First Report: Jenks Lake and Barton Flats Rec. Area
Jenks Lake ((9/3/16) Alena Nicholas
Alena Nicholas reports exploring new areas in the San Bernardino Mountains, today, the Barton Flats Recreation Area adjacent to Jenks Lake.
This area has a variety of trees “that should be beautiful during peak season,” including black oak, creek dogwood, chokecherry, Rocky Mtn maple, bigleaf maple, white alder, black cottonwood and Frémont cottonwood. Alena says “things are just starting to turn a bit” at 6,500′ in elevation.
Frémont cottonwood, Barton Flats Rec. Area (9/3/16) Alena Nicholas
Barton Flats Rec. Area (9/3/16) Alena Nicholas
Jenks Lake (9/3/16) Alena Nicholas
The area has several small lakes and ponds, creeks and streams.
“Aspen Meadow” is closeby. Last October, California Fall Color reported that aspen would be the first trees to recover near Big Bear Lake following the Summer’s Lake fire, and that appears to be happening, according to Alena’s report.
A ranger at the Barton Flats Rec. Area said “the aspens are about six to seven feet tall and filling in very nice.” Alena promises to “take a trip there soon, as there’re some nice meadows and streams there.”
Look for several First Reports this autumn from this color spotter, both from the mountains and lowlands.
Also, these shots again show what you can capture with a cell phone, though Alena promises to start carrying the big gun, once the color fills in.
Just Starting (10-15%) Jenks Lake and Barton Flats, San Bernardino Mountains (6,500′)
When are we guestimating peak season for?
It depends on the elevation. We have 14,000 feet of elevation in California, 10,000 of which have fall color. So, there are 10,000 answers to that question. However, autumn color is appearing similar to past years. One might say it’s right on schedule.
The best way of guestimating is to go to “Categories” (left on home page), find a region of California that you’d like to see at peak color and note when it peaked in the past. Then, plan your trip within a week of past peak and you should be good.