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Yosemite Magic

The grandeur of Yosemite in the fall does not disappoint (11/5/23) Angie Plaisted

Yosemite is magical any time of year but especially as fall fades into winter, as color spotter Angie Plaisted discovered this week.

“Yosemite never disappoints, but yesterday was just incredible,” she said. “It was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen it, and we hit some areas I’ve never been to.”

The area is currently peaking and you should GO NOW to experience this national park gem at a special time of year.

Yosemite shines in the fall (11/5/23) Angie Plaisted
Fall colors are peaking around Yosemite (11/5/23) Angie Plaisted
Fall is the perfect time to explore Yosemite (11/5/23) Angie Plaisted
Fall foliage is peaking in Yosemite (11/5/23) Angie Plaisted
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Downieville Does Not Disappoint

Lavezzola Creek (10/2723) Philip Reedy
Color spotter Philip Reedy headed to Downieville on Oct. 27 with his buddy John to check out the colors in the area. The duo spent their time on the North Fork of the Yuba and Lavezzola Creek, all within three miles of town. 
 
“I’ve been reporting on that location every year since 2017,” Reedy explains. “On my first visit exactly six years ago to the day the colors were absolutely amazing. While they are really nice every year, I’ve never seen such a spectacular display again.  While not quite up to that level this year, the colors are still gorgeous and well worth the drive. As I noted in my Siskiyou report Friday, the Indian Rhubarb is lagging a bit this year, but there is still a lot that has turned a bright yellow.”
 
Phil and John began at their favorite spot just a couple of miles east of Downieville. The canyon is steep there, so by early afternoon the river is in shade which is perfect for photographing rushing water and color, according to Reedy.
 
“The big leaf maples are looking spectacular right now and will probably remain so for another week,” he says. “And with luck, the remaining green rhubarb will show their fall colors by then.”
 
The next stop was Lavezzola Creek, a few miles northeast of Downieville. This area is beautiful any time of the year, but especially in late October. In some parts of the creek a lot of the rhubarb has already turned bright yellow, while 50 yards downstream it is still completely green. So there should be more to come there as well, Reedy says.
North Fork of the Yuba (10/27/23) Philip Reedy
A rocky existence (10/27/23) Philip Reedy
North Fork of the Yuba (10/27/23) Philip Reedy
NF Yuba as photographed by Reedy in 2017
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Say Yes to Yosemite

Yosemite Valley Chapel (10/28/23) Jennifer Natale

Jennifer Natale reports that Yosemite Valley colors are looking good as of Oct. 28.

“I did the full loop around Mirror Lake,” Natale says, “which had some spectacular reds and yellows.” She also walked to the chapel and around other portions of the valley.

Natale also noted that the park is in the midst of prescribed burns so the air quality wasn’t the best near El Capitan.

Yosemite Valley (10/28/23) Jennifer Natale
Mirror Lake area (10/28/23) Jennifer Natale
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Bare Limbs at Tahoe

Martis Creek Cabin, CA 267, Brockway Summit (10/24/22) John Poimiroo

Bare limbs at Martis Creek Cabin (CA 267 near Brockway Summit) declare emphatically, “You missed it.”

A brief visit to North Lake Tahoe to winterize the family cabin included stops along the north shore, which varies between Peak and Past peak. There are spots of peak color, though it’s mostly gone.

Still, there’s a lovely visual warmth provided by the remaining gamboge, copper and scarlet foliage found lingering in Kings Beach, Carnelian Bay and Tahoe City as the chill days of November approach. 

Interstate 80’s fall color is seen only briefly at Cisco Grove, when heading west in the afternoon. Otherwise, nothing stands out.

Cisco Grove, S Yuba River (10/25/22) John Poimiroo
  • Martis Creek Cabin (5,925′) – Past Peak, you missed it.
  • North Lake Tahoe (6,225′) – PEAK to Past Peak, GO NOW, you almost missed it.
  • Cisco Grove (I-80) (5,643′) – Near Peak (50-75%) Go Now,
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Caffein Inspired

Red Lake CreekCabin, Hope Valley (10/18/22) Peter Robbins

Occasionally, I have the great pleasure of meeting some of you who read this blog. Some weeks ago, Peter Robbins – who’d contributed to the site – called to say he’d retired from nuclear medicine, loved photography, loved fall color and could we chat?

So, we arranged to meet yesterday at Karen’s Bakery in Folsom for a cup of Joe and one of their sinfully good pastries. We chatted about photography, this website, fall color and all things in between. Off he went, and so did I.

Fortified with caffein Peter set off only to learn that his wife had a busy afternoon that day, and he was free to explore. Perhaps this would be the moment to begin that coffee table book about fire-scarred landscapes he’d considered creating. He even had a working title for it … “Burnscapes.”

His random exploration led him over Luther Pass and through the Hope Valley where he thought, “John would kill me if I didn’t grab a few shots.” He found the valley to be mostly past peak, but there were bright spots that will last through the weekend, so that inspired him to coin a headline, “Still Hope for Hope Valley.”

Peter decided to shoot the trees blurred in an opposite way than Vishal Mishra did a few days ago. In Vishal’s shot, a red sports car was sharp and the trees a blur. In Peter’s capture, a red truck is blurred and the trees sharp. One approach focuses on the car, the other on the trees. Both make me smile.

As seen, the Hope Valley has “nice yellow to rich orange,” though lime groves still remain here and there, indicating that peak will last at least another week along CA 88.

Peak color now climbs the hillside behind Red Lake Creek Cabin, though here too there’s a stand of limey aspen still to peak.

All in all, the Hope Valley is about as good as it gets right now and is a definite GO NOW!

Peter and I plan to have another cup when we meet early one November morn to drive up to Colusa to shoot birds (photographically) and the breeze. Perhaps he’ll add a few wildlife shots to his collection of Burnscape images. Sure hope so.

Luther Pass, Hope Valley (10/18/22) Peter Robbins
  • Hope Valley (7,300′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Lingering at Wylder

Seema Mishra lingers to take in the beauty, Wylder Resort, Hope Valley (10/15/22) Vishal Mishra

Peak color is lingering at Wylder this autumn. Groves layered with Just Starting to Peak color have peaked successively, each so beautiful they make you stop in your tracks.

Vishal and Seema Mishra found that experience on their visit this weekend.

CA-89, Wylder's Resort Hope Valley (10/15/22) Vishal Mishra
Seema and Vishal Mishra, Wylder's Resort Hope Valley (10/15/22) Vishal Mishra
  • Wylder’s Resort Hope Valley(7,000′) – PEAK to Past Peak, Go Now, you almost missed it.
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Hope Against Hope

A year ago, Philip Reedy took a self-portrait fishing Red Lake Creek in the Hope Valley. Yesterday, he took a similar photograph. The comparison of color and weather are fascinating.

Though, what is most interesting between the two is how similar the color is in photographs taken four days apart, a year later. Other than the snow and sky, the trees are at very similar stages of color development. Four more days and the aspen seen behind the cabin will be more orange, as they were when photographed last year.

As Reedy pointed out last week, the Hope Valley may have the most consistent change anywhere in the Sierra Nevada.

Hope Valley Pasture (10/14/22) Philip Reedy

Presently, from Carson Pass down to Wylders on CA 88, “almost every tree has changed and many have already dropped their leaves,” Reedy reports, “It still looks great, but I would go in the next few days before more trees are bare for the winter.”

“The road to Woods Lake is still gorgeous and unlike Monday at dawn, there were quite a few people driving by to enjoy the colors,” he continues. Red Lake Creek and its oft- photographed cabin is still looking good, though across the road the trees are now pretty bare.  

Groves on the north end of the pasture near the junction with Blue Lakes Road, “still look great,” and the grove “west of Picketts Junction ranges from bare trees to full color.” Reedy suggests parking in the USFS dispersed camping area for a “leisurely walk to enjoy the range of colors.”

However, peak has now lasted near two weeks in the Hope Valley, so green areas are nearly gone and leaves are falling. Go immediately, if you don’t want to be disappointed by finding only bare branches.

  • Hope Valley (7,300′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Black and Quaking

Black Cottonwood, Silver Mountain Historic Site, Ebbetts Pass (10/12/22) Mark Hoshovsky

The deeply golden spear tips seen above are near perfect examples of peak Black cottonwood. Mark Hoshovsky photographed them at the Silver Mountain Historic Site on Ebbetts Pass (CA 4) in Alpine County.

Black cottonwood have a spear-shaped leaf and rounded stem, whereas Frémont cottonwood leaves are broader, have a scalloped edge and a flat stem. Black cottonwood grow mostly above 7,000′ whereas Frémont cottonwood are usually found growing below 6,000′. With these guidelines, it’s easy to tell them apart.

Discerning the differences between cottonwood and aspen is even easier, though the two are often mistaken.

Quaking aspen leaves are smaller, more rounded and mostly yellow, though also can be golden, orange or red. The trunks are radically different, Aspen trunks are smooth and white or green. Cottonwood are brown and rough. Cottonwood and aspen both thrive near water sources, though aspen like smaller creeks, while cottonwood prefer bigger streams. 

Aspen leaves, Monitor Pass (10/12/22) Mark Hoshovsky

On Hoshovsky’s drive from the East Fork of the Carson River, along Monitor Pass and past Heenan Lake, he passed the burn scar from the 2015 Washington Fire. The conifers are nearly all gone, but willows and aspen are thriving in the sunlight and promise to provide an increasingly spectacular display for decades to come.

Washington Fire scar, Monitor Pass (10/12/22) Mark Hoshovsky
Ebbetts Pass (10/12/22) Mark Hoshovsky
  • Ebbetts Pass (8,730′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • Monitor Pass (8,314′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Carson River Chronicles

W Fork Carson River, Carson River Canyon (10/11/22) Mark Hoshovsky

There’s usually no lack of photographs submitted from the Hope Valley. This year, not so much.

That surprised Mark Hoshovsky, though he thought it might be because the Hope Valley looked short of peak when he visited this week … perhaps an explanation.

We disagree. The Hope Valley seems to be peaking normally. Peak began, as it usually does, near the Wylder Resort, with trees in the higher groves soon past peak. Others there have been peaking stand by stand … ordinary for Wylders. The other prime locations in Hope Valley have been developing as they usually do, as well.

It is west of Woods Lake on CA 88, where the color has been disappointing and less than previously recorded.

So, Hoshovsky took a different path. He chronicled the West Carson River near the Wylder Resort, then hiked up toward Luther Pass (CA 89) to Scotts Lake and back through Big Meadow. He was impressed by the scenery on the way to Scotts Lake, along a trail that passed through “lots of aspen, plus some huge trees up to 20′ around at their base (Juniper, Jeffrey pine and others).”

His Frostian solution of “taking the path less-traveled by” resulted in him scoring a First Report for the trail to Scotts Lake, as it had not been reported or photographed previously.

Perhaps his experience explains why fewer photographs from Hope Valley have been submitted this year … color spotters are looking for new places to explore and chronicling less-traveled places, as he did..

  • Luther Pass (7,740′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • Scotts Lake (8,022′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • Big Meadow (7,500′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Like Clockwork

Woods Lake Rd, Hope Valley (10/10/22) Philip Reedy

Philip Reedy says he’s tracked peak in the Hope Valley for eight years and it’s peaked “like clockwork” every year around October 8, and – he predicts – it should remain good for another week.

Aspen on CA 89, south of Pickett’s Junction toward Luther Pass “are also predictably green and usually peak a couple of weeks after the valley.”

Toward Carson Pass on 88, “The trees along Woods Lake Road are especially striking right now, especially just before sunrise.”

Phil could not leave the Hope Valley without doing something else predictably. He took an “obligatory fly fishing shot” along the West Carson.

  • Hope Valley (7,300′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!