Archive for year: 2010

Here’s a followup report on CA-299, on visiting Redwood National and State Parks and a drive along CA-99 from Red Bluff south to Sacramento.

75 – 100% — CA-299

This route, between Redding and Arcata, is now peaking.  The colors to be seen along the route are the best I’ve ever seen along this route and should remain good until at least Sunday, when rain is predicted.

Bigleaf maple are absolutely iridescent, glowing phosphorescent yellow to yellow-orange.  There’s lots of chartreuse in the mixed oak, maple, fir, pine and hardwood forests along the Trinity River. Wild cucumber (poisonous) drape oaks in muted shades of yellow-orange to chartreuse, though have lovely heart-shaped leaves that provide a dappled beauty.

The best viewing areas are from Whiskeytown Lake NRA west to Weaverville, then again from the Salyer Rest Area west to Berry Summit.  If you stop at the Salyer rest area, enjoy taking a short walk in the hardwood forest on a hillside behind the rest area.  Levels of colorful lime to yellow leaves provide a zen atmosphere to the naturally landscaped scene.

At points along the route, clusters of bold yellow maple provide stunning contast to the subtle oranges of the oaks that climb high up to mountain crests.  The subtlety of color here is special… quite different from the bold colors of the Eastern Sierra, but still lovely.  At times, it’s hard to keep the car on the road, the colors are so beautiful.  These photos, sadly, do not do it justice, though click on any of them to get a better rendering of what I saw.  They’ll blow up and show the color more clearly.  And, to learn more about visiting the area, CLICK HERE.

15-30% – Redwood National and State Parks

I drove 299, then US 101 to Redwood National and State Parks.  The color change in the national park is disappointing, though occasional maple are colorful.

What didn’t disappoint were the Roosevelt Elk.  Locals report that the annual elk rut was especially violent this year with several cars rammed by the aroused elk.

The rut has mostly ended, though I caught these boys play fighting beneath a beautiful tree at Elk Meadow Cabins, one of the best places to see the elk, dependably.

The past two mornings, I awoke at Elk Meadow Cabins to find the local herd of some 30 Roosevelt Elk, including cows and bulls grazing around the cabins.

I used an 18 – 200mm lens and these shots varied in focal length from 60 to 200mm.  It is advised to approach the elk only so close that they do not react to you, any further and you place stress upon them.

CLICK HERE to learn more about seeing the elk.

15-30% – CA-99 Red Bluff to Marysville

On my return from Redding, I decided to drive down CA-99 to see if walnut and prune orchards were changing.  In keeping with what we’re seeing throughout California this year, the color change is late in the orchards, just as it was in the Eastern Sierra.  That means orchards in the northern Central Valley of California should be turning through mid November… a wonderful visual treat for anyone in search of late fall color.

A stop at Vina (north of Chico) included a visit to the Abbey of New Clairvaux, where the sacred stones of an 800-year-old Cistercian monestary are being erected.  This project is considered to be the most important contemporary reconstruction of a historic stone building, anywhere on Earth.  When completed, the Gothic interior of the Abbey’s ancient Chapter House will be the most complete and significant example of Gothic architecture in the Western Hemisphere.

Visitors to the Abbey of New Clairvaux have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a true Gothic structure being rebuilt.  So, I urge anyone who appreciates architecture to make a trip to Vina now to see the abbey’s chapter house being rebuilt, before it’s finished.  CLICK HERE to read more about the sacred stones.

We received these other reports from Leilani one of our color spotters from the Shasta-Cascade Wonderland Association:

Butte County

Butte County’s trees are continuing to give quite a show.   The leaves are still on the trees and the color change is now at 70%, more in the higher elevations of the Paradise/Magalia area.  Pentz and Bille Road areas are spectacular as well. Colors will continue to intensify over the next few weeks and then should peak.

Shasta County

North Valley towns

Fall colors are vibrant now.  Brilliant reds, oranges and yellows are splashed across the valley floor pallet.  The ornamentals are showing at about 80%, while the willows, liquid amber and birch that turn such a beautiful yellow are past peak and in the process of losing their leaves.

Whiskeytown National Recreation Area:

The colors around Whiskeytown have increased to about 50%.  The Chinese pistachios and liquid amber are beautifully framing the lake.  With consistent cold weather and rain coming the colors will intensify and peak quickly now.

Burney Falls State Park:

Colors are great up at Burney Falls.  It’s a good time for a drive, since the California State Park ranger says the colors are at peak but with a good wind, they will be gone.  Don’t miss this spectacular area.

Tehama County

Lassen Park:

Colors are in full swing in the park.  Aspen, cottonwood & willows still have good color but are peaking now.

Lassen County

Lassen National Forest:

There is noticeable change throughout the forest.  Colors are in post-peak but still beautiful and dramatic.  Time for a day trip!

Modoc County

Modoc National Forest

There is snow in the higher elevations so the fall colors in past peak now.

Siskiyou County

More vibrant colors have appeared this past week around the Mt. Shasta area, peaking in the higher elevations.

Trinity County

There is still some color to be seen around the Hwy.3 loop but most of the trees in the county are past peak.

Plumas County

Trees in Plumas County are at peak.  The oaks have turned an incredible orange.  The aspen and dogwood are also spectacular.  The areas around the Feather River Canyon, Cromburg, Indian Valley and Antelope Lake are worth a trip.

CLICK HERE for more about visiting the Shasta Cascade.

The on-again, off-again series of storms over the past couple of weeks have been interrupted by Indian Summer in much of California.  Among the high deserts of Inyo County, oaks have colored a muted orange with desert grasses buff and grey, and white snow fields flecking the high ridges of the Sierra Nevada near Lone Pine.

Indian Summer is the always-welcomed period of autumnal warm weather, after it’s gotten cold.  This past week, we thought winter was arriving as storms were predicted to bring rain to northern California through Sunday, but then on Halloween Day the sky broke blue and clear, reminding us of Indian Summer and providing a picture-perfect day for fall color touring and trick or treating.

A surprising report last Friday was that Boreal Ridge ski area had begun operating its lifts, signaling to many that if Sierra ski lifts are operating, autumn must be over, but that was more publicity stunt by Boreal than an indicator of the end of autumn.  In fact, this autumn has been longer lasting than many in recent years.  Only 50% of the maples in Yosemite Valley, by week’s end, last week, had turned and 20% of the Dogwood and Cottonwood were coloring.

The same is true in the Shasta Cascade where spots of color are to be enjoyed along CA-299 and north.  I’ll be traveling that route tomorrow and will tweet (califfallcolor) what I see driving north on I-5 and across through Redding to Arcata, north to Redwood National Park on US 101.

In the meantime, enjoy Indian Summer in California, as just about anywhere you head in California there’s still great color to be seen and photographed.

After a big storm (and we had one yesterday), color spotters get a bit philosophical.  Plumas County’s black oak naturalist, Joe Willis blogged yesterday that the storm had discouraged taking pictures until he noticed the leaves knocked down by the rain and found beauty in them.  He continued, “we might not have a real peak this year. The unusual sequence of rain and temperature patterns seem to have made for a very uneven and unpredictable [although I did predict this in an early September post!] season for viewing fall colors. Some species of maple have turned bright red and are already losing leaves while just a few blocks away the same species of trees is still green. Some maples are turning yellow then falling, skipping the red period altogether.”

What I’ve seen over the years is that while rain, snow and wind do reduce the number of or damage leaves that have already turned color, they seem not to have much effect on leaves that haven’t yet turned from green to lime.  What’s interesting about this year is that the color change has been late this fall and until late Saturday and Sunday, we’d had very little rain throughout California this autumn, providing for ideal color.  The photos taken by Rob Bohning a week earlier in the Eastern Sierra attest to that.  Of course, much of that color has been blown off branches by yesterday’s strong winds, but below 7,000′ there’s still lots of color yet to develop.

Photographer Michael Frye was reporting in his blog three days ago that in Yosemite Valley (5,000 ft) 50% of the bigleaf maple have turned and only 20% of the dogwood and cottonwood, which means there’s still lots of color yet to show.  One of my favorite colors of autumn are the bright orange leaves and dark branches of the black oaks of Yosemite National Park, as they’re so reminiscent of Halloween.  These trees are particularly beautiful when framing a waterfall and with yesterday’s storms, Yosemite’s waterfalls should be flowing again for that kind of photo.  Another popular photograph is of Fern Spring, the smallest waterfall in Yosemite Valley.  In its dark reflective waters, colorful maple leaves gather for a classic shot.

Past Peak – Above 8,000 ft.

75-100% – High Sierra below 7,000 ft.  There’s still lots of color in the canyons among aspen that had not yet turned color.  If you base your trips of the East Side in Bishop, be sure to visit Mountain Light, Galen and Barbara Rowell’s visually motivating photographic gallery.

30-50% – This week through Wednesday and coming weekend should be good times to head to Yosemite, though it is predicted to rain on Thursday and Friday.

30-50% – Another good choice for weekend adventures would be a tour of the Shasta Cascade, including a loop from Redding to Weaverville on CA-299, or to Lassen Volcanic National Park on CA-44, then north on CA 89 toward Mt. Shasta, past McCloud before returning to your base in Redding.  For those planing to drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Lassen Park Road closes intermittently when storms pass through.  Closures can exist from the Devastated Area at the north to the Sulphur Works to the south, meaning that you can no longer drive entirely through the park when it’s snowing on Lassen Peak, but in areas you can drive there remain nice stands of aspen showing yellow.  Though, there’s no telling how long that will last.

30-50% – Vineyards are glowing yellow with flares of red and orange.  Head to the Napa Valley, Sonoma County and the Sierra Foothills for a bit of wine tasting mixed with leaf peeping.

15-30% – Color is also beginning to show in our urban forests.  Sacramento, San Francisco and Chico have beautiful displays of color, particularly in their great parks (Land Park, Golden Gate and Bidwell).  So, don’t get to philosophical about one storm.  Grab your camera, your sweetheart and the wheel and see the color in places where it’s at its best… after all, California is a big state!

This past week, I’ve been in South Florida.  With the time zone difference, work obligations here and difficulty picking up photos on my laptop, I’ve been remiss in not forwarding the great reports received from color spotters, though I did spot a burgundy Swamp Maple seen while canoeing the Turner River through the Big Cypress National Preserve.  Yes, the maples turn color in South Florida in October.

While I was exploring South Florida and the Keys, photographer Rob Bohning sent some of his truly spectacular shots taken last weekend in the Eastern Sierra.  I plan to post more of them after returning to my office, this weekend.  And, just posted (see below) is a report from Ben Carlson of Friends of the Urban Forest in San Francisco on the appearance of yellow among the gingkos of SF.

Unfortunately, the weather outlook is stormy for the weekend and early next week.  That could damage color.  I say “could” because many times in past years, a storm has passed through with only moderate effect.  It really depends on how many of the leaves are green when the storm occurs.

I suspect, however, that the beautiful color above 8,000 ft (reported by Parchers Resort below and to be shown in Rob’s great photos – to come, I promise) will be gone by Wednesday of the coming week.  Meaning that between 7,000 and 8,000 fall color will be reduced greatly.  Of course, that’s just a prediction and much can change.  We’ll just have to wait until next week to hear what California’s Fall Color spotters report.

Here’s what Jared Smith and the folks at Parchers Resort reported this past week: The fall color above the 9000ft level is waning but there are still plenty of spots that are amazing at that elevation. The highlight of the canyon right now though is the foliage between the 8000ft and 9000ft level which is simply spectacular. There is a lot of yellow, orange and some red showing, especially along South Lake Road. This will be our last fall color report of the season now that Parchers Resort is closed for the winter but weather permitting, there will be a few weeks more of gorgeous fall color in the Bishop Creek area.

All Photographs Copyright 2010 by Jared Smith, www.SmithSierraPhotography.com or courtesy of Parchers Resort staffer Krisdina Karady.

Table Mountain Campground – Elevation 8900ft

Past Peak – But still awesome!  Even though there are some trees shedding their leaves, there are a lot of trees just now coming into full color. There are some amazing views here still.

Mountain Glen Campground

75-100% – This spot is simply breathtaking right now with a great mix of yellow, orange, red and green. Huge trees add to the grandeur of these groves.

The Famous Mist Falls on South Fork Bishop Creek

75-100% – It’s go time for photographers wanting to capture one of the most spectacular landmarks in the Bishop Creek Canyon. Vibrant yellow surrounds the waterfall on all sides – quite a sight to behold.

Four Jeffrey Camp Groves

75-100% – This is a pretty large area along the So. Fork Bishop creek so while some of the aspen is in full color, including some spectacular patches of red above the campground, other sections have green still showing. Great opportunity for color sighting and photographing here right now.

Willow Camp – Elevation 9065 ft

Past Peak – But still awesome! The best has come and gone near Willow but there are still plenty of trees in full color right now, especially right above the campground and along the old road between Parchers & Willow camp. This area is really hanging tough as far as color goes.

South Lake – Elevation 9768 ft

Past Peak

Weir Pond – Elevation 9592 ft

Past Peak – Beautiful aspens can still be found along the pond but the best views are over. Still worth a stop if you’re in the canyon though.

Parchers Camp – Elevation 9260 ft

Past Peak – The hills to the south, west and east are past peak but the aspens down stream towards Willow Camp are spectacular, as is the color on the hill due north of the resort.

North Lake – Elevation 9255ft

No Report

Lake Sabrina – Elevation 9150 ft

No Report

Sabrina Camp Groves – Elevation 9000 ft

Past Peak – The Sabrina camp grove is a goner for this season.

Surveyor’s Meadow

Past Peak –  A few great spots of color, but it’s fading about as fast as the color is popping lower in the canyon.

Aspendell – 8500ft

75-100% – The higher elevation aspens are gone now but the lower groves near the creek are beginning to look amazing. Still some time yet before it peaks but it’s a great view right now.

Our sincere thanks to Jared and his staff for doing such a great job looking for and reporting fall color in Inyo County.  They always do a superb job at it and there’s still lots of color to be seen.  One suggestion is to head there today to see and photograph snow as it begins to land on the hot colors still showing in Inyo County above 7,000 ft.