy world of fall color, cold means hot color. It also means fallen color.
Plumas County’s Jeff Luke Titcomb (the color spotter who solved the mystery of the Quincy Airport 50/50 tree) noted that he’s seeing some very low morning temps near Quincy and thinks it’s having an effect on color change.
Some trees are simply dropping leaves and not changing as usual. The same phenomenon was noticed by Jared Smith in Bishop Creek Canyon (Eastern Sierra).
It’s now Near Peak to Peaking in Plumas County. Jeff drives the county’s country roads in his classic green cadillac. We could sing about it, but did that last year and if you’ve heard my singing, you wouldn’t want a repeat of that.
He recommends touring from the Greenville Y. Why?
Bigleaf maple, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Pacific dogwood, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Bigleaf maple, Plumas County (10/12/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb
Because if you head toward Crescent Mills, “You will see that the big leaf maples are in full, bright, yellow color, and the dogwoods are all red and pink,” Jeff advises.
Black oak are slowly joining in but regular readers to this site know we call them California’s Halloween tree, because they are best near the end of October.
Jeff notes that despite the chilly overnight temps, Plumas County’s weather – for the moment – couldn’t be finer, even it were Carolina in the morning.
Sugar maple, Round Valley Rd., Plumas County (10/13/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Sugar maple, Round Valley Rd., Plumas County (10/13/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb 
Sugar maple, Round Valley Rd., Plumas County (10/13/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb
Take the road to Round Valley Reservoir (Bidwell Lake – named in honor of pioneer John Bidwell) to find bigleaf maple and lots of dogwood.
Continue on up across the dam, then up towards Long Valley, keeping right, then center and you’ll be taken down to Canyon Dam, for more color along the route.
Continuing further north, the Lake Almanor side is in full color, but is about to fall, so Jeff advises, GO NOW!
Redding Red
Red maple are planted, appropriately, in Redding along Shasta View Drive.
Laura Beeson (Photography by Laura Jean) has submitted images of them in past autumns, but I don’t recall them ever looking this good.
Laura estimates one good blow could have red flying all over Redding, so GO NOW!
Red maple, Redding (10/13/19) Laura Jean 
Red maple, Redding (10/13/19) Laura Jean 
Red maple, Redding (10/13/19) Laura Jean
- Shasta View Drive, Redding (564′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
ABC10 Visits Alpine County
Backroads reporter John Bartell of ABC10 in Sacramento joined me in the Hope Valley on 10/7 to talk about Fall Color.
The color has changed greatly since Bartell and I photographed the Hope Valley. It’s now nearly Past Peak. Also, the aspen in the video appear greener than they were when we visited. They were deep orange in most locations with separate stands of dark green to lime-colored Patchy groves.
Bustin’ Out at June Lakes
Mixed reports have been arriving about the fall color at June Lakes. Some have said it’s “stripped” and Past Peak, while others say that June has just begun.
June Lake Loop (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
June Lake Loop (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
June Lake Loop (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
June Lake Loop (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
June Lake Loop (10/14/19) Dakota Snider
Dakota Snider of Mammoth Lakes took these photos within the past few days. They show lots of color still remaining at June Lake, and also Mammoth Lakes, which we’d previously been told was Past Peak.
Jeff Simpson said he’d just driven the loop and admits, “There are some groves past peak but great elsewhere” adding that it’s “Thining around Silver Lake.”
Mammoth Lakes (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
Mammoth Lakes (10/14/19) Dakota Snider 
Snow Creek, Mammoth Lakes (10/14/19) Dakota Snider
Over the decade I’ve been doing this, I find that peak is often a judgment from the eye of the beholder.
What I might think is Near Peak with a few blight-damaged groves, another will only see as wholly stripped, ignoring the leaves that are yet to turn. Then, I might see a grove at the end of peak as Past Peak, while there still are lots of beautiful photographs to be taken of it.
Certainly, June Lake is not as good this year as photos from past years show, but it’s still plenty beautiful and at Peak.
Rock Creek (10/15/19) Dakota Snider 
Rock Creek (10/15/19) Dakota Snider 
McGee Creek (10/13/19) Dakota Snider 
McGee Creek (10/13/19) Dakota Snider 
McGee Creek (10/13/19) Dakota Snider
- Lower Rock Creek Rd. (7,087′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- McGee Creek Canyon (8,600′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
- Mammoth Lakes (7,881′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Harvest Ends, Color Begins
“Grape harvest is mostly done—but fall color is just beginning in Sonoma Wine Country,” reports Sonoma County color spotter Risa Wyatt.
“The PG&E power outage that pulled the plug on nearly 800,000 customers in Northern California in early October—including the state’s esteemed wineries—didn’t stop the 2019 grape harvest. Wineries and hard-working crews resorted to Plan B, using generators and nitty-gritty hand labor to bring in the crop. The pick should finish well before Halloween,” she reports.
“Meanwhile, the vines are just coloring up for their big fall foliage flaunt,” Lisa concludes.
California’s vines peak by variety at Durell Vineyard in Sonoma County, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay vines will be peaking across the vineyards’ 610 acres of undulating hillsides.
Pinot Noir, Durell Vineyard / Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma, CA 
Pinot Noir, Durell Vineyard / Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma, CA 
Pinot Noir, Durell Vineyard / Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma, CA 
Destination Durell, Durell Vineyard / Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma (10/12/19) Risa Wyatt
- Durell Vineyard / Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma, CA – Patchy (10-50%)
Holy Trinity
Peak has arrived in the Trinity Alps.
Shasta Cascade color spotter Jeri Rangel drove through such colorful places as Coffee Creek, Eagle Creek, Trinity Center, Norwegian Meadows and the Carville Loop to find Pacific dogwood, bigleaf maple, cattails, and crabapples full of fall color along California highway 3.
Pictures she took remind me of the song “Country Road,” but that’s about West Virginia, isn’t it?
Pacific dogwood, Norwegian Meadows, Trinity Center (10/13/19) Jeri Rangel 
Pacific dogwood, Norwegian Meadows, Trinity Center (10/13/19) Jeri Rangel 
Cattails, Carville Loop (10/13/19) Jeri Rangel 
Crabapples, Carville Loop (10/13/19) Jeri Rangel 
Bigleaf maple, Eagle Creek Loop (10/13/19) Jeri Rangel
- Coffee Creek, CA-3 (3,068′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!