Archive for category: Eastern Sierra

Though he’d had his heart set on visiting Bishop Creek Canyon, with Inyo National Forest closed, Reno color spotter Clayton Peoples took our advice instead and drove south on US 395 to Lobdell Lakes in northern Mono County. He was not disappointed.

We have learned that some of the most spectacular fall color is seen when the forest isn’t fully at peak but when it is dressed in layers of color. Presently, Lobdell Lakes Road is lined with beautiful green, lime-green, yellow, orange and red quaking aspen.

Clayton wrote that while the groves are Patchy (10-50%) overall, many along the road are Near Peak (50-75%). He described the route as “lovely” with “great stands of aspen on both sides of the road, and the colors range from green to yellow to orange and red (although green and yellow dominate right now).”

The best photography develops for those who wait. Peoples said the best of his photos (seen at top), “benefited from dust being kicked up from a passing car, causing sunbeams to be visible through the aspen, via the dust.” 

• Lobell Lake Rd. (8,600′) – Patchy (10-50%) – Areas of the road are Near Peak – GO NOW!

It’s the first day of autumn. Fall color is nearing peak in the Eastern Sierra, but until an hour ago, we’d received no reports. Odd.

Actually, not so odd when you consider that all eight national forests south of the mid-Sierra, where much of the early color appears, remain closed.

Then, I spoke with a Bishop-area local who’d been in Bishop Creek Canyon this past Saturday. He said the aspen vary from 10 to 20% of peak, with Lake Sabrina Near Peak at about 70%.

The local said visiting the canyon was a surreal experience. The Owens Valley has become a catch-basin for haze from fires elsewhere in California, but at Lake Sabrina, North Lake and South Lake, the air is much clearer, and wildlife (bear, birds) were out in force. There was so much wildlife out and about that the local became uncomfortable hearing their calls and movement so close by.

On his two trips through the canyon, motor traffic was not being stopped though he saw two anglers (fishing in Bishop Creek) being visited fairly quickly by fish and game wardens; they soon left.

Considering that Inyo National Forest is closed, those intending to see or photograph fall color are advised to wait until the forest reopens – not expected to reopen until Oct. 1 – as you may be detained or fined for entering a closed forest. Driving, hiking, camping and fishing are not allowed in closed national forests. That includes fall color viewing.

Elsewhere along US 395, north of Conway Summit, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is open.

Virginia Lakes is Near Peak, but unlike Lake Sabrina, it can be visited. Lower elevations in the forest (Summers Meadow, Lobdell Lake Rd.) are Just Starting.

• Bishop Creek Canyon – Just Starting (0-10%) to Near Peak (50-75%) – INYO NF CLOSED
• Virginia Lakes (9,819′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

Onion Valley in Inyo National Forest was appealing over the Labor Day Weekend when Mohammad Delwar visited.

Though, smoke from the Creek Fire – as seen in his photographs – was then beginning to suffocate the Eastern Sierra. The Inyo National Forest is now closed to public use. That limits public access throughout the Eastern Sierra.

Mammoth Lakes reports the following activities are now prohibited:

• Camping in all public and private campgrounds as well as dispersed camping areas
• Water activities (fishing, boating, kayaking, etc.)
• Hiking and backpacking
• Biking, including Mammoth Mountain Bike Park
• Use of developed day-use areas, including picnic areas and beaches
• Use of off-highway vehicles
• Use of any ignition source (campfires, fire pits, stoves, etc.)

These closures are in effect until further notice in order to prioritize the safety of visitors, locals and fire personnel. Updates on reopening the forest will be posted when available. Here’s what the U.S. Forest Service is reporting.

Elsewhere, Cathy Kennedy found aspen just beginning to change at Packer Lake near Sierra City in the Northern Sierra (CA-49).

• Onion Valley, Inyo National Forest – Just Starting (10%)
• Packer Lake, Sierra City – Just Starting (10%)

This is it. The last peak aspen can still be seen in a few locations throughout beautiful Mono County.

Mono County color spotter Jeff Simpson sent these dazzling photos of color around the edges of Twin Lakes near Bridgeport (there’s another “Twin Lakes” in the Mammoth Lakes Basin that is now Past Peak).

Mono County has shown spectacular color this autumn, but not in the places most fall foliage fans have come to expect the best color in the Eastern Sierra, namely the June Lake Loop, its necklace of gorgeous lakes and the inviting town of June Lakes.

Instead, the Sweetwater Mountains popped up as a great place for fall color, as did Mill Canyon and the Molybdenite Trail. Say, “Whaaat!?”

Yup. This autumn, you based in Mammoth Lakes or June Lakes, but then ventured to new places where it was peaking. Sure, there was lots of beautiful color still to be found in go-to places like Lundy Canyon, Rock Creek Canyon and Sagehen Summit, but this was the autumn to get to know all of Mono County. We hope you took that opportunity, as many of our readers did.

So, where can peak color still be found? Head to the Antelope Valley (the towns of Walker, Coleville and Topaz) to see some of California’s tallest cottonwood crested yellow, or to Lee Vining Canyon for towering aspen still carrying bright leaves, to the community of Crowley where people live among the aspen and cottonwood or to Tom’s Place to watch yellow leaves fluttering outside the window as you eat a slice of one of their famous pies.

A little peak to past peak color can also be found at Twin Lakes (see above), in places along the June Lake Loop, at the Convict Lake Campground (a good place to camp amidst the last fall color).

Most of all, enjoy the last weekend of peak fall color in Mono County as thereafter, YOU MISSED IT.

• Mono County – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, YOU ALMOST MISSED IT.