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Wonder-Filled Plumas

Indian Rhubarb and riparian grass, Rock Creek (10/8/17) Michael Beatley

Indian rhubarb (10/87/17) Michael Beatley

When the Indian Rhubarb start to burn orange, red, yellow and green in Plumas County, there are few more striking places to be to see fall color in California than along one of its streams.

Michael Beatley captures the start of this beauty in these closeups from along Rock Creek, downstream from Meadow Camp in Meadow Valley.

Plumas County is the northernmost end of the Sierra in the vast Shasta Cascade region of California, and during autumn, it is wonder-filled.

Indian rhubarb, black oak and bigleaf maple are the predominant sources of fall color.

Though, exotic trees planted in its towns mix with the native color to create dramatic showy scenes, like that of the exotic maple planted behind the Plumas Superior Courthouse in Quincy, contrasted with a native maple seen along Big Creek road.

Eastern maple, Plumas Superior Courthouse, Quincy (10/8/17) Michael Beatley

Bigleaf maple, Big Creek Rd., Plumas County (10/8/17) Michael Beatley

Plumas County Color spotter Michael Beatley drove to Thompson Lake (First Report), just above Bucks Lake, on the road to the dam and just off the road near 5 p.m.

Beatley called it the “Perfect time, no wind and aspen peaking at 5,600′.

What!? Peaking aspen at 5,600′ when they haven’t peaked above 9,000′ at some locations in the Eastern Sierra? What gives?

This continues to be one of the earliest autumn peaks for the Northern Sierra and one of the latest for the Eastern Sierra.

Thompson Lake, Plumas County (10/8/17) Michael Beatley

 

 

 

 

 

Superior Court Judge Alan Theiler Memorial Maple, Quincy (10/10/17) Michael Beatley

Thompson Ranch Maple, La Porte Rd., Quincy (10/10/17) Michael Beatley

Quincy (3,432′) –  Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Plumas County – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

 

 

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Color Along I-80 and At Tahoe

Rainbow Lodge (10/8/17) Robert Kermen

Rainbow Lodge is a point along I-80 that I’ve always wanted to explore. Color spotter Robert Kermen got there first, to score a First Report.

He reports finding this spot of color behind Rainbow Lodge on the South Yuba River.

Rainbow Lodge, Soda Springs (6,768′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Spring Creek, South Lake Tahoe (10/8/17) Robert Kermen

Robert also was near South Lake Tahoe at the Spring Creek Recreational Tract near Emerald Bay and found color peaking there, too.

Jennifer Tiffan visited Zephyr Cove on the Nevada side of Tahoe and found more orange to share.

Quaking Aspen, Zephyr Cove, Nevada (10/8/17) Jennifer Tiffan

Spring Creek Recreational Tract (10/8/17) Robert Kermen

 

 

 

 

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Mt. San Jacinto – A Palm Springs Peak

Mount San Jacinto State Park (10/7/17) Naresh Satyan

The bright gold of peaking willows, grasses and ferns becomes intensified at sunset at Mount San Jacinto State Park above Palm Springs, reports Southern California color spotter Naresh Satyan who scores a First Report.

Naresh reported the best color seems to be along the creek between Long Valley and Tamarack valley between 8500′ and 9000′, only a short walk from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway station.

He recommends taking the tram up to hike the mountains any time of year, though in autumn, the colors provide extra incentive.

Mount San Jacinto State Park, above Palm Springs (8,516′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

 

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Ventana Wilderness / Big Sur

Bigleaf Maple, Ventana Wilderness (10/1/17) Leor Pantilat

(Big Sur – 10/3/17) California’s Central Coast is not known for its fall color, though “the coast-facing canyons of Big Sur contain a nice concentration of bigleaf maples,” reports Leor Pantilat who scores a prized First Report.

Ventana Wilderness (10/1/17) Leor Pantilat

Poison Oak, Ventana Wilderness (10/1/17) Leor Pantilat

Ventana Wilderness (10/1/17) Leor Pantilat

In these mountains, the fall color progression is a rolling peak depending on the slope aspect and elevation. For now the best color is at the highest elevations of the Santa Lucia Mountains.

Pantilat states that “the endemic Santa Lucia Fir forest provides a unique setting. Bountiful poison oak is also bright red at the higher elevations.

Leor took these images near Cone Peak on Sunday. He estimates that color will persist in this area for at least a couple more weeks and then progressively move down the canyon where it will mix with redwoods below ~2000 ft into November.

Expect spots of bright color in an otherwise evergreen forest of fir, redwood and live oak.

Ventana Wilderness – Big Sur Hills (3,000 to 5,000 feet) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

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Out for a Ride? Try San Gabriel Canyon

San Gabriel River Trail (9/30/17) Steve Shinn

A popular, paved bike/hiking trail that runs 38.6 miles from Azusa to Long Beach is the San Gabriel River Trail.

In places, the trail is speckled (at various times) with fall color, including sycamore, alder, oak and – right now – brilliant red poison oak. While poison oak isn’t something you want to touch, it is beautiful to the eye.

Color spotter Steve Shinn scores a First Report on this route. On Saturday, he rode a 7-mile section of the trail, starting from one of the trail’s parking lots, 14 miles from Azusa, off I-210.

The path Steve took traveled up a gentle grade with “lots of ripe, native Hollyleaf Cherries, some deer, many kinds of birds (Steve saw a Kingfisher working the river), lots of Sister butterflies and others.”

To park, you must have an Adventure Pass on your windshield. Take plenty of water along, as there is no drinking water, just fish, in the river.

San Gabriel River Trail (610′ to 0′) – Patchy (10-50%) – Poison oak are peaking.

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Shasta Cascade on Pace for Early Peak

Cottonwood, Westwood (9/29/17) Chris Gallagher

Unlike the Eastern Sierra, which is a week to two late, we’re getting early reports of fall color from the Northern Sierra and Cascades.

Admittedly, the color is at the starting to patchy phase, but still, the photos don’t lie. Even valley locations in the northern Central Valley, like Colusa, are showing early color.

We’re not close to issuing a GO NOW! alert, as too few photos have been received to indicate a trend, though will be watching closely. What a weird year!

Westwood (Lassen County) – Patchy (10-50%) – Chris Gallagher, Lassen County District 1 Supervisor, sent a photo of patchy cottonwood near a Westwood barn to score a First Report. Westwood was a lumber mill town, east of Lake Almanor and beside the lovely (bring your kayak) Mountain Meadows Reservoir and Dyer Mountain, the northernmost point in the Sierra Nevada.

Fall River (9/29/17) Martha Fletcher

Fall River – Patchy (10-50%) – Martha Fletcher reports that the Fall River area, particularly Upper Fall River near the Spinner Fall Lodge remains Patchy with the color at 50% and showing shades of yellow, gold, some reds and green from willow, black oak and river grasses.

Mountain Ash, Colusa (9/29/17) Nancy Hull

Colusa – Patchy (10-50%) – Mountain ash have brightened in Colusa (Central Valley), Nancy Hull reports. Several National Wildlife Refuges are located near Colusa, which is a great location for wildlife viewing in autumn.

 

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Fall River Senses Fall

Ponderosa Pine, Willows, Spinner Fall Lodge, Fall River Mills (9/20/17) Martha Fletcher

Martha Fletcher of Fall River Mills (First Report) sends this shot of the tops of Ponderosa pine reflecting the orange glow of sunset, as – in the foreground – willows are just beginning to reflect on their own orange tones.

Fall River Mills (3,195′) – Just Starting (0-10%)

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California Roundup

Green Lake (9/23/17) Naresh Satyan

Color spotters from across California have been contributing their observations.  Here’s a roundup of what they’re seeing.

Eastern Sierra

Groves Above Cardinal Village (9/24/17) Clayton Peoples

Clayton Peoples spent Sunday in the upper reaches of Bishop Creek Canyon and reports, “Although I agree with color spotter Will Ridgeway on rating the high elevations above Lake Sabrina as “Near Peak” (50-75%), much of Bishop Creek Canyon is still “Patchy” (10-50%)–but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still beautiful color to be found.

“For instance, the upper portion of the groves above Cardinal Village have turned mostly orange. Given a few more days, this subset of aspens will likely be at peak color. Likewise, some of the aspen around Lake Sabrina have begun to turn yellow and/or orange–but will likely need a week or more to reach peak color.

Nevertheless, Clayton predicts there will be “numerous weeks of good color to come in Bishop Creek Canyon as color fills in more fully in the high elevations, then works its way down.” Clayton would assess Bishop Creek Canyon as “Peak of the Week” worthy… and we agree.

South Lake Rd, near Parchers, Bishop Creek Canyon (9/23/17) Naresh Satyan

Naresh Satyan hiked from South Lake in Bishop Creek Canyon to Green Lake (up to 12,400′) before snow turned him back, yesterday. He reports that aspens along South Lake road are still mostly green and healthy), though he found a few stands surrounding the Parchers Resort that are turning nicely.

The color appears to be best at or above 10,000′ which coincides with a Near Peak (GO NOW!) report we received this past week from Sabrina Lake.

You will, however, find peak color among the willows, grasses and ground covers. That is evident in the photo of Green Lake (11,260′) which Naresh described as “spectacular and well worth the hike to get there.” Of course, be prepared for cold temperatures. A light dusting of snow on the mountains and some lupines still blooming made for an unforgettable hike.

 

Shasta Cascade

Ruth Hartman reports from Coffee Creek in Trinity County (Shasta Cascade) that color this past week’s cold snap got dogwood turning red and varigated green along Hwy 3 in Trinity County at 3000′. You’ll find it while heading north along the Slate grade, two miles before Tannery Gulch campground. Odd, but we’re seeing the same with planted dogwood at 800′ in elevation, east of Sacramento in El Dorado Hills.

Southern California

Gingko Biloba, Long Beach (9/23/17) Trent Vierra

Liquidambar, Long Beach (9/23/17) Trent Vierra

Trent Vierra interrupted his morning bike ride, yesterday, to snap a couple of shots of gingko biloba and liquidambar brightening up along 1st St. in the Bluff Heights neighborhood of Long Beach, and commented that he’s been noticing change in color among these exotic species.

That’s typical of liquidambar, though the gingkos tend to keep to a more regular schedule. Still, Trent scores the first “First Report” for Long Beach. While doing that, he also got a shot of a Maine license plate beside emerging California Fall Color… double score.

 

 

 

 

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Darrell Sano Scores Several Firsts

Sunol Regional Wilderness (8/20/17) Darrell Sano

Color spotter Darrell Sano (dksfoto.smugmug.com) began his search for fall color “a bit early this year,” by hiking into the Sunol Regional Wilderness and along Alameda Creek this past Sunday, where he saw the first reported “hints of fall color.”

Sunol Regional Wilderness (8/20/17) Darrell Sano

Sunol Regional Wilderness (8/20/17) Darrell Sano

Darrell said the display wasn’t obvious. He had to search for it and hiked “off the trail to really see it.” Nevertheless, despite that temperatures were pushing 90 degrees, Darrell said he “still could sense the change of light,” and that autumn was approaching.

Should you visit this preserve in San Francisco’s east bay, you’ll find alder, willow and sycamore, though mostly evergreen coastal live oak and gray pine, plus blue oak, elderberry, madrone and … rattlesnakes.

Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Sunol Regional Wilderness (8/20/17) Darrell Sano

Sunol Regional Wilderness (8/20/17) Darrell Sano

The well-fed snake seen in this photograph (far left) crossed a shaded trail toward Darrell.

Congratulations to Darrell who scores several color spotter firsts: the first to file a report in 2017, the first to report from the Sunol Regional Wilderness and the first to set a record for the hundred yard dash.
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First Report: Orange County Lives Up To Its Name

City of Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Orange County (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Orange County is living up to its name, with orange leaves adding late autumn color to the season.

Chapman University, Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

City of Orange (12/10/16) Son Nguyen

Son Nguyen visited Chapman University in the City of Orange to find its foliage at peak.

No wonder we rarely get reports from Orange County. Son’s First Report shows that it peaks in December (hand slap to forehead)!

Orange County – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!