Archive for category: Fall Color Report

Last year, to the day, I drove the western Sierra foothills to Placerville, up Newtown Rd and Mormon Emigrant Rd. to CA-88, crossing Carson Pass and descending into the Hope Valley where it was peaking beautifully. I then returned over Luther Pass to South Lake Tahoe, then back over Echo Summit on US50. Today, I repeated the drive.

Last year, the Hope Valley was peaking.  This year, it’s beyond hope.

Carson Pass and the Hope Valley are now mostly Past Peak, though amid groves and groves of bare aspen, others are still fully green and Just Starting, while others are Patchy, and still others are Near Peak.

Last year, I stopped at the Caples Lake Resort to photograph a hillside of colorful aspen reflected in the lake.  This year, only the crowns of those trees carry any color.

It’s interesting that the willows that normally turn first, are now peaking while the aspen have lost their color.

Beyond Carson Pass, among landmark-sized Jeffrey pine, the ground between granite boulders is full of deep-orange ground cover.

The effect of black leaf spot fungus is evident along Forestdale Creek Road, an off-road trail near Red Lake, where many aspen still carry spotted leaves.

One of the few nice aspects of the color this year is that many of the aspen are topped with golden crowns, though they’ve lost the color below and all that remains are their buff and white colored lower branches and trunks.

The forest’s remaining color is nice to look at, though photographers will be disappointed.

At 7,400′ in elevation on the east side of Carson Pass, there are several healthy stands of green aspen that should be Near Peak in two weeks. Patchy sections in the forest will turn sooner.  Healthy, lush groves are found near streams, but not far from denuded stands of bare aspen, their stemy branches raised to heaven as if imploring the skies to let them embrace the first snowfall.

Next weekend’s best hope to see full peak in the Hope Valley will be at Sorensen’s Resort.  There, the most promising grove along Hwys 88 and 89 is a brilliant, yellow-orange stretch of Near Peak aspen (seen above) directly across the highway from the Sorensen’s Resort.

I stopped to chat briefly with resort owner John Brissenden who said several of his cabins are still available this coming weekend for those who would like to see the best fall color the Hope Valley will provide this year.  He also admitted that, though disappointing, 2015 isn’t the earliest peak that Carson Pass has experienced.  Some years ago, it went Past Peak in mid September.

As for the rest of the route:

• The black oak and bigleaf maple along Newtown Road (Placerville) are Just Starting.
• Vineyards in El Dorado County’s Pleasant Valley are now showing yellow highlights, though they’ve a way to go.
• There is little to no color along Mormon Emigrant Road, though a few dogwood are showing soft pastel-orange and rose leaves.
• South Lake Tahoe is Patchy with yellow and lime just emerging among its mostly green aspen.
• Grasses, willows, ferns and brush provide the most color along the entire route with maroon, yellow, buff, gold, crimson and orange decorating meadows and forest floors.

Past Peak YOU MISSED IT! – Carson Pass.  Nearly all the aspen at the highest reaches of the pass have lost their leaves. The most profound example of the change (seen at left) is the comparison of a stand of aspen shot last year off CA-88 at the trailhead to Kirkwood Lake and the same stand shot today.

Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Hope Valley – The best stand is found directly across Hwys 88 and 89 from Sorensen’s Resort.  Room at the inn is available next weekend, if you want to see it at its best.  Unfortunately, all the aspen at and surrounding the resort have dropped their color.

Patchy (10-50%) – Lake Tahoe

Just Starting (0-10%) – US 50 – All elevations

Just Starting (0-10%) – Newtown Rd, Placerville (Gold Country)

Just Starting (0-10%) – Pleasant Valley Vineyards (Gold Country)

Color spotter Alena Nicholas reports from a lakeside cabin at Boulder Lodge on June Lake, near where these photos were taken.  Nicholas notes that June Lake is joyfully transitioning from green to yellow, though the color is still at the low end of being Patchy.  When it’s drizzling, as is now happening in the Eastern Sierra, it’s time to look for new things to photograph, like deer enjoying fresh bursts of green.

This weekend, all points above 9,000’ in the Eastern Sierra (Inyo and Mono Counties), including: Bishop Creek, Rock Creek, Hilton Creek, Virginia Lakes, Green Creek, Summers Meadow, Sage Hen, Dunderberg Meadow and Twin Lakes have the most color, though how long it lasts will depend on the weather.

Yesterday, light breezes blew some of the color from areas in the Eastern Sierra that had peaked or were approaching peak (see below reports). However, the wind only got to what had peaked.  As Alicia Vennos wrote from Mono County this morning, there is still “far too much green mixed with the yellows and oranges,” for the show to end.

That should hold true even after this weekend’s storm passes by. Trees that have green leaves or slightly turned leaves will retain them and their fall color will emerge in coming days and weeks.

Prime areas to see California Fall Color this weekend are at all points above 9,000’ in the Eastern Sierra (Inyo and Mono Counties), including: Bishop Creek, Rock Creek, Hilton Creek, Virginia Lakes, Green Creek, Summers Meadow, Sage Hen, Dunderberg Meadow and Twin Lakes.

Patchy (10-50%) – June Lake – Still early, though color has begun developing.

“Baffling brilliance” is all we can think of to describe what’s happening this year up Bishop Creek in the Eastern Sierra.  Today, we announce ominously, Tah, Dah!, that if you didn’t get to Weir Pond, Parcher’s Resort, Table Mountain Camp, Surveyor’s Meadow or Lake Sabrina,  YOU MISSED IT! 

That’s right. You missed it. These areas are now Past Peak and it’s still September… well, at least for the rest of today it is.

However, despite being past peak, these areas retain impressive patches of fall color near streams. OK, now you’re as baffled as we are.

What is happening, in this fourth year of drought, is that some groves are going off quickly while others that have water seem to be on their normal schedule. That creates what Jared Smith termed, last week, “transitional change,” where part of the forest is peaking, while other parts are still patchy.

The bottom line to anyone who wants to photograph or see fall color at peak is that when we announce GO NOW!, you must not delay, even if the alert is for Near Peak areas.  As, this year the color change may not last a week, OR (more bafflement), it could continue for weeks on end.

Here’s todays report from color spotter Jared Smith of Parcher’s Resort:

Overall Conditions Above 8500ft Elevation – Peak – Go Now! (75% – 100%) – Out of all the years Jared has been doing fall color reporting for the Bishop Creek Canyon, he writes “this has been by far the most difficult to put into a rating scale. There are areas of color that are absolutely going off in full peak color, right next to areas where the color is quickly diminishing, right next to areas containing lots of green still developing color…it’s very difficult.”

Still, while some areas in the higher elevations were better last week than they are today, there are more areas of peak color than not at the higher elevations so he went with a peak rating. The highlights this week are the South Fork of Bishop Creek near Willow Campground, and between Parchers Resort & Weir Pond. On the other side of the canyon, the area between Sabrina Campground and the Sabrina Dam is stunning, and North Lake has tons of peak color.

A storm is predicted for the weekend, including wind and a chance of snow.  So, let’s cross our fingers that the color withstands the cold front.

Overall Conditions Between 7500ft & 8500ft Elevation – Patchy (10% – 50%) – The yellow continues to develop, along with a few patches of orange and red, but the green is holding strong, at least for the next few days. Look for this elevation to be in near peak condition or better by next week’s report. The best color is showing near Cardinal Village on up towards Cardinal Mine. A few small patches of brilliant color near Intake II also.

Peak – Go Now! (75% – 100%) – Sabrina Campground to Sabrina Dam (9000ft) – Some of the red shown over the past few weeks is gone, but without skipping a beat, the color within the campground on up to the approach to the Sabrina dam is absolutely spectacular. Especially beautiful are the views of the winding road across the bridges.

Peak – Go Now! (75% – 100%) – Willow Campground (9000ft) – The next few days will have primo color in and around Willow Campground. A few of the trees already have lost their leaves but the vast majority of the color is just now at or extremely close to peak. The color on the mountain above the camp and also along the old road between Willow and Parchers is really stunning.

Peak – Go Now! (75% – 100%) – North Lake (9255ft) – This area continues to give Jared fits as a reporter, since parts of the shoreline are naked, parts are bright red, and the famous grove lining the road between the first parking area and the campground is about as gorgeous as it gets, a far cry from last week when there was still green dominating that spot. Anyhow, there is enough peak color here, and enough areas that are at their best, for this to get a peak rating still. But seriously, GO NOW!  Jared questions whether the color will be as good next week. Willows are almost completely naked now, a sure sign that the color won’t hold out for much longer at this location.

Past Peak – YOU MISSED IT! (but still impressive) – Weir Pond (9650ft) – As expected, Weir Pond isn’t quite as stunning as it was last week with much of the scrub aspen on the hillside above the pond having gone naked. Lots of color has developed along the road and the color is still beautiful surrounding the pond itself. Any photographer visiting the area should check this spot out – it’s still very much worth the trip.

Past Peak– YOU MISSED IT! (but still impressive) – Parchers Resort (9260ft) – There is a bunch of color still around the resort, especially along the back trail towards South Lake and below on the way to Willow. However, the best color has started to falter, especially higher on the mountains where the smaller aspen have given up. There is some especially brilliant color along South Lake road next to the resort as well as on the canyon wall to the west wall of the canyon that is hanging tough and very much worth a look.

Past Peak– YOU MISSED IT! (but still impressive)  – Table Mountain Camp (8900ft) – The color higher on the mountain and within the campground is showing past peak conditions. Lots and lots of color along the stream though, anywhere between the Stiny Loop and the campground.

Past Peak– YOU MISSED IT! (but still impressive) – Surveyors Meadow (8975ft) – Color-a-plenty can be found in the area between Surveyors and the Tyee bridge, but last week was better than this week, so it gets the past-peak rating.

Past Peak– YOU MISSED IT! (but still impressive) – Lake Sabrina (9150ft) – The color in the back of the lake is gorgeous orange, yellow and red and a walk along the trail that skirts the west shore of the lake offers some pretty impressive views. The east shore is less so, and given how far the color is along here, Jared doubts much will remain after the weather this weekend.

Near Peak (50 – 75%) – Stiny Loop above Mt. Glen Camp (8600ft) – Jared questions how much peak color will develop at this location, considering that the color seems to disappear as fast or faster than it appears.

Just Patchy (10 – 50%) – Mist Falls and the groves above Bishop Creek Lodge (8350ft) – Finally a bit of progress in the color this week with a lot more yellow showing up around the waterfall and in the groves between there at Mt. Glen Campground. This will likely be one of the highlights by next weekend (not this weekend).

Just Starting (0 – 10%) – Aspendell (8400ft) – Very little yellowing, but the green is getting very light so Jared predicts patchy or better color within the week.

Patchy (10 – 50%) – Groves above Cardinal Village (8550ft) – The aspen blanketing the hillside from Cardinal Pinnacle down are pretty much toast. But, now that is done, the color all down the creek from the North Lake turnoff winding down the canyon past the mine towards Cardinal Village is showing yellow. Jared anticipates a great report from this area next week, conditions permitting.

Just Starting (0 – 10%) – Four Jeffries (8000ft) – Nothing but a few yellow branches showing right now. The aspen have lightened considerably though over last week.

Patchy – (10 – 50%) – Intake II (8000ft) – The canyon wall is mostly stripped now but there are some very nice patches near the dam, and a couple of the large aspen along the shoreline are starting to yellow quite nicely.

Just Starting – (0 – 10%) – Big Trees Campground (7800ft) – Nothing but green here right now.