Rim of the World: Visit the Lakes, Trails

Alena Nicholas spent Saturday exploring the lakes and trails that spur off from the Rim of the World Scenic Byway in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Black oak at Lake Arrowhead, Grass Valley Lake, Lake Gregory and nearby areas are at full peak speckling the forest with bold splashes of orange.

The San Bernardino range’s bigleaf maple, dogwood and aspen are now past peak, though observant spotters can find “color in pockets from Lake Arrowhead down to Crestline.”

Exotic maples, sycamore and liquidambar are also providing bright color in planted neighborhoods.

Big Bear Lake has peak color among its oaks, as well. Though, the aspen and dogwood are past peak. Here are some upcoming events at Big Bear:

• Oct. 28 – Spartan Race
• Nov. 3 & 4 – Big Bear Comedy Festival

Elsewhere in Southern California, Ryan Lumb reported that he had anticipated seeing Peak color on Mt. San Gorgonio (11,503′), but was disappointed to find it mostly Past Peak. And, Walnut color spotter Del Hossain had a frustrating trip to the Eastern Sierra, visiting locations that had already been reported here as being Past Peak.

Advice to readers: check this site the week before you travel to see reports from places you’ll be visiting.  If the latest report for the location is peak color, by the time you travel it may be past peak. Peak color lasts only from a week to a few minutes at any given location, depending upon conditions (wind, rain, snow, overcast).

Always look at the date the photograph was taken. As, what you are seeing happened often days before. What you might see now or in a few more days will be very different than what’s shown in any photo. So, get there as fast as you can whenever we report “GO NOW!”

If there’s no report from the location you plan to visit, check locations at similar elevations near where you plan to visit. As, it’s likely the color at that latitude and elevation will similar.

Finally, if you don’t like what you’re seeing at a given location (because it’s almost Past Peak), then don’t go there. Instead, consider traveling somewhere else that’s shown nearing peak or having just peaked, as it will provide the best viewing experience.

We are grateful to Ryan and Del for their reports, as they will surely help others avoid missing the best color.

This is likely the last week of great color above 3,000′ in Southern California, as reports are now descending to locations in the valleys and basins of the southland.