Cold Means Hot

In the topsy-turvy world of fall color, cold temperatures mean 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?

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.

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!