Red Clover Valley in the Northern Sierra is one of those colorfully named places that time forgot and man exploited.
Until 1880, it was lushly populated with a glorious riparian ecology, containing California Golden Beaver (Castor canadensis subauratus), native trout, hardwood trees, willows and sedges. Its isolation had kept it pristine and idyllic for millennia.
However, it was also a natural pen which ranchers used to graze sheep and cattle. That grazing inevitably eliminated the valley’s riparian vegetation, resulting in Red Clover Creek eroding, widening and deepening itself, the California Water Resources Agency reported in 1991.
In 2012, a proposal to restore the valley reported that Red Clover Creek’s “once-productive wet meadows (had, by then) converted to a dry sagebrush-dominated basin with minimal vegetation and little cover for fish.”
Yesterday, Dave Butler was distracted by flashes of golden color as he drove the Beckwourth/Genessee Rd. near Red Clover Valley. Quaking Aspen were turning from deep green to lime and yellow. Beauty was returning to the Red Clover Valley as autumn was approaching.
Just Starting (0-10%) – Red Clover Valley (5,400′)
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2018-09-19 09:15:202018-09-19 10:49:27A First For Red Clover Valley
California Black Walnut and Fox Squirrel, Bel Air (9/3/18) Peter Asco
California Black Walnut, Bel Air (9/3/18) Peter Asco
Early in September, along Southern California’s coast, squirrels begin stripping “the sparse but beautiful native California Black Walnut (juglans californica) of their walnuts, Peter Asco reports. They “take full advantage of this crop, stripping the trees of every single walnut in a period of two weeks.”
Exploring “one of BelAir’s undisturbed canyons within the Santa Monica Mountains,” Peter came upon this rarely-shot autumn scene and scored a first report by photographing fall color up Bel Air’s wild canyons.
Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) – California Black Walnut, Santa Monica Mountains, Bel Air.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2018-09-11 14:52:282018-09-12 15:02:31Squirrels Strip California Black Walnuts
California Corn Lillies, Spencer Meadow, Lassen National Forest (8/30/18) Chico Hiking Association
In their enthusiasm to appreciate trees, color spotters often overlook meadows. However, that’s where early, delicate color is often first seen.
Willows, Spencer Meadow, Lassen National Forest (8/30/18) Chico Hiking Association
On a hike through Spencer Meadow in Lassen National Forest, members of the Chico Hiking Association scored a First Report (the first report for a specific location on CaliforniaFallColor.com) and found such beauty among willows and California Corn Lillies in the meadow.
Chico Hiking Association reports they plan a series of fall color hikes and will be submitting photos to document what they’re seeing on their hikes. That’s such a great idea for hiking clubs that we have designated the Spencer Meadow trail as our first Hike of the Week of Autumn.
Just Starting (0-10%) – Spencer Meadow, Lassen National Forest
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Kern River, Sequoia National Forest (11/12/17) Niles Armstrong
Niles Armstrong sends this first report of Peak to Past Peak color north of Kernville in the Sequoia National Forest.
Notice how full the river is running in mid November, even though it has not yet begun raining heavily, and the bright spots of gold still seen among cottonwood along the Kern River’s banks.
Kern River – Peak to Past Peak – You Almost Missed It.
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Chinese pistache, Mendocino National Forest-Chico Seed Farm (10/27/17) Robert Kerman
Pistache tunnel, near Durham (10/27/17) Robert Kerman
Çolor spotters are beginning to cash in by heading to Chico, as autumn color is sprinting through Patchy toward Near Peak.
Less than a week ago, we were reporting Chico as Just Starting, but these photographs sent to us by color spotter Robert Kerman show a different story… one worth a road trip and worth photographing.
Robert visited a few of his “favorite haunts for fall color,” including the U.S. Forest Service’s seed farm in Chico (First Report), whose main road is lined with colorful Chinese pistache, now just approaching Near Peak. They should be good for another two weeks.
He passed through another “pistache tunnel” along the “Midway” between Chico and Durham, near walnut orchards featured on 10/23; and found “awesome colors” at forested Bidwell Park in Chico, where The Adventures of Robin Hood was filmed in 1938, winning three Oscars.
Bidwell Park, Chico (10/27/17) Robert Kerman
So, Sherwood, do you plan to be one of Chico’s Merry men and women this weekend? If so, it looks like the fall color hunting will be Oscar-nomination-worthy.
Chico (197′) – Patchy (10-50%) – While Chico doesn’t yet show enough color to get a GO NOW! alert, fall color there is progressing rapidly. Chico should be peaking the first week of November. On our must-see list are: Midway (between Durham and Chico), walnut orchards, Bidwell Park, Esplanade and Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina.
Trees are Just Starting to turn color in Chico, but it’ll be paradise when the Esplanade (seen above) is peaking. Then, it is one of the most fall-tastic boulevards in California.
What makes Chico’s Esplanade so exceptional is its blend of vibrant Chinese pistache and landmark Valley Oak that drape the roadway with fluorescent red, yellow, orange and lime leaves.
A trip to Butte County (northern California – CA-99) to see Chico’s peak fall colors is a favorite excursion of ours.
We make a point to stop at the Sierra Nevada brewery for lunch, visit its gift shop, tour one of Chico’s art galleries (they’re known for great galleries), then drive up the Esplanade, continuing north past peaking walnut orchards along CA-99 to Vina and the Abbey of New Clairvaux where an inspiring gothic vaulted interior from an 800-year-old monastery has been restored. It will all be peaking in two to three weeks.
Patrick Ranch, Durham (10/21/17) Danie Schwartz
Black oak, Paradise Lake (10/22/17) Cindy Lee Hoover
In nearby Durham (south of Chico – First Report), orchards arch roadways with changing color. This one is next to the Patrick Ranch on Midway Rd. Large walnut trees provide green, gold, yellow and rust colors at peak.
However, once you reach Paradise north of Chico (Yes, there is such a town), you’ll find the black oak to be at the high end of patchy. Bigleaf maple, vine maple, California buckeye, California ash, Northern California black walnut and miner’s dogwood all provide seasonal color at this elevation.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2017-10-23 18:13:372017-10-24 10:53:50It'll Be Paradise At Peak
Another of the areas Near Peak to Peaking in the Shasta Cascade region is Trinity County.
Shasta Cascade color spotter Jeri Rangel traveled the Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway (CA-3) , yesterday, including scoring a First Report for Lewiston, which requires a detour (Trinity Dam Blvd.) from the route.
From Redding, head west on CA-299 toward Weaverville (great color, plus a fascinating historic downtown and Joss House State Historic Park – all worth seeing). Trinity Dam Blvd. is a couple of miles before the turn north onto the scenic byway (CA-3).
Her route along the scenic byway traveled north from Weaverville on Hwy 3, past Trinity Lake, Trinity Center, the Trinity Alps and Etna, Scott Valley, the Marble Mountains and Ft. Jones, finding “fabulous” fall colors that have “popped out brightly all over and just about at the same time!”
She estimates that the route is at full peak, though this is an area that should stay good through early November.
Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway, CA-3 – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
Dogwood, Norwegian Area, North Trinity Lake (10/19/17) Jeri Rangel
Hazelgreen Dip, CA-120, Yosemite NP (10/14/17) Simon Lau
Two miles south of the Big Oak Flat entrance station (northwest entrance, Yosemite National Park), CA-120 (called the Big Oak Flat Road inside the national park) dips near Hazelgreen. There, dogwood, ferns, willows and bigleaf maple are putting on an irridescent show of pink, rose, yellow, gold and lime. Simon Lau scores a First Report for this area, which has long been a favorite of Yosemite color watchers.
Down in Yosemite Valley, bigleaf maple and dogwood are peaking, as well. By the end of the month, however, they’ll have dropped their leaves and the black oaks will have turned deep orange in contrast to their black branches and trunks.
By this time in Autumn, until the late 1800s, native Ahwahneechee, the band of Miwok Indians who called Yosemite Valley their home, would have burned off the Valley’s grasses, to make it easier to collect black oak acorns, a principal food and trading item.
Tioga Lake, Yosemite National Park (10/15/17) Gene Miller
On his return from the Eastern Sierra, color spotter Gene Miller passed over Tioga Pass, capturing this shot of Tioga Lake with a touch of gold surviving at 9,638′, scoring another First Report, then traveled into Yosemite Valley to get a shot of the pioneer sugar maple planted near the Yosemite Chapel nearing the end of its peak.
Hazelgreen Dip, near Big Oak Flat Entrance Station, CA-120, Yosemite National Park (4,400′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park (9,943′) – Past Peak – You Missed It.
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park (4,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Dogwood, cottonwood and bigleaf maple are peaking. Black oak will peak at the end of October.
Sugar Maple, Yosemite Valley (10/15/17) Gene Miller
The West Walker River is often overlooked as a fall color location. Mark Harding didn’t make that mistake.
Instead, he drove along a dirt road, 15 miles north of Bridgeport, to Obsidian Campground in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest yesterday to find aspen and willows in all stages of peak, coloring the dense forest near the stream with avocado green, gold, orange and rose. And, yes, it’s a First Report for this location on the West Walker River.
West Walker River (7,800′) – Near Peak 50-75%) GO NOW!
I sure hadn’t. Henness Pass Road travels east/west across the Northern Sierra, south of CA-49, roughly between Camptonville and Downieville, but slightly to the south.
As the lowest pass through the Sierra Nevada, you’d think everyone would drive it, but don’t expect to jump in your sedan for a leisurely Sunday drive, as only high clearance off-road vehicles can operate on it. This is wild country dotted with ranches, wildlife, spots of fall color and not much else.
Bridget and Bruce Locken traveled it on Saturday to score a First Report with these snapshots of the color to be seen in this remote area of California.
Henness Pass (6,920′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
