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Kings Creek Falls

Kings Creek Meadow, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Kings Creek Meadow, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Kings Creek Falls, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Kings Creek Falls, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Kings Creek Falls, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Kings Creek Falls, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

The hike to Kings Creek Falls in Lassen Volcanic National Park begins with lacy meadow grasses that grow throughout Kings Creek Meadow, then it rises through a textural blend of yellow Lemmons willow and a mix of hot pink and scarlet shrubs, to the wispy white falls that are embraced by Tolkienesque-like willow.

If ever there is a middle kingdom in California, it is Lassen Volcanic at this magical time of year.

Shanda Ochs hiked there this week and suggested that there are so many unusual and vibrant plants to see along the trail that one might want to carry a pocket field guide to identify them.

One of the difficulties of identifying plants in the Shasta Cascade is that field guides written for the Sierra Nevada or other parts of Northern California don’t often work.

That’s because the volcanic soil, deep snowfall, climate and other conditions have encouraged the evolution of different native plants than are found in the Klamath range, Sierra Nevada, or nearby Sacramento Valley.

Part of the joy of hiking at Lassen Volcanic and on Mt. Shasta, is that you’re always finding something unexpected and new.

For a guide to the Kings Creek Falls Trail, CLICK HERE.

At Manzanita Lake at the northwest entrance to Lassen Volcanic NP, Shanda said the willow that ring the lake, are “about done, with alder still in change. The cottonwood is also about 75% with some almost bare, to others about half changed.”

It’s always difficult to rate an area when some species have peaked, others are peaking and still others near peak, but we’ll classify it at peak, as it isn’t going backwards. 

Kings Creek Falls (7,300′), Lassen Volcanic National Park – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

Manzanita Lake (2,900′), Lassen Volcanic National Park – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Kings Creek Falls, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/9/18) Shanda Ochs

Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/10/18) Shanda Ochs

Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic NP (10/10/18) Shanda Ochs

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Sweet As Can Be

Sugar maple, Hideaway Rd., Greenville (10/12/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Sugar maple, Hideaway Rd., Greenville (10/12/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) are sweet to the eye. Perhaps that’s why so many were planted in Plumas County.

This particular specimen sugars the scenery along Hideaway Rd. in Greenville.

Leaves of the sugar maple can evolve in color through a full spectrum from dark green to lime, to yellow-green, to yellow, to yellow-orange, to orange, red and burgundy, during autumn.

Though numerous of the exotic trees have been planted in Quincy, Greenville and other Plumas County towns (Northern Sierra), none seem to have naturalized, leading a UC Davis botanist, with whom we consulted, to conclude that planting one is not likely to interfere with the growth of native trees. 

Sugar Maples, Plumas County (3,586′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! 

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Layered Cake

Coffee Creek (10/7/18) Jeri Rangel

Fall color is a layered cake of emerging color along Coffee Creek in Trinity County.

Indian rhubarb (Darmera) are green with emerging touches of yellow and orange-red, bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) are mottled yellow and lime, while Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) top the cake with pink frosting.

Jeri Rangel sent us a slice of that cake and we’re hungry for more. 

Coffee Creek (3,068′) – Just Starting (0-10%)

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Hat Creek Glows

Hat Creek (10/6/18) Martha Fletcher

Grasses along Hat Creek near CA-89 and CA-299E are literally shimmering in the afternoon autumn light with broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia) standing at attention. Black oak remain Just Starting at this elevation. 

  • Hat Creek (3,422′) – Just Starting (0-10%)

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Poppin’ on the LaPorte Rd.

Bigleaf maple, La Porte Rd. (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Bigleaf maple, La Porte Rd. (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Dogwood, LaPorte Rd. (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Sugar Maple, Quincy (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

The LaPorte Road in Plumas County, leading from Quincy, forms a boulevard of deciduous trees that in Mid-October compares to any in California for its beauty.

Jeff Luke Titcomb drove it on Sunday, finding native bigleaf maple Near Peak. The sugar maple are close to peaking, as well.

Though sugar maples are an exotic specie, so many specimen have been planted in Quincy’s parks and gardens, that they can be confused as being native.

Dogwood are lagging the maples in this part of the Northern Sierra, though evolving through lime, rose, pink and vermillion.

The coming two weeks will be Near Peak in this region.

To the east on the Trinity River near Strawhouse Resort, California wild grape, bigleaf maple and ornamental trees are near peak. 

  • LaPorte Rd – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!
  • Trinity River – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar Maple, Quincy (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Bigleaf maple, La Porte Rd. (10/7/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

California wild grape, Trinity River (10/6/18) Paul Kim

 

Red maple, Strawhouse Resort, Trinity River (10/8/18) Julia Ellis

 

 

Indian rhubarb, Trinity River (10/6/18) Julia Ellis

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Path Less Traveled to Jonesville

Cowboy’s Shack, Humboldt Rd., Plumas County (10/5/18) Robert Kermen

Butte Creek, Humboldt Rd., Plumas County (10/5/18) Robert Kermen

Bracken Fern, Humboldt Rd., Plumas County (10/5/18) Robert Kermen

Butte Creek, Humboldt Rd., Plumas County (10/5/18) Robert Kermen

Indian Rhubarb, Butte Creek, Plumas County (10/5/18) Robert Kermen

When you take the path less traveled, you’re sure to pass the unexpected.

North Sacramento Valley color spotter Robert Kermen did just that, on a return trip from Nevada to the Sacramento Valley, choosing a route he’d taken rarely, thereby scoring a First Report for the route.

Kermen drove the historic Humboldt Wagon Road, west from Lake Almanor. It winds past Humboldt Peak, eventually crossing into Butte County above Jonesville. In Plumas County, it’s county road 307.

The route was envisioned as a toll road across the Sierra in the mid 1860s. Hotels were built at stage stops and one of California’s richest pioneers (John Bidwell) lost a fortune developing it, when the idea was surpassed by the Big Four’s (Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis Potter Huntington and Charles Crocker’s) Central Pacific Railroad which reached the Gold Country by 1867.

Today, the mostly forgotten route passes quiet, “surprisingly large”  meadows foraged by cattle that are grazing on autumn’s last grasses and awaiting their late autumn drive down to the Sacramento Valley.

Cowboys on horseback used to drive cattle down the Humboldt Road. Today, the cattle drive is done by truck and all that remains of that era are the cattle and an overgrown rancher’s shack that stands as a weathered remembrance of those days (40° 8’37.33″N, 121°14’54.38″W).

After crossing Humbug Summit, the road drops into Jonesville by way of Scott’s John Rd. Peaking bracken fern line the route along with Patchy aspen and alder carrying various shades of green, lime, yellow and gold.

Along the banks of Butte Creek, Indian Rhubard (Darmera) are still Patchy, their large, orange-red umbrella-shaped leaves brighten the shoreline.

Kermen recalled his family’s Jonesville cabin where as a youth he fished Butte, Colby and Jones Creeks, returning home with strings of big German brown trout.

Jonesville is having a sort of revival. The last existing stage stop along the Humboldt Rd., the Jonesville Hotel, is in the process of being restored and preserved as described HERE by the Chico News & Review.

On his drive back along memory lane, Robert Kermen found unexpected beauty along a path less traveled. 

Humboldt Road (Plumas 307) – Patchy (10-50%)

 

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Airbrushed with Crimson

Davis Knotweed, Lassen Volcanic National Park (10/4/18) Shanda Ochs

Davis Knotweed, Lassen Peak Trail (10/4/18) Shanda Ochs

It almost appears as if the trailhead to Lassen Peak was airbrushed with crimson in this photograph by Shanda Ochs, taken yesterday afternoon.

The color, in fact, comes from Davis Knotweed (Aconogonon davisiae). There are 27 varieties of knotweed native to California. Douglas knotweed grows in Lassen Volcanic National Park at this elevation.

Shanda said, “It was spectacular with the fog which made the color pop!” The dusting of frost on the volcano adds to the photo’s drama.

Notice the golden-orange ground cover near the base of the trailhead. The source of that color remains unidentified. Though, Fall Color creds go to the first person to comment and identify it. 

Lassen Peak Trail, Lassen Volcanic National Park (8,200′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW! – Davis Knotweed

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Gold Found at Frenchman Lake

Frenchmans Creek, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Frenchman Creek, Plumas County (10/3/18) Colin Birdseye

Frenchman Lake, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Frenchmans Creek, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Road to Frenchman Lake, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Frenchman Lake, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Frenchman Lake, Plumas County (10/3/18) Shelley Hunter

Frenchman Claude Francois Seltier came to Sierra Valley (southeastern Plumas County) in 1858 to search for gold.

It’s now being found along Frenchman’s Creek and on the road to Frenchman Lake where riparian grasses,  aspen and cottonwood are gilding the landscape.

With a shoreline of 21 miles and a surface area if 1,580 acres, Frenchman Lake is a favorite water for fishing and camping. In winter the lake freezes and ice fishing occurs there. 

Frenchman Lake (5,588′) – Patchy (10-50%)

 

 

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Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (10/2/18) Martha Fletcher

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (10/2/18) Martha Fletcher

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway (10/2/18) Martha Fletcher

One of the first National Scenic Byways designated by the Federal Highways Administration, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway travels 500 miles from Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park south to California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Along the route, travelers learn about the ancient natural forces that shaped a landscape of exquisite mountain lakes, soaring volcanic peaks and amazing geologic sites.

This is an area of truly breathtaking scenery, picturesque towns, world-class birding (bald eagles, migratory fowl), and extraordinary recreational experiences.

Martha Fletcher was traveling the route when she stopped to capture Patchy chartreuse, red, yellow and rust shrubs sprouting from volcanic soil along CA-89, approximately six miles south of where CA-299E intersects the byway.

Cascade range foliage was changing out of its summer green and into its autumn wear, as rain clouds reached across a turquoise and cobalt sky.

Pacific Dogwood, Norwegian Meadows, Trinity Center (9/30/18) Jeri Rangel

Elsewhere in the vast Shasta Cascade region, Trinity County color spotter Jeri Rangel found Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) carrying deep rosy pink leaves and buds loaded with bright red berries.

These berries are avian delicacies, though if harvested ahead of the birds, SFGate reports, can be germinated into new trees. 

Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway – Patchy (10-50%) 

Trinity County – Patchy (10-50%)

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Antelope Lake Autumn Perfection

Dam, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Aspen, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Indian Creek, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Antelope Lake is a remote place of autumn perfection and solitude. Located in eastern Plumas County, 30 miles NE of Taylorsville, the lake is a favorite stopping point for migratory birds in autumn.

Though you are unlikely to see antelope at the lake, on a recent visit Jeff Luke Titcomb captured a doe quenching her thirst in Indian Creek and saw few people. The campgrounds will close by mid October, yet Antelope Lake has already become a place you can call yours alone.

Aspen, riparian shrubs and grasses are at peak with red, orange and gold tones warming the scene. Jeff says the aspen dominate the scene with large clusters of brightly colored trees. 

Antelope Lake (5,000′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!

Indian Creek, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

Aspen, Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

 

Antelope Lake (9/29/18) Jeff Luke Titcomb

 

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