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Lakes Basin

Sardine Lake, Lakes Basin (10/12/19) Michael Beatley

Often overlooked in the Northern Sierra is the Lakes Basin of Plumas and Sierra Counties.

The Lakes Basin is part of the Sierra Nevada’s and the Pacific Crest Trail runs through it. It has numerous lakes, Gold lake, Salmon Lake, Packer Lake, Upper and Lower Sardine Lake, Young America Lake and Goose Lake among the better known.

Fall color in the Lakes Basin is modest, though its hot reflections upon the lakes’ clear blue waters, along with emerald glimpses of their icy depths, are mesmerizing.

Yesterday, Plumas County color spotter Michael Beatley hiked to an old USFS lookout that overlooks Sardine Lake and reports that the area is hovering between Patchy and Near Peak with some of its aspen still fully green, while others are peaking.

  • Lakes Basin (8,857′) – Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) GO NOW!
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Going to Church

St. Canice Catholic Church, Nevada City (10/10/19) Robert Kermen
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Ft. Jones, Siskiyou County (10/9/19) Laura Jean

Color spotters Robert Kermen and Laura Jean found inspiration and saw the light as they traveled through Nevada City and Ft. Jones this week.

Kermen was driving along CA-20 when he began to notice quite a bit of color mostly from alder, bigleaf maple and dogwood.

He wrote, “The stretch between Grass Valley and I-80 has always fascinated me with its mix of hardwood and deciduous trees.“

Exiting I-80 at Bowman Lake, he visited the headwaters of Bear River and one of his favorite falls to find that bigleaf maple leaves had littered the area.

“At an elevation of approximately 5000 feet, it appeared the big leaf maple were peaking while the dogwood was just starting. While hiking the Sierra Discovery Trail, which follows Bear River, he noticed that most of the big leaf maple were infected with “fungal tar spot disease.”

Upon reaching Grass Valley, he was struck by the beauty of St Canice Catholic Church and maples that surround it.

Exotic color, Ft. Jones (10/9/19) Laura Jean

Laura Jean was similarly inspired, driving CA-3 through Siskiyou County. The towns of Ft. Jones and Etna and environs are at peak and “vivid.”

  • CA-20, Bowman Lake to Nevada City – Near Peak (50-75% GO NOW!
  • CA-3, Scott Valley, Ft. Jones to Etna – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Over 120 Years of Beauty

Sugar maple, Taylorsville (10/10/19) Michael Beatley

Grover Cleveland likely was President of the United States when this maple was planted near Taylorsville.

Today, it is a beautiful reminder of the 1890s.

Bucks Lake, Plumas County (10/10/19) Michael Beatley

Yesterday, after visiting Bucks Lake, Plumas County color spotter Michael Beatley drove west from Quincy towards Greenville and the Indian Valley. Shortly before the turn off to Taylorsville, at Dixie Canyon Rd., he pulled over, to enjoy the brilliant orange color of the tree.

He was on his way to Youngs market in Taylorsville, which Michael describes as serving the “best hamburgers in Northern California … honestly.”

Now, having traveled widely in search of California fall color, I’d nominate the Walker Burger in Walker (US 395) as having the best burger, but then I haven’t yet tasted the Youngs burger.

I suppose the debate can only be settled by driving to Taylorsville to see the tree for myself and have a burger.

  • Taylorsville (3,547’) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
  • Bucks Lake (5,167’) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
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Peak at Thompson Lake

Aspen, Thompson Lake, Plumas County (10-10-19) Michael Beatley

The Shasta Cascade scores its first peak with this report from Michael Beatley.

He was there when the morning sunlight crests Sierra peaks and hits the far side of the lake, which faces east. Aspen pop, their golden reflections streaming across the still, dark water.

Michael recommends being there between 8 and 8:30 a.m., though it remains good until 10.

The lower road to Bucks Lake, Big Creek Rd, is in full bloom with ruby mountain ash, vermillion Pacific dogwood and yellow bigleaf maple at their best.

From Bucks Lake, take the road to the dam. Thompson Lake is just feet off the road.

Quincy has power, the area has beautiful weather, little to no wind and many beautiful fall locations.

  • Thompson Lake – Peak (75-10%) GO NOW!
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Marble Mountains

Marble Mountains Wilderness Area (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat

Class in Session. So, who here has heard of the Marble Mountains?

No, the Marble Mountains of which I’m speaking are not in Vietnam, nor Southern California. Those are different ranges with the same name. The one I’m thinking of is in Northern California’s Siskiyou County.

Technically, they’re the northwest portion of the Salmon Mountains. Familiar, yet? No?

Maybe this will help … They’re a sub-range of the Klamath Mountains. Did I hear a “Huh!?”

Still cold? Here are some tips: the Marble Mountains area was one of the first four “Primitive Areas” designated in America (1931), became a Wilderness Area in 1953, and the Pacific Crest Trail passes through it.

Believe me. When I first learned of the Marble Mountains I was scratching my head, too. I’d never heard of them.

Bigleaf maple, Marble Mountains (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat

Images sent today by Leor Pantilat show a range deserving of greater recognition. The problem is, the Marble Mountains are in a state with 352 mountain ranges. So, it’s understandable that you might not have heard of them.

Wikipedia reports that more species of conifer (17) live in proximity there than any place else in the world, including the Brewer’s spruce; incense cedar; Western Juniper; white, subalpine and Shasta red fir; Engelmann spruce; mountain hemlock; Pacific yew; and whitebark, knobcone, foxtail, lodgepole, sugar, ponderosa and western white pine.

CaliforniaFallColor.com has mentioned the Marble Mountains previously, but Leor’s is the first report showing fall color there.

Bigleaf maple are Near Peak and lighting the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area’s remarkable conifer forest with yellow and gold. Dogwood are patchy and grasses from 6,000′ to 7,000′ are colorful. Peak should arrive within a fortnight.

Moving on … So, who here has heard of the Chemehuevi Mountains?

  • Marble Mountain Wilderness Area (3,000 to 5,000′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Bigleaf maple.
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Bitterbrush

Bitterbrush (l) and Rabbitbrush (r) sprout from deformed lava flows along the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (CA-89) (10/7/19) Martha Fletcher

Its name bespeaks the hard life it endures. Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) is a member of the rose family, a shrub that thrives on arid mountainsides.

Martha Fletcher found it, along with bright yellow rabbitbrush, pushing up out of deformed lava flows south of Burney Mountain (7,863′) and close to Twin Buttes (5,340′) along the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (CA-89), today.

Creamy yellow flowers cover bitterbrush branches in springtime, but now their brittle reddish-brown stems bare similarly colored leaves.

  • Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (7,000′) – Just Starting (0-10%)
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California’s Most Beautiful Undiscovered Town

Quincy (10/6/19) Michael Beatley

Michael Beatley is biased when he describes Quincy as Califoria’s most beautiful undiscovered town. Lucky guy, he lives nearby in Meadow Valley and exhibits his photography in Quincy.

Years ago, Quincy’s city leaders buried power lines, so no unsightly electrical lines ruin the view. It’s a classic American hometown with a timeless, turn-of-the-century (20th) mainstreet, a classic Greek revival colonnaded county courthouse, and a gentile central park shaded by towering trees.

Majestic maple and sycamore surround the courthouse and grow throughout its nearby neighborhood.

Jackson St ,which runs parallel to Main Street (behind the County Courthouse) is lined with homes built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Downtown Quincy is an idyllic setting that locals do very little to promote. There is no visitors bureau in Plumas County. It was closed years ago. And though local business owners and residents welcome visitors, they do it without much fanfare.

Mountain Ash, Plumas County (10/6/19) Michael Beatley

Enveloping Quincy are forests and streams where native conifers, golden bigleaf maple, ruby mountain ash, yellow aspen, flame orange-red Indian rhubarb, auburn creek dogwood, and orange black oak grow.

Peak will arrive there within a fortnight. There are already signs that the town’s landmark Judge Theiler sugar maple (on the corner of West High St and Lee Way) is nearing peak. Though Quincy’s typical peak occurs in mid October.

Favorite fall walks include downtown Quincy and its genuine shops, courthouse square, Jackson St. to see sparkling white Community United Methodist Church when it is framed with fall color (see below banner ad), and to hike a forest trail through Boyle Ravine (at the terminus of Coburn St.) amidst bigleaf maple, Pacific dogwood, black oak, alder, fern, violas, cedar, pine and fir trees.

OK, the secret’s out. Quincy is uncrowded, authentic and full of fall color. So how can a place so beautiful remain undiscovered?

  • Quincy (3,342′) – Patchy (10-50%)
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Follow the Sound of Water

Indian Rhubarb (Darmera), Rock Creek (10/4/19) Michael Beatley

If you follow the sound of water, you’re sure to find fall color in the Shasta Cascade, right now. As, creek grasses and Indian rhubarb (darmera) have begun to blush.

Color spotter Michael Beatley sent back these images from Rock Creek in Meadow Valley. He describes the creek as one of his favorites and, though still Patchy, it is revealing its potential.

Rock Creek (not to be confused with that of the same name in southern Mono County) flows into Spanish Creek at Bucks Lake Rd. in Plumas County (Northern Sierra).

From there, the water spills into the North Fork of the Feather River which joins the Sacramento River, then travels through the Delta to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

The creek was and still is panned for gold, though Michael visits it for its ruby-orange fan-shaped darmera leaves and golden alder.

Wildflowers bloom near fall color, Rock Creek (10/4/19) Michael Beatley

When Beatley visited this week, wildflowers were still blooming by the stream. He thinks the darmera is late, but it appears to be on time, as we’ve posted it peaking mid October in previous years.

  • Rock Creek, Meadow Valley (3,600′) – Patchy (10-50%)
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Silver Lake Is Looking Golden

Silver Lake, Plumas County (10/3/19) Michael Beatley

Silver Lake near Meadow Valley looks nothing like its surrounding landscape. Plumas County is a forested place with bigleaf maple, mountain ash, aspen and lots of conifers.

Though Silver Lake, (see above) looks like it might better fit, tucked away in one of the granite canyons of the Eastern Sierra. That’s partly because the lake sits just below the Pacific Crest Trail, north of Spanish Peak. So, it is truly part of the High Sierra, even though classified as within the Shasta Cascade region.

Color spotter Michael Beatley scores a First Report for Silver Lake by sending the images he took this morning. He drove upon a USFS dirt road, that he describes as “well maintained” and “accessible by car,” six miles from Bucks Lake Rd. to Silver Lake.

Beatley says the deciduous trees and plants have yet to show much color, though the warm morning light reflecting off the conifers in the top photo made it appear that they are changing, though they aren’t.

  • Silver Lake (7,200′) – Just Starting (0-10%)
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Genessee, A Pleasant Valley

Bigleaf maple, Genessee (10/2/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb

The Seneca word for a pleasant valley is Genessee, and California’s so-named place certainly is.

There, bigleaf maple, exotic elms and black oaks are changing more rapidly than in past years, reinforcing several observations of early fall color in the Northern Sierra.

Plumas County color spotter Jeff Luke Titcomb reports that the “maples are changing quickly. Greenville is about 20% at 3,400 feet but the change is going more quickly at lower elevations down to 2,200 feet.”

Driving through North Canyon to Round Valley Reservoir, he found bigleaf maple and creek dogwood at 30% change.

Bigleaf maple, Round Valley (10/1/19) Jeff Luke Titcomb
  • Genessee (3,701′) – Patchy (10-50%)
  • Greenville (3,586′) – Patchy (10-50%)
  • Round Valley (5,692′) – Patchy (10-50%)
  • Feather River Canyon (2,000 to 3,000′) – Patchy (10-50%)